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America to Rethink of its Role in Global Affairs
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America to Rethink of its Role in Global Affairs

By Mahboob A Khawaja

America under President Trump continues to foster an agenda of extreme perplexity, triviality and confusion in dealing with urgent global affairs. If the administration were to learn from the history, it must be candid, focused and redirect its strengths and weaknesses from the past and usher a new strategic direction of change and adaptability to the present and futuristic challenges of collaborative understanding with all the global powers. This should include the conflict in Syria, Iran nuclear deal, agreement on climate change and pursuing a balanced approach to Israel-Palestine issues.

How to Comprehend the Contradictions of the US Policy Behavior?

Lacking the visionary leadership, President Obama lost precious time and opportunities to deliver "Yes, We Can." Now, President Trump is making headlines with inherent stagnation of inner look on the current global affairs. Every day is becoming a strange new media theater of absurdity, not distinguishing between the problems and solutions. American politics endured wide range of human, intellectual, political and material losses because of the wrong thinking, wrong actions and dubious performance of the former Obama and Bush administrations. The war agenda destroyed America's capacity and credibility as an influential global power. The perpetrators of prolonged war agenda floating above the normal mindset must be abnormal - insane - irresponsible, utterly individualistic paranoid to make such move on behalf of the people who elected them for change and peacemaking.

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Sixteen Years After 9/11, Iran Remains A Threat To America
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Sixteen Years After 9/11, Iran Remains A Threat To America

By David Ibsen

Inside Secoutces, After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Americans collectively searched for answers about who was behind the terror attack and why it occurred. While Osama bin Laden will forever be known as the mastermind of the tragedy, Iran's role in the devastating attacks, and its collusion with al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations more generally, must not be overlooked.

An early 1990s meeting in Sudan between an emissary of Iran and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, culminated in a decision to put aside Sunni-Shia divisions in favor of an Iran-al-Qaeda pact to conspire against the U.S. As a report by the 9/11 Commission would state, ''discussions in Sudan between al-Qaida and Iranian operatives led to an informal agreement to cooperate in … actions carried out primarily against Israel and the United States.''

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Mourning For 9/11, But Please Mourn For The Rest Of The World Too
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Mourning For 9/11, But Please Mourn For The Rest Of The World Too

Marwan Adina

You woke up today. Brushed your teeth. Prayed. Got dressed for work/school. Maybe even rolled back into bed. It was a normal day today. Until you looked at a calendar. Put on a hijab. Said good morning to your non-Muslim colleagues. Classmates. Friends.

We all know the frustrated, heart-aching feeling of waking up Muslim every year on Sept. 11. If you're scrolling through social media, buying key chains, or even holding a conversation, 9/11 remembrance will flood your timeline, design print, and dialogue. How can we ever forget the tragic and Islamically condemned fall of the Twin Towers when marketing teams have branded and monetized the slogan "Never forget." How can we forget the emptiness Ground Zero radiated in the atmosphere when our morale was just as lifeless after our own nation blamed us for the terror. How can we forget the time(s) terrorists hijacked our religion to execute political revenge attack(s).

In truth, I don't think any of us want to forget. I don't think we ever will forget. Many of us did lose friends and family during that attack. Almost all of us experienced some form of trauma/threats/abuse from 9/11 simply for being/looking Muslim. Frankly, we shouldn't, in any case, forget events like this that cause terror on nations and result in civilian casualty.

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Another Reality of 9/11, 16 Years Later: Reflections of a Pakistani Muslim Woman
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Another Reality of 9/11, 16 Years Later: Reflections of a Pakistani Muslim Woman

HANAMALIK

I was born on Aug. 2, 1996 into a Pakistani-American, Muslim family. Five years before the attack on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City. Those five years that I can no longer remember would be the only time in my life that Islamophobia was not attached to my identity. That I did not need to defend my religion excessively, in light of every crime that took place by someone who called themselves "Muslim." Although racism and discrimination prevailed before 9/11, no one could anticipate what the country would experience following the attacks led by Osama bin Laden. No one could anticipate the gross, misleading interpretations of the Qur'an that would ensue. And no one could fathom that in response to the thousands of innocent individuals that lost their lives on 9/11, thousands more would be tormented, killed and attacked simply because they identified as Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Indian, Pakistani, Bengali and any other South Asian or foreign-seeming ethnicity.

