Loud Muslim Prayer: Takeover of Michigan Town

The non-Muslim residents of Hamtramck, Michigan complained so much about the "noise" coming from the Islamic center loudspeakers (the Muslim call to prayer) that the Muslim residents organized an effort to gain a majority on the city council.  It appears the "noise" will remain.

“We were lied to.  We were told it would never be turned into a mosque.”
-- Carol Marsh, resident

“It’s only a matter of time before we’ll see a Muslim mayor.”
-- Dawud Walid, Executive Director, Michigan Chapter, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Maine Sues Pastor for Preaching Too Loud Near Abortion Clinic

Pastor's Wife Fined for Praying Too Loud on North Dakota Street

Christians Arrested for Praying Too Loud Near Chicago Abortion Clinic

Indiana Town Denounces Loud, Praying Christians

Virginia Police Halt Bible 'Noise,' Preacher Sues City & Wins

Missouri Police Steal Preacher's Amplifier to Shut Him Up

Jesus Talk Outlawed in New Orleans, Arrests Made

-- From "Residents complain that ‘call to prayer’ is too loud" by Charles Sercombe, Hamtramck Review (fall 2015)

[At the] city council meeting, several residents of the Hamtramck Senior Plaza apartments on Holbrook complained about the volume level of the call to prayer coming from the Ideal Islamic Center, located across from the apartment complex.

[Resident Jeanette Powell] said the call or prayer was broadcast at 6 a.m. and found the volume “overbearing.”

The center on Holbrook was not the only mosque accused of broadcasting the call too loudly.

Susan Dunn, who is a candidate for city council, said the new mosque on St. Aubin St., the Abu-Bakr Al-Siddique Islamic Center, also broadcasts the call loudly. Dunn lives on Hewitt St., which is a block away from the center.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Muslims look to make a difference in Hamtramck" by Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press 1/25/16

The week before Election Day in Hamtramck, hundreds of Muslims packed the City Council chambers.

They were outraged over a complaint made by council candidate Susan Dunn over the Islamic call to prayer that is broadcast outdoors from mosques, which she said were too loud.

The following week, three Muslim candidates out of six were the top vote-getters, winning council seats. After their inauguration this month, Hamtramck became what is believed to be the first city in the U.S. with a Muslim-majority City Council.  Four of its six council members are Muslim, three of them immigrants.

The story of how that happened offers insight into the political ambitions of the city's Muslim community in a time of intense debate about Islam in the West. And it shows how diverse groups — from Polish Catholics to Bangladeshi Muslims to African-American Protestants — can get along, city leaders say.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "In the first majority-Muslim U.S. city, residents tense about its future" by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post 11/21/15

[Local businesswoman Karen] Majewski, whose family emigrated from Poland in the early 20th century, admitted to a few concerns of her own. Business owners within 500 feet of one of Hamtramck’s four mosques can’t obtain a liquor license, she complained, a notable development in a place that flouted Prohibition-era laws by openly operating bars. The restrictions could thwart efforts to create an entertainment hub downtown, said the pro-commerce mayor.

And while Majewski advocated to allow mosques to issue calls to prayer, she understands why some longtime residents are struggling to adjust to the sound that echos through the city’s streets five times each day.

While the city’s Polish Catholic population has shrunk from 90 percent in 1970 to about 11 percent today, in part as the old residents have moved to more prosperous suburbs, Polish American culture still permeates the town.

Hamtramck’s exceedingly low home prices and relatively low crime rate have proved especially attractive to new immigrants, whose presence is visible everywhere. Most of the women strolling Joseph Campau Avenue wear hijabs, or headscarves, and niqabs, veils that leave only the area around the eyes open. Many of the markets advertise their wares in Arabic or Bengali, and some display signs telling customers that owners will return shortly — gone to pray, much in the same way Polish businesses once signaled that employees had gone to Mass.

Many longtime residents point to 2004 as the year they suspected that the town’s culture had shifted irrevocably. It was then that the city council gave permission to al-Islah Islamic Center to broadcast its call to prayer from speakers atop its roof.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "This U.S. city has become the first to elect a Muslim-majority city council" by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post 11/5/15

. . . The city council’s approval of an ordinance to allow mosques to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer onto public streets made it one of the few cities in the United States to approve the practice, according to a 2004 story in the Detroit News. “This is about uniting our community,” Shabad Ahmed, the first and only Muslim member of the Hamtramck City Council, told the newspaper.

Fast forward to 2015, when the city of some 22,000 people physically surrounded by but politically separate from Detroit has elected a Muslim-majority city council, believed to be the first in the nation. On Tuesday, the city elected three new city council members, making the council four of six members of Muslim faith.

Dearborn, which is part of the Detroit metro area, attracts most of the national attention over its Arab population, but its Muslim population is not as concentrated as Hamtramck.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Wheaton College Prof. in Muslim Garb for Christmas

A political science associate professor at a well-known evangelical college in suburban Chicago is wearing a hijab to class and everywhere else during Advent to show “religious solidarity with Muslims” and to launch a Christian movement with Islam by wearing the mandatory head scarf for oppressed Muslim women.

“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
-- Professor Larycia Alaine Hawkins, Wheaton College faculty member since 2007

For background, read Leftist Teaching at Wheaton College

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Teaching Christians Muslim Dress in Illinois School

CAIR Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

-- From "Christian college professor wears hijab in solidarity with Muslim women" by Joshua Chavers, WPTV-TV5 (West Palm Beach, FL) 12/13/15

“I don't love my Muslim neighbor because s/he is American. I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity,” Hawkins said in [her Facebook page last week showing herself wearing a hijab].

The professor says as part of the Advent season, she will wear the hijab “to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state… and at church.”

Hawkins notes that she checked first with the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] to make sure it was not offensive in any way for non-Muslim women to wear the hijab and she invites other women to join her effort as a way to express support and unity.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College Prof. to Wear Hijab During Advent to Show Solidarity With Muslims" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 12/11/15

[Hawkins wrote:] "I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind — a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014."

"I invite all women into the narrative that is embodied, hijab-wearing solidarity with our Muslim sisters — for whatever reason. A large scale movement of Women in Solidarity with Hijabs is my Christmas #wish this year," Hawkins continued. "Perhaps you are a Muslim who does not wear the veil normally. Perhaps you are an atheist or agnostic who finds religion silly or inexplicable. Perhaps you are a Catholic or Protestant Christian like me. Perhaps you already cover your head as part of your religious worship, but not a hijab."

"I asked whether a non-Muslim wearing the hijab was haram (forbidden), patronizing, or otherwise offensive to Muslims. I was assured by my friends at CAIR-Chicago that they welcomed the gesture," she explained. "So please do not fear joining this embodied narrative of actual as opposed to theoretical unity; human solidarity as opposed to mere nationalistic, sentimentality."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Evangelical Christian professor dons hijab because 'we worship the same God'" by Harry Farley, Junior Staff Writer, Christian Today 12/14/15

. . . in a more recent post she explained she had received criticism "almost exclusively from other Christians."

She said her position was "one held for centuries by countless Christians (church fathers, saints, and regular Christian folk like)" and insisted that "asserting our religious solidarity with Muslims and Jews will go a long way toward quelling religious violence and enervating religionist fear of the religious other."

Hawkins' gesture has been welcomed by the council on American-Islamic relations [CAIR] . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Hijab-Wearing Wheaton College Prof. Responds to Critics Who Question Her Devotion (Interview)" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 12/14/15

Since her controversial Facebook post last Thursday, Hawkins said that at least ten other people, including students, friends and even a mother of one of her former students, have told her that they will be taking part in wearing hijabs this Christmas season. She is not certain if all of them plan on wearing the hijab throughout the entire Advent or just for a day or two.

"I think that is the kind of unity through religious diversity that I am trying to accomplish through this is to have unity with women who are easily targeted because they wear their religion on their head," Hawkins stressed. "I really find it imperative to think about what it means to coexist as religionists. There are Christian missionaries who uphold these models of the faith who are doing the same thing as a way of reaching out to Muslims even as they try to spread the gospel. I am not sure if we see this is a way of sharing the gospel or as an act of religious solidarity. I think people do it all the time, just not in the U.S."

"I think woman wearing a cross or a man wearing a cross isn't necessarily deemed Christian but a woman wearing a hijab is always assumed to be Muslim, even though Jesus' mom wore a hijab. Mary, the mother of God, wore a hijab," Hawkins highlighted. " The context in the time is fortuitous to remind ourself that in some context, this is a cultural element of dress. Some of my friends who are missionaries in the Middle East wear the hijab while they live there everyday."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 2/10/16: From "Wheaton College 'Same God' Prof. Says Jesus Is Her Rock on Difficult Journey From Advent to Lent" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter

. . . Wheaton Provost Stanton Jones recommended last month that the school begin the termination proceedings for Hawkins, who was placed on administrative leave in mid-December after she asserted that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

On Saturday, it was announced in a press release that the school and Hawkins "found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation." The statement added that the two sides "reached a confidential agreement under which they will part ways."

Although Hawkins issued a four-page theological statement on the matter days after she was suspended, the institution still felt that more theological discussion was needed before she could return to teach. Hawkins, however, made it clear to the administration that she would no longer have theological dialogue over the matter.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 2/10/16: From "Deal between Wheaton College, professor creates scholarship in her name" by Jessica Cilella, Daily Herald (Chicago suburbs)

[Wheaton College President Philip] Ryken said reconciliation is not always easy or perfect, but the college and Hawkins are "moving forward in genuine friendship, wishing each other well and wanting to bless each other in our work."

The debate over Hawkins' comments continues to resonate throughout the Wheaton College community. Even as Ryken and Hawkins stood together in Chicago, roughly two dozen students, alumni and religious leaders were gathering outside the school's Edman Chapel to announce the launch of a nationwide fast that calls upon the Wheaton community and other evangelical Christian institutions to "confess and repent of the sins of racism, sexism and Islamophobia, and recognize that all humans have dignity and are created equal in the eyes of God."

As president, Ryken said he is committed to restoring "what is lost and repair what is broken" on campus. To do that, he has asked the college's board of trustees to review ways the college can improve how it addresses faculty and personnel issues in the future, particularly when questions arise that relate to the college's statement of faith. He added that the school stands for religious freedom and against the repression of anyone, including Muslims.

Wheaton College theology professor George Kalantzis said Hawkins provided great spiritual and moral leadership, as well as a safe and inviting learning environment, on a campus that greatly needed it.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Christian Wheaton College 'Gay Alumni' Homecoming

Fed. Judge Favors D.C. Cross vs. Atheists, Muslims

The U.S. District Court in Maryland ruled this week against the American Humanist Association (AHA) atheists and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who demanded that the 1925 40-foot Blandensburg Cross, a World War I Veterans Memorial near Washington, D.C., be removed because it is owned and maintained by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

“It is hereby declared by the ownership, maintenance and display of the monument by the commission do not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
-- U.S. District Judge Deborah Chasanow

For background, read the myriad atheist lawsuits against the Christian cross across America.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Cross Removed from Wichita State Chapel: Muslim Conversion

Court Nixes Police Favoring Muslims vs. Christians

Court Orders Christian Cop to Mosque, Accept Koran

Satanists Join Muslims in Minnesota & California

-- From "Judge rejects bid to remove WWI 'Peace Cross'" posted at WUSA-TV9 (Washington, D.C.) 12/1/15

The American Humanist Association wanted it removed or altered on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment ban on the government establishing a religion.

The judge ruled that while the cross is undeniably a religious symbol, the monument does not endorse a religion.

The memorial is known as the Peace Cross and can be seen at the intersection of Route 450 and Route 1.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Judge: Forty-foot cross is not a government endorsement of religion" by Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post 12/1/15

In a 36-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow ruled unequivocally against the American Humanist Association’s bid to have the monument torn down or modified on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment ban on the government’s establishment of religion.

“The Monument and Veterans Memorial Park are secular war memorials that host numerous commemorative events,” Chasanow wrote. She added that the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s ownership and upkeep of the cross was “driven by a secular purpose, maintaining and displaying a ‘historically significant war memorial’ that has honored fallen soldiers for almost a century.”

In her ruling, Chasanow noted that the monument sits on a base that bears a plaque listing the names of 49 men from Prince George’s County who died in World War I and that the “vast majority” of events held at the site were observances of Memorial Day or Veterans Day. She also noted that after the case was filed, the National Park Service placed the monument on the National Register of Historic Places.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Court finds cross memorial constitutional" by Jonathan Pitts, The Baltimore Sun 11/30/15

The ruling was a victory for the co-defendants in the case, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the government entity that owns and controls the land on which the cross stands, and the American Legion, which erected it 90 years ago and continues to use the site for Memorial Day and Veterans Day celebrations.