THOSE FIVE YEARS THAT I CAN NO LONGER REMEMBER WOULD BE THE ONLY TIME IN MY LIFE THAT ISLAMOPHOBIA WAS NOT ATTACHED TO MY IDENTITY

At about 8:46 A.M. on Sept. 11, 2001, five hijackers that had been associated with al-Qaeda crashed an American Airlines flight into the North Tower. Approximately 17 minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., another group of terrorists hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 and crashed the plane into the South Tower, between the 77th and 85th floors. The South Tower collapsed first, after burning for about 56 minutes. After burning for 102 minutes, the North Tower collapsed as well. As debris fell, surrounding buildings were also damaged and smaller fires had spread.

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After Attacks, Spain's Moroccans Fear Rising Islamophobia
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After Attacks, Spain's Moroccans Fear Rising Islamophobia

Since last week's IS-claimed attacks, mosques have been desecrated, and Muslims attacked, with the Moroccan community targeted

I was in a public garden when I heard Spanish children tell Moroccan children who were also playing in the park: 'Moroccans! Terrorists!' It really saddened me."

Ouafa, a mother of two, has been living in Barcelona for a few years, and like other Moroccans contacted by Middle East Eye, she is worried.

Since the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, which killed 15 people and injured more than 120 on 17 August, and the identification of the assailants as Moroccans and Spaniards of Moroccan origin, something has changed.

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When anti-Semitism and Islamophobia join hands: The racist vortex
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Farid Hafez

When anti-Semitism and Islamophobia join hands: The racist vortex

The campaign against George Soros is fuelling a dangerous symbiosis between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, argues political scientist Farid Hafez

There was probably a time when the current leader of the Hungarian conservative party, Fidesz, Viktor Orban, was quite grateful to George Soros. Back in 1988, as a 25-year-old fresh law graduate, he became a member of the Central-Eastern Europe study group funded by the Soros Foundation. A year later, he received a Soros scholarship to study British liberal political philosophy at Pembroke College, Oxford University.

And in more recent times, Soros donated $1m to Orban's government to cope with the environmental disaster in the town of Devecser, which was flooded with toxic sludge from a nearby aluminium factory in 2010.

But today, Orban has no words of gratitude for Soros. Rather, he has launched a vicious campaign against his former benefactor. And while his aggressive rhetoric is verging on anti-Semitism, the Hungarian prime minister has also – strangely enough – managed to weave in Islamophobic threads into his verbal attacks on Soros. And surprisingly (or not), this symbiosis of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia has been well received elsewhere in Europe and even the US.

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Google Should Turn Its Attention To Battling Islamophobia
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Mohammed Sinan Siyech

Google Should Turn Its Attention To Battling Islamophobia

Google launched its Redirect programme last year which subtly redirects potential online Islamist terrorists to sites with existing moderate Islamic narratives, a move emulated by other tech companies. This step should be applied to prevent Islamophobia too.

Governmental inability to effectively halt and counter the massive online propaganda efforts of terrorist groups such as the so-called Islamic State (IS) has resulted in an increased reliance on private sector companies to curb their dominance online.

To this end, Google's think-tank Jigsaw launched its Redirect programme last year, a feature subsequently adopted by YouTube this year.

The programme, which operates much like a targeted advertising campaign, regulated more than 1,700 key words frequently searched by Islamist extremists to divert them to pre-existing, anti-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) playlists. For example, users were directed to videos of long lines of people waiting for food in Isis-controlled territory, a subtle dig at the group's competency, which was designed to repel vulnerable individuals from the group.

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Muslim groups criticize Wilders' 'Moroccan scum' comments
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By Islamophobia Reports

Muslim groups criticize Wilders' 'Moroccan scum' comments

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Muslim organizations in the Netherlands have criticized disparaging comments about Moroccans made by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, but say they are just the latest in a long string of insults.

Launching his campaign Saturday for the Netherlands' March 15 parliamentary election, Wilders criticized what he called "Moroccan scum" for making the Netherlands unsafe.

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One converted to Islam, the other went to far-right rallies: a modern tale of tw
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By Islamophobia Reprts

One converted to Islam, the other went to far-right rallies: a modern tale of two brothers

They were party animals from the Midlands. Now a TV series explores the lives of Abdul and Lee

In their youth, brothers Shaun and Lee did what they describe as the usual things: "getting wrecked" – drink, drugs, clubbing, gambling. "The party was always at our house, put it that way. And I was the host," said Shaun.