It marked a setback for the American Humanist Association, a Washington-based group that describes its mission as bringing about "a progressive society where being 'good without a god' is an accepted way of life" and strengthening secular influence in government.

"We're still reviewing and evaluating the decision and our options," she said, including the possibility of taking the case to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Roger Byron, senior counsel for the Liberty Institute, the Plano, Texas-based law firm representing the American Legion in the case, said he was encouraged by a ruling that "faithfully applies the law [and] helps assure both the courts and other government entities that might [want to] use religious texts or imagery that these are lawful under the First Amendment."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Bladensburg Cross Can Stay, Judge Rules" by Jacob Gershman, Wall Street Journal 12/2/15

The Bladensburg veterans memorial, erected in 1925 by the American Legion, is one of a number of memorial crosses under legal fire by civil-liberty groups who want them off government land.

To support its claim, the [atheist] group pointed to religious language in a fundraising pledge sheet circulated to donors who financed its construction nearly a century ago. “We, the citizens of Maryland, trusting in God, the supreme ruler of the universe, pledge faith in our brothers,” it said.

In a 36-page opinion handed down this week, U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow concluded that the religious associations didn’t amount to a constitutional violation:

The Monument’s secular commemorative purpose is reinforced by the plaque, the American Legion’s seal, and the words “valor,” “endurance,” “courage,” and “devotion” written on it. None of these features contains any religious reference. In short, the record amply demonstrates that the construction and maintenance of the Monument “was not an attempt to set the imprimatur of the state on a particular creed. Rather, those who erected the cross intended simply to honor our Nation’s fallen soldiers.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "WWI Cross Upheld by Federal Court" by Joseph Williams, American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) 12/1/15

The lawsuit actually alleges that because the war memorial is located on what they claim is public property near a busy intersection that at least one of the plaintiffs passes “about once a month” driving around town or on his bike, it “associates a Christian religious symbol with the State and gives the impression that the State supports and approves of Christianity, as opposed to other religions, and that the state may even prefer Christians and Christianity over other religions.”  One of the plaintiffs actually says that he is “personally offended and feels excluded” because the cross honors our nation’s veterans.

In fact, the lawsuit states that he was “shocked when he first saw the cross and it upsets him whenever he passes it.”

Each of the plaintiffs complains of “unwelcome contact” with the WWI memorial cross and tell the court they “do[] not wish to encounter the Bladensburg Cross in the future.”  In other words, they want it torn down.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Judge torpedoes atheists' attack on veterans memorial" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 11/30/15

Noel Francisco, lead counsel for the American Legion and chair of Jones Day’s Government Regulation Practice, says, “We are grateful that the court ruled in our favor and upheld the memorial’s lawfulness under the First Amendment. This memorial has stood for almost 100 years in honor of the fallen and should be allowed to stand for 100 more.”

[The memorial] was challenged by the American Humanist Association, which was joined by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, as a violation since the site now is owned and maintained by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

The ownership of the site had changed hands several times, and, the court found, it wasn’t even yet clear who owned it during certain times. But she said that didn’t matter.

The judge applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s Lemon test to the situation . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read D.C. Muslim Call to Prayer from National Cathedral

As Al Qaeda Proclaims War on the Christian Cross — U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing and Posters, while President Obama Compares Christians to Islamic Terrorists

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Parents across America are now attuned to politically correct Islamic indoctrination, and that means their local public schools can't get away with:  forced singing of Islamic fight songs and praise to Allah by seventh-graders at Spring View Middle School in Huntington Beach, California; forced drawing of Islamic terrorist banners at Salem (Utah) Junior High School, in the Nebo School District; and forced listening to Islamic preaching at Barron Collier High School, in Naples, Florida.

“I believe that by singing this song, the children feel comfortable believing that maybe Allah is the only god, and maybe that they should start following him.  And that I’m not OK with.”
-- Susan Negron, grandparent of student taught song

“I feel like [the Islamic preaching] was being hidden from us.”
-- Jennifer Mansfield, Florida parent

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Lawmakers Counter Islamic Teaching in Tennessee

Georgia School: Learn Islam or Take Lower Grade

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

Celebrate Islam Day Canceled at Ohio School





-- From "Parents Speak Out After Teacher Presents Song About Islam To Seventh-Graders" posted at KCBS-TV2 CBSLA.com (Los Angeles, CA) 11/17/15

The teacher says she was trying to teach her seventh-grade class about the religion of Islam by using a catchy tune.

Using the melody of the song “This Is My Fight Song,” the teacher applied custom lyrics, such as:

“Like a sandstorm in the desert, sending camels into motion, like how a single faith can make a heart open, they might only have one god, but they can make an explosion.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Huntington Beach school district apologizes for use of song about Islam" by Megan Nicolai, Staff Writer, Orange County Register 11/19/15

On Tuesday, Nichole Negron posted pictures on a Huntington Beach community Facebook page showing pictures from a notebook her son brought home with drawings and song lyrics that included a stick-figure man saying, “Believe in Allah! There is no other god” and lyrics to a song that described spreading Islam. District officials said the lesson took place before Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

The Ocean View district issued a statement Wednesday from Superintendent Carol Hansen saying a school administrator and the teacher met with the family Tuesday.

Ojaala Ahmad, communications coordinator for the Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said while she didn’t know the teacher’s intentions behind using the song in her lesson on Islam, words in the lyrics like “explosion” were unfortunate. They might perpetuate an idea that terrorism or violence are supported by the religion, she said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Utah School Apologizes for Terrorism Poster Assignment" by Michelle L. Price, Associated Press 11/19/15

A Utah school apologized Thursday for a classroom assignment in which students were asked to create a propaganda poster for a group such as Islamic State to understand the goals and methods of terror groups.

School officials were first alerted to the assignment when parents complained.

The worksheet said the purpose of the poster was "to help students understand the goals of terrorist groups and the methods they use to gain support."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Utah school realizes it shouldn’t ask students to make terrorist propaganda posters" by Sarah Larimer, Washington Post 11/20/15

The front of the assignment worksheet listed “8 Reasons Young Muslims Join ISIS.”

CBS affiliate KUTV posted pictures of the assignment worksheet, which mentioned the Islamic State, and told students to create a “neat, colored, professional” poster.

“We shouldn’t be talking about how ISIS recruits, we should be discussing the events of what they have caused to figure a way of how to deter that and how to help better the world,” said the parent, Annie Langston, according to ABC News. “I thought this isn’t right, not right now.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Barron Collier parent says school hid Islamic preaching" By Lucas Seiler, Reporter, WBBH-TV2 (Fort Myers, FL) 11/19/15

A group of AP honors students were listening to a world-renowned expert, Omer Taspinar, discuss U.S.-Turkey relations. The district says three parents have mistaken a conversation that happened at the end of the event as promoting Islam.

[Parent Jennifer] Mansfield said her son listened to a Muslim man preach Islam, talk about the Paris terrorist attacks and how the United States needs to accept Syrian refugees.

"He thought that we as the U.S. should open our borders," she said. "He mentioned the horrific tragedy in Paris and how ISIS is not representative of Islam, but a radical perversion of it. You cannot walk into a school and speak about religious beliefs and what yours are."

[School spokesperson Greg Turchetta responded,] "When educated students begin asking educated questions at the end... and somebody asks [Mr. Taspinar] an enlightened questions, he's going to give him an answer."

Mansfield, though, says the fact that an expert on Muslim relations talked to students equates to preaching Islam. And she says the same would be the case if an expert on Christianity spoke to students during school hours.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Angry Muslims Storm New Jersey School Board Demanding Holidays

And read Muslims in Washington, D.C. Force Christmas Off School Calendar

Angry Muslims Storm New Jersey School Board

School officials in Jersey City, New Jersey called for security after an unruly mob of Muslim parents attempted a take-over of the School Board meeting last week.  The local religious minority demanded that the school officially declare an Islamic holiday on September 24th.

"We’re going to be the majority soon!"
-- Female Muslim (told School Board)

"We the people believe in our rights that the constitution have gave us and we will stand up for our rights. I will not back down."
-- Jessica Abdelnabbi Berrocal, Muslim parent

For background, read Muslims in Washington, D.C. Force Christmas Off School Calendar

Also read myriad examples of public schools favoring Islam.



-- From "Jersey City School Board Meeting Gets Heated During Debate Over Closing for Muslim Holiday" by Brian Thompson, WNBC-TV4 (New York, NY) 9/17/15

The Jersey City Board of Education had originally proposed to close schools next Thursday so that Muslim students could observe the [Eid al-Adha] holiday, and the City Council unanimously supported it a week ago. The academic year would have extended one day to June 23, 2016 as a result.

But during the nearly four hours of debate at the board meeting Thursday, some of the Jewish faith said they felt they were being discriminated against because they weren't getting their own school days off for holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

In the original resolution announcing the vote, the board said it was "committed to honoring the great diversity of our district, including our religious diversity," and that it will "continue to engage our communities to explore ways to support its diverse communities and celebrate our many cultures and faiths."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Jersey City won't close school for Islamic holiday" by Laura Herzog, New Jersey Star-Ledger 9/19/15

On Friday, Jersey City Schools Superintendent Marcia Lyles said board members were concerned that it would be too disruptive to declare a new school holiday without more advance notice.

On Saturday, Jessica Abdelnabbi Berrocal, a Muslim parent in Jersey City who started the petition for the holiday in June, said she thinks the vote rather meant that "they aren't ready for the change."

Lyles's Chief of Staff Maryann Dickar, who also attended the meeting, said it is inaccurate to characterize the debate on the holiday as "a conflict between Jews and Muslims." She said she recalled only one statement that referenced the Jewish holiday, among "hundreds" of other comments.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "New York City Schools Observing Muslim Holiday For First Time" by Julia Glum, International Business Times 9/23/15

New York City public schools were scheduled to close Thursday for their first time recognizing the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. The district, which serves about 1.1 million students, was due to become the largest school system in the United States to shut down for the observance. Local Muslims welcomed the move as a symbol of the community's acceptance and shift toward inclusion, Agence France Presse reported.

New York City has an estimated 600,000 to 1 million Muslim residents, and between 10 and 12 percent of its public school students identify as Muslim. That means that holy days tended to devastate attendance -- for example, the last time Eid al-Adha was on a school day, more than one-third of PS/IS 30 in Brooklyn was absent, according to a news release.

About two years after first agreeing to give students the day off, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the calendar change in March. He officially canceled classes on Eid al-Fitr, which occurred in July and marked the end of the fasting month Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Adha, also called the Feast of Sacrifice, runs from Wednesday night to Thursday night. Schools in New York City were already closed Wednesday for the Jewish observance of Yom Kippur.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read New York Schools Observe Muslim Holidays, but Christmas?

From "Muslim Americans welcome first NY Eid school holiday" by AFP 9/23/15

“It is a huge victory to actually see the day come,” says Linda Sarsour, a member of the Coalition for Muslim School Holidays and a New York activist with three children.

“As an imam as well as a parent I am very happy,” agreed Imam Shamsi Ali, director of the Jamaica Muslim Center in Queens.

“I’m sure this kind of policy from the government side will push Muslims further to feel a sense of belonging,” he said.

New York follows at least seven other school districts that close for Eid in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont, but activists are still campaigning in other parts of the country.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization, agreed that the holiday comes at the right time.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Texas Sharia Tribunal Judge Gives Muslim Prayer at Rodeo

And read Muslim Prayer Ends Invocation Policy in North Carolina

In addition, read President Obama Praises Islam for Making America What It Is

Celebrate Islam Day Canceled at Ohio School

Administrators at Mason High School in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio collaborated with the Muslim Student Association to create The Covered Girl Challenge — a day when all girls would wear a hijab like Muslim women.  However when the school's announcement was publicized, parents and other taxpayers educated the school on the First Amendment, causing Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart to cancel the event.

“I do not recall ever getting an email announcing a Christian Cross Wearing day or a booth for information about the Christian persecution from Islamic terrorists. What happen to the argument of the separation of church and state? My belief is wearing these hijabs represents the oppression of women and Sharia law.”
-- Sharon Poe, school board candidate

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Ohio Citizens Force Islam Indoctrination Out of Middle School

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

Colorado School Visits Mosque, Enforces Sharia Law for Girls' Dress

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Texas Sharia Tribunal Judge Gives Prayer at Rodeo

And read myriad examples of public schools favoring Islam.



-- From "Ohio principal cancels headscarf event, apologizes" by The Associated Press 4/18/15

"The Covered Girl Challenge" at Mason High School was intended to combat stereotypes students may face when wearing head coverings.

But Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart says the school received numerous strong messages as word of the event spread, forcing her to reconsider the event's ability to meet its goals. She says the event sponsored by a Muslim student group should not have been promoted by the school's Student Activities Department.

The event is held on college campuses and other high schools.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "School apologizes after inviting all girls to wear a hijab for a day" by Valerie Strauss, Washington Post 4/18/15

The event was supposed to take place at the 830-student, high-performing school on Thursday, but has been canceled.. . .Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart issued an apology letter the same day after receiving numerous protests. She wrote in part:

. . . Mason High School is committed to being an inclusive and safe environment for all students – regardless of race or religion. The students sponsoring the event only want to combat stereotypes that they face when wearing head coverings. Mason City Schools’ diversity is a source of pride. I am committed to continuing to celebrate all of our cultural richness. . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Mason High School hijab event canceled over First Amendment concerns" by Joe Rosemeyer, WCPO-TV9 (Cincinnati, OH) 4/17/15

The event isn't unique to Mason High; it's held on college campuses and sometimes at high schools, said Karen Dabdoub, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR].

Mariam [a Muslim girl], one of the students who was helping organize the event, said her friends were excited to see what it would be like to wear a headscarf.

Mason and nearby West Chester have significant Muslim communities; school spokeswoman Tracey Carson said Mason High has several groups with religious affiliations.

"They don't leave their faith at the door," Carson said. "We want students to take leadership roles and educate their community."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Taxpayer-Funded School Faces Massive Backlash For ‘Covered Girl Challenge’ HIJAB DAY" by Eric Owens, Education Editor, Daily Caller 4/18/15

Another effort at a taxpayer-funded American high school to persuade female students — but only female students — to wear Muslim headscarves has failed disastrously.

. . . critics noted that the Covered Girl Challenge amounts to an endorsement of Islam [violating the First Amendment].

Female students who wanted to participate were supposed to have their parents fill out a permission slip and return it to the high school office or “Mrs. Jenkin’s room in Z223.”

Mrs. Jenkins appears to be Caryn Jenkins, a social studies teacher at Mason High.

For the record, Feb. 1 is World Hijab Day. . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Area school cancels Muslim cultural event" by Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer, Dayton Daily News 4/17/15

The [hijab] challenge was part of an event planned by the student organization, including information tables during the school day and a discussion after school.

The announcement prompted responses in the district and beyond, some questioning the event, including on Facebook and the website jihadwatch.org.

On Thursday, jihadwatch.org posted a story headlined, “Victory! Mason High school principal cancels hijab event, apologizes.”

“On this Facebook thread, people are whining about this being a victory for ‘bigotry and intolerance,’ but of its is no such thing. In reality, it is a victory for fairness in education,” the story said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Mason principal cancels Muslim event, apologizes" by Hannah Sparling and Michael D. Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer 4/17/15

Yasmeen Allen is an Iraqi native with two teenagers at Mason High. Allen's daughter wears a hijab to mosque worship but not to school, Allen said, adding that the family is "really upset that the school is succumbing to outside pressure of racism and bigotry toward people who are different from them."

Muslim students "were robbed of an opportunity" to support their religion and counter some of the negativity it faces around the world, she said.

This is not the first Muslim-themed controversy to hit the Mason school community. About a decade ago, former school board candidate Sharon Poe and then-board member Jennifer Miller publicly blasted school officials for allowing Muslim students to have a separate lunch hour for fasting during Ramadan, which occurs during the ninth month of the Muslim calendar.

That is a holiday practice still continued at Mason schools. The area, however, is open to any student, regardless of faith, Carson said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Former Christian University Announces Muslim Prayers

Islamic 'Call to Prayer' at National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

President Obama Compares Christians to Islamic Terrorists

Also read President Obama Praises Islam for Making America What It Is and his Secretary of State, John Kerry, Quotes Allah: We Must Fight Climate Change

Texas Sharia Tribunal Judge Gives Prayer at Rodeo

The first known Sharia Law Islamic Tribunal to operate in the U.S. has been established in North Texas, and one of its judges, Imam Moujahed Bakhach, gave the opening prayer at a local rodeo but reaction by patrons forced cancellation of the Imam's repeat performance the following week.

“[Americans believe] that Sharia means cut the head, chop the heads, cut the hands and we are not doing that. . . . We are not here to invade the White House or invade Austin. We are humble and want to settle a problem between Muslims.”
-- Imam Moujahed Bakhach, of the Islamic Association of Tarrant County, and a Tribunal Judge

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Islamic 'Call to Prayer' at National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

Former Christian University Announces Muslim Prayers

Colorado School Visits Mosque, Enforces Sharia Law for Girls' Dress

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

And read myriad examples of public schools favoring Islam.

-- From "North Texas Home To First Islamic Tribunal In U.S." by Jeff Paul, CBS News Local KTVT-TV11 (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX) 2/2/15

It is how Muslims settle disputes in many countries in the Middle East.

Guided by the Muslim religious moral code known as “Sharia,” the judges are offering up their services to handle case involving divorce, business problems, and other disputes among the [Texas] community.

[Tribunal Judge Dr. Taher] El-badawi said they do not handle criminal accusations, child support, custody battles or any transfer of assets.

“People are concerned that there are conflicts between Sharia Law and state law or whatever else. So that’s an important area we need to watch,” said John DeGroote, a lawyer who practices business mediation and is an arbitrator.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Imam Moujahed Bakhach Cancels Muslim Rodeo Prayer After Backlash" by Ed Mazza, The Huffington Post 2/2/15

Imam Moujahed Bakhach of the Islamic Association of Tarrant County delivered the blessing at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 25 as part of a program in which members of different faiths offer prayers before rodeo events.

Rodeo announcer Bob Tallman, known for giving the event a Christian tone, said Bakhach “did a wonderful job," according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“We live in a big world and a very changing world,” Tallman told the Star-Telegram. “Some people don’t deal well with change. I’ve learned how to live with and be fine with it.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Islamic Tribunal Using Sharia Law In Texas Has Been Confirmed" by F. Peter Brown, Western Journalism 1/28/15

The website for the Islamic tribunal states: “It is with this issue that Muslims here in America are obligated to find a way to solve conflicts and disputes according to the principles of Islamic Law and its legal heritage of fairness and justice in a manner that is reasonable and cost effective.”

El-badawi was asked what would happen if there is conflict between the laws of Texas and Sharia law. He responded that the laws are in agreement most of the time, but said that Sharia would take precedence out of the two in the tribunal.

There are four judges listed on the tribunal’s website: Imam Yusuf Z.Kavakci, Imam Moujahed Bakhach, Imam Zia ul Haque Sheikh, and Dr. El-badawi.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Muslim legal group to establish voluntary sharia law in Texas" by Will Hall, Christian Examiner 2/2/15

[According to the Islamic Tribunal website] . . . the nonprofit is pushing "to set a precendence [sic] that will be emulated and duplicated" throughout the United States.

Despite the four judges' (which include three imams) assurances they will operate to show "non-Muslim communities that we are here in this country to spread peace and love," they present their case for even existing by speaking with some contempt for the U.S. legal system. They call it "costly" and consisting of "ineffective lawyers" and insist there can be no detachment "from the tenets of faith and all Islamic injunctions in regards to the legal field."

Although they say they simply want to assist Muslims in this country who are "discontent" with the local, state and federal legal system and so "postpone justice in this world and opt for an audience on the Day of Judgment," it is clear they hope to be much more of an influence, even "recognized" as a legal authority "by the courts."

"This may be incrementally developed by educating ourselves and also the legal professionals in the country, so understandably it may naturally take time to find its way to be commonly accepted..."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Imam’s rodeo prayer turns into Facebook dust-up" by Shirley Jinkins, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 1/30/15

Giving thanks at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo has become more diverse this year as officials have cast a wider net to include more faith-based groups that offer prayers before the bareback bronc riding begins.

While many of the comments on the Stock Show’s Facebook page were supportive of the more inclusive prayer policy, most were not. Opposition did not seem personally directed at Bakhach or his words, but expressed outrage at the inclusion of a member of the Islamic clergy during a time of violence and extremism involving radical Muslim terrorists.

The Fort Worth Stock Show has long featured a Christian flavor, from evangelical-like comments of longtime rodeo announcer Bob Tallman to the growing popularity of Cowboy Church, which is held Sunday mornings at the Will Rogers Auditorium.

Brad Barnes, president and general manager of the Stock Show, who is at each performance of the rodeo, said he saw no indication of anger in the crowd on Sunday, and he characterized Bakhach’s blessing as “spot-on” and “very appropriate.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Congress: America No Longer a Christian Nation

And read President Obama Praises Islam for Making America What It Is and his Secretary of State, John Kerry, Quotes Allah: We Must Fight Climate Change

CAIR-sponsored Texas Muslim Capitol Day - January 29, 2015:

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab: Calif. School

Although Principal Tom Rutten encouraged a Muslim student to organize 'Hijab Day' to teach non-Muslim school girls in suburban Sacramento, California how to properly dress as a Muslim, the school is now denying any involvement in the all-day project of the senior student who was an intern for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

“Hijab Day is a way of teaching tolerance and understanding of others.”
-- Tom Rutten, Principal, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School (NP3)

UPDATE 12/10/15: Teaching Christians Muslim Dress at Illinois School

UPDATE 4/19/15: Celebrate Islam 'Hijab Day' Canceled at Ohio School (due to public outcry)

For background, read Colorado School Visits Mosque, Enforces Sharia Law for Girls' Dress

And also read Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion as well as Muslims in Washington, D.C. Force Christmas Off School Calendar

And read Former Christian University Announces Muslim Prayers



-- From "‘Hijab Day’ Draws Unfair Criticism, School Says" by Nicole Comstock, KTXL-TV40 (Sacramento, CA)

[The unnamed Muslim student explained:]

“At a time when anti-Muslim sentiment is growing, I wanted to let my classmates and teachers know about the challenges that young Muslim women face when they put on a headscarf. It is unfortunate that a small effort to promote mutual understanding would provoke such a hate-filled and irrational response.

“NP3 Hijab Day was part of my Senior Project, meant to bring awareness to my campus about the misconceptions surrounding Islam, particularly those surrounding the headscarf. I invited a [CAIR] speaker to talk to faculty about addressing Islamophobia in the classroom and the challenges in the Muslim world, and they appreciated the open and frank discussion.”

Rutten said the campus has many student organized cultural days, as a way to teach and understand diversity.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Taxpayer-Funded School Celebrates Hijab Day" by Eric Owens, Education Editor, The Daily Caller 1/30/15

The school and the school district began to receive criticism after Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch publicized a Hijab Day flyer sent to him by a reader.

Spencer also claims that the same student delivered a presentation about Islam and Islamophobia at a meeting that was mandatory for school employees. A CAIR representative attended that meeting, he says.

Spencer, who holds a Master’s degree in religious studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote a weekly column for many years for Human Events. He now writes for PJ Media and FrontPage Magazine. He has spoken at dozens and dozens of prestigious universities and has led FBI and United States Army seminars on radical Islam.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "High school holds 'hijab day' for students" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 1/29/15

It was at Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School, also known as NP3, where officials posted a notice that said: “January 28, 2015. The hijab is a headcovering worn by Muslim women as a symbol of modesty and their devotion to God. GIRLS! Come to the library Wednesday morning and MSA [Muslim Student Association] members will assist you in putting your hijab on. You can bring ANY type of rectangular (or square) scarf that is bought at any store. (If you do not have any scarves, they will be provided for you to borrow for the day.)”

[Robert Spencer said,] “Would a Jewish or pro-Israel student be allowed to stage a similar day calling attention to anti-Semitism? If this included the rise in Islamic anti-Semitism in Europe and elsewhere, would this be allowed? Would you allow a Yarmulke Day at NP3 High?”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Virginity Advocacy Banned at Arkansas School

Virginia School Slow-walks Pro-life Club Approval

California School Bans Books by Christian Authors

California School Lawyers Strip Student's Jesus Speech

Saying 'Bless You' After Sneeze Gets Student Suspended

Also read myriad efforts by public schools to scrub Christian culture from campus.

D.C. Muslim Call to Prayer from National Cathedral

A first, in this Obamanation . . .

Today, the weekly Friday Muslim prayers are sounding from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. after desires by Cathedral officials to appear moderate by yielding to Islamic leaders.

“Let this be a lesson to the world.”
-- Rizwan Jaka, Muslim CAIR spokesman of Sterling, Virginia

“This is the place where we bury our presidents, where we bury our national heroes.”
-- Rev. Gina Campbell, National Cathedral

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

D.C. Muslims Force Christmas Off School Calendar

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

President Obama's National Cathedral is the Seat of Apostasy

President Obama Praises Islam for Making America What It Is

President Obama on Jihad: Islam is a Great Religion

-- From "In a first, Washington National Cathedral to host Friday Muslim prayer service" by Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post 11/10/14

The cathedral, part of the Episcopal Church . . . organizers said Monday that they are seeking to make a statement by having Muslim leaders come and hold their midday service in such a visible Christian house of worship.

The service, which will begin around 12:20 and is for invited guests only, developed out of a relationship between the cathedral’s director of liturgy, the Rev. Gina Campbell, and the South African ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, who is Muslim. The two worked together on a memorial service for Nelson Mandela, Jaka said.

“This is a dramatic moment in the world and in Muslim-Christian relations,” Rasool said in a prepared statement. “This needs to be a world in which all are free to believe and practice and in which we avoid bigotry, Islamaphobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Christianity and to embrace our humanity and to embrace faith.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Washington National Cathedral to Hold Friday Muslim Prayers" by Jerome Socolovsky, Voice of America 11/14/14

Prayer carpets have been laid out under the soaring arches of the Washington National Cathedral for an unprecedented Muslim worship service in one of America's best-known churches.

The carpets have been arrayed diagonally in the transept, to the side of the sanctuary, so that worshipers can face in the direction of Mecca without seeing crosses or Christian icons. Muslims are not supposed to pray in view of sacred symbols alien to their faith.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Washington National Cathedral Plans To Host Muslim Prayer Service" by Carol Kuruvilla, The Huffington Post 11/12/14

Muslims and people of other religious traditions have participated in Christian or Interfaith services at the Cathedral in the past. However, the November 14 event marks the first time American Muslims have been invited to lead their own traditional Jummah prayer inside the same sacred space that has hosted presidential funerals and other national religious services.

. . . While Rasool was standing in the Cathedral’s nave, he told Campbell that the building’s ornate carvings, arches, and long central aisle reminded him of ancient mosques.

“What struck me was how he could look at our building and see his mosque. That was a powerful moment,” Campbell told HuffPost. “To realize we could be standing in the same spot in the same building and see our own prayer traditions.”

The Jummah prayer is being held with the support of Muslim leaders from the the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), Masjid Muhammad (the Nation's Mosque), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). The service is for invited guests, but will be livestreamed at the Cathedral's website.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Washington's National Cathedral to host Muslim prayer service" by Matt Bradwell, UPI 11/14/14

Despite humanitarian intentions, news of the service was not met with universal praise, as some conservative corners of the national security community pointed out that Friday marks 100 years since the last sitting Caliph of the Ottoman Empire publicly called for war against non-Muslims.

"November 14th, 2014, will be the 100th anniversary of the last sitting Caliph of the Ottoman Empire's call for jihad against non-believers," wrote the independent Center for Security Policy in a letter to Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde.

"While for most westerners the November 14th Jihad declaration is little more than a footnote in the annuls of World War I, for Islamic supremacists like those associated with Muslim Brotherhood, it is a date pregnant with meaning. To permit such a public display, and permit such groups to occupy the National Cathedral of the United States on this date represents an affront to the memories of those who were killed as a result of this genocide, and an affront to those Christians across the Middle East who are currently under threat by those who seek to emulate it."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Muslim Brotherhood Hijacks National Cathedral" posted at Investor's Business Daily 11/12/14

Who are these [Muslim prayer] "organizers"? Members of known Muslim Brotherhood front groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). The Justice Department has identified both as belonging to the Hamas wing of the radical Brotherhood. It's also implicated them in a Hamas conspiracy to raise millions for Palestinian suicide bombers. These co-sponsors of the National Cathedral jumuah ("for invited guests only") remain unindicted co-conspirators in a major terror case.

CAIR is so toxic the FBI won't do outreach with the group. But cathedral clergy rolled out prayer rugs for it.

Another co-sponsor is the ADAMS (All Dulles Area Muslim Society) mosque of Northern Virginia, which the Brotherhood controls through deed-holder ISNA.

To read the entire editorial column above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Pres. Obama's Secretary of State, John Kerry, Quotes Allah: We Must Fight Climate Change

And read Congress: America No Longer a Christian Nation

D.C. Muslims Force Christmas Off School Calendar

The board of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools in suburban Washington, D.C. is more than happy to accommodate Islamic holidays but school officials say such a change would violate state law, so the board instead voted to strip all Christian and Jewish holiday names from the schedule, but this didn't satisfy the Muslim activists who demand parity.

UPDATE 9/23/15: Angry Muslims Demand School Holiday in New Jersey

For background, read New York Schools Observe Muslim Holidays, but Christmas? and also read Muslim Holiday Celebrated at Massachusetts Schools as well as Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

However, Citizens Force Islam Indoctrination Out of Ohio Middle School

In addition, read the myriad examples of public schools favoring Islam.



-- From "Religious holidays to no longer be on county's school calendar" posted at WBAL-TV11 (Baltimore, MD) 11/12/14

Yom Kippur, Christmas and other religious holidays will no longer be on the calendar at Montgomery County schools.

Students will still have those religious holidays off, but those holiday names, including Easter and Rosh Hashanah, won't be showing up on their calendars.

The county's Board of Education voted 7 to 1 on Tuesday to remove any mentions of religious holidays on calendars for the next school year.

The change stems from schools being closed for Jewish holidays but not for Muslim observances. Muslim leaders in the community asked that equal recognition be given to the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Holidays’ names stricken from next year’s Montgomery schools calendar" by Donna St. George, Washington Post 11/11/14

Board members said Tuesday that the new calendar will reflect days the state requires the system to be closed and that it will close on other days that have shown a high level of student and staff absenteeism. Though those days happen to coincide with major Christian and Jewish holidays, board members made clear that the days off are not meant to observe those religious holidays, which they say is not legally permitted.

It is unclear how many Muslim students attend Montgomery schools, but in 2013, Muslim community leaders urged Muslim families and their supporters to keep students home for Eid ­al-Adha, hoping that the number of absentees would be persuasive as they made their case for a school closing. Montgomery school officials reported that absences for that day — 5.6 percent of students and 5 percent of teachers — were only somewhat higher than a comparable day the previous week.

Students who miss classes on religious holidays are given excused absences. But Muslim families have argued that students should not have to choose between their faith and their schoolwork and that missing even a day leaves many students behind. They say the day off is a matter of equity, with Christian and Jewish students getting days off for their holidays.

Several board members pledged to produce a clearer standard for the kind of operational impacts that might lead to further consideration of closing schools on a Muslim holiday in the future. The calendar change Tuesday affects only the next school year.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Montgomery Co. ed board strips religious holiday references from new calendar" posted at WTOP-FM103.5 (Washington, D.C.) 11/12/14

Saqib Ali, a former Maryland state delegate and co-chair of Equality for Eid, was not happy with the board of education's action Tuesday.

"Equality is really what we're looking for," Ali said. "Simply saying we're not going to call this Christmas, and we're not going to call this Yom Kippur, and still closing the schools, that's not equality."

School board members said they were sympathetic to the desire to have Eid recognized and close schools but that legal precedent in Maryland bars them from closing for religious purposes.

That explanation doesn't sit well with Zainab Chaudry, with the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR].

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "'Equality 4 Eid Coalition' Rally" posted at Montgomery Community Media

Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal joined the Equality 4 Eid Coalition and other community leaders on Sept. 23 to urge Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) staff and students—Muslim and non-Muslim—to stay home from school on Tuesday, Oct. 15 to help celebrate the holiday Eid al-Adha in solidarity with their Muslim friends.

There are two major holidays on the Muslim calendar. Eid al-Fitr is a celebration to mark the end of the month of Ramadan. Over the next three years, Eid al-Fitr will fall in summer, when schools are closed. Eid al-Adha, which marks the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, will falls on autumn dates over the next three years.

The coalition said that it has found at least six school districts in the U.S. that close for the Muslim holiday. They are Burlington, Vt., Cambridge, Mass., Dearborn, Mi.; Paterson, N.J.; Skokie, Ill.; and Trenton, N.J.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.



And also read about the rebellion against Christmas by secularists, including by President Obama.

Minn. School Admits Pro-Muslim/Anti-Christian Bias

This week, the Bagley, Minnesota school district agreed that their action in October of forbidding an Egyptian-born, American Christian pastor from speaking in the school auditorium during non-school hours violated his right of free speech, and that of local taxpayers who organized the event.  The school, bowing to pressure from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) because the pastor planned to present evidence of Muslim violence against Christians, cancelled his speaking engagement.

"We asked to change the venue to the [Calvary Evangelical Free Church] because the speaker did not appear to coincide with school district policy."
-- Steve Cairns, Superintendent of Bagley Public Schools, said in October.

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Muslim Beheads Christians in New Jersey per Koran

Islam Favored over Christianity in Florida Textbook

Muslim Prayer in Wisconsin School

Tennessee School Visits Mosque, No Time for Church

Islam Indoctrination Dropped at Ohio Middle School

Public School Teaching Islam Closed by Minnesota

Teaching Islam in Georgia Schools Challenged

UPDATE 2/10/15: Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

-- From "Bagley Schools deny anti-Islamist speaker" by Crystal Dey, Bemidji (Minnesota) Pioneer 10/30/13

Originally slated to speak at the Bagley High School Sunday through Tuesday, [Usama] Dakdok’s location was shifted to the church. The school had received calls from people who disagreed with Dakdok’s anti-Islamic message.

Dakdok spoke at the Calvary Evangelical Free Church on Sunday and Monday before a full house, according to a representative of the church, with approximately a dozen protesters outside [decrying the message of Dakdok]. Pastor Rick Moore could not be reached for comment.

Dakdok describes himself as an Egyptian born Christian who was taught Islam in a government school in Egypt. He came to the United States in 1992 and has since been preaching his ministry in effort to, "reach out to the Muslim people with the word of Jesus Christ."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Christian Speaker Draws Protesters for 'Anti-Muslim Message' at Minn. Church" by Morgan Lee, Christian Post Reporter 10/31/13

About a dozen individuals showed up on Sunday to protest Dakdok, the director of Straight Road Ministries, an organization seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity and "expose the lies of the enemy who is seeking to keep people away from the truth of salvation in Christ." Despite the presence of protesters, the audience was full for both Dakdok's Sunday and Monday sessions.

According to his website, Dakdok converted to Christianity as an 11-year-old and came to the United States in 1992. He holds a Master's Degree in Missiology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and founded The Straight Way in 2001.

Last December, Dakdok earned the ire of the Council of American-Islamic Relations Minnesota (CAIR-MN) in a talk titled, "The Truth about Islam," where he claimed that an Islamic revival in the country would lead Muslims to "start beheading your children and your grandchildren."

Dakdok also claimed that Muslims in America would "kill your children for not eating what is liked. For not eating the lawful foods" and alleged that for Msulims "killing you is a small matter."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Public School Reverses Viewpoint Discrimination Decision" posted at Liberty Counsel 12/27/13

Usama Dakdok was subjected to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by the Bagley Independent School. Dakdok was invited by residents of the small, northern city to share his story of growing up in Egypt, attending government schools, and witnessing the persecution of other Coptic Christians by fundamentalist Muslims.

A local Bagley resident rented the auditorium for the dates of October 27-29, 2013. The school district revoked the use of the facility four days before the event after the local Council on American Islamic Relations (“CAIR”) affiliate created controversy.

After receiving Liberty Counsel’s letter, Bagley School District reversed the decision and confirmed that Mr. Dakdok may return to hold the event [sometime in the future].

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "School reverses CAIR-sought silencing of Christian" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 12/27/13

“Usama Dakdok is a Christian originally from Egypt, who grew up in that country attending government schools where he was educated about Islam as the state religion. In Egypt, as a member of the Coptic ethnic minority, Mr. Dakdok has also personally witnessed the persecution of other Coptic Christians by fundamentalist Muslims. As you may be aware in Egypt (as elsewhere), the Quran is explicitly cited as justification for the burning of churches, raping of women, murder of both sexes and all ages through beheading and other methods, forced ‘marriage’ of Christian women and girls to Muslim men and their forcible ‘conversion’ to Islam, payment of the ‘jizya’ tax for the privilege of remaining Christian,and other persecution that is inflicted upon members of the Coptic Christian ethnic and religious minority,” Liberty Counsel told the district.

So he is “uniquely qualified to give a Christian perspective about life under shariah (Islamic religious) law, and is a sought-after public speaker.”

Regarding his appearance in Minnesota, he had been invited by residents of the community to speak. A local resident, Tammy Godwin, made arrangements to use the school.

The national CAIR organization was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding trial, and a review of the public record, including federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read President Obama Praises Islam for Making America What It Is

In addition, read Christians, Extinct in Middle East, as Islam Wins as well as U.N. and Muslims to Strip U.S. of Religious Liberty