But Shaun has since become Abdul, a convert to Islam whose life is governed by his devotion to Allah and the strict demands of his faith. Meanwhile, Lee travelled around the country to anti-Muslim rallies organised by the English Defence League. The brothers have taken starkly different directions. But Abdul told the Observer: "I know Lee loves me and I love him."

The brothers' story is told in a three-part Channel 4 series, Extremely British Muslims. Based on a year of filming in and around Birmingham Central Mosque, one of the biggest in the UK, it aims "to show what ordinary Muslims' lives are like beyond the negative headlines", said series producer Fozia Khan.

Bella and Nayera are seen navigating Muslim marriage protocols in their search for love; Waz and Nav struggle against the stereotypes of young Muslim men in the media; Zaidan feels caught between his passion for the Birmingham grime scene and his desire to have "true purpose"; and Sidrah wants people to understand there is a person behind her niqab.

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Five Considerations When Refuting The Critics Of Islamophobia
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By Dr Chris Allen

Five Considerations When Refuting The Critics Of Islamophobia

Following on from the oral evidence I gave to the Home Affairs Committee at a session on the impacts of hate crime, I was asked to pull together a short briefing paper on how we might move towards establishing a working definition of Islamophobia (the final draft can be found here).

As with any discriminatory phenomenon, the process of definition can be complex and contentious and Islamophobia is no different in this respect. However unlike other discriminatory phenomena such as racism, Islamophobia has a far shorter history. It should be remembered that in its current manifestation, the term Islamophobia only entered the public and political lexicon two decades ago. Consequently, thinking and understanding about the phenomenon remains less developed than it does for other similar phenomena.

Nonetheless, numerous definitions of Islamophobia currently exist ranging from the academic and scholarly, through the community and advocacy sectors, to the policy and political. Few have acquired widespread acceptance however and so the search for 'the one' has become something of a search for El Dorado. But as with El Dorado, so too is it a myth to believe that conceiving and establishing a working definition of Islamophobia will simplify the phenomenon's complexity or overcome its contestation.

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NEGATIVE MEDIA COVERAGE OF MUSLIMS LED TO TRUMP'S RISE
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By Islamophobia Reports

NEGATIVE MEDIA COVERAGE OF MUSLIMS LED TO TRUMP'S RISE

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan ― There is a golden rule of compassion: do unto others what you would have others do unto you. Yet, in today's world, we have seen racial and religious hatred directed towards women and minorities mainstreamed. Violent hatred in the West has reached an all time climax, with some of President-elect Trump's supporters promoting the KKK and even Hitler with graffiti on school and campus walls and acts of harassment and intimidation towards minorities across the U.S.. Recently, Chinese girls on university campuses have tweeted about how they have been abused and told to get out of America. Muslim women have had their hijabs pulled off violently and even set on fire. African Americans who have lived in America for generations have been abused and violently told to "get the f***k out of this country, b**ch!" Mosques, synagogues and churches have sadly become sites of racial and religious abuse. The rise of President Trump in the U.S. (and for those who did not vote for him do not give up hope for he may be as good a president as he is a successful businessman?), the success of Brexit in the U.K., the increased popularity of Golden Dawn in Greece and the potential presidency of Marine Le Pen in France did not come out of the blue – the scene has been prepared for them, consciously or unconsciously over the last few decades.

I have been watching with deep concern over the last three decades a systematic attack on a certain minority community ― Muslims and their faith identity, Islam. When I was living in the U.K. as a scholar more than two decades ago, I recall the systematic negative reporting on Islam in general and Pakistan in particular. Like so many other friends of mine (non-Muslims and Muslims), this problematic coverage bothered me because first, it was not always factually correct and second, it was vitriolic. I wrote to Channel 4 in response to a negative documentary they released but nothing came of this feedback.

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The "War On Terror" In The Coming Presidency Of Hillary Clinton
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By Garibaldi of Loonwatch

The "War On Terror" In The Coming Presidency Of Hillary Clinton

A flashback to a scene from the early years of America's "War on Terror" and how the US put the Muslim American community under a national microscope, pressuring it to police it's own communities. Back then some Muslim institutions reacted to the pressure by creating campaigns to prevent radicalization and terrorism. Today the US government is doing the same through programs such as Countering Violent Extremism (CVE).

The main talking point of a 2004 news conference by US Attorney General John Ashcroft was to tell the American public the not-so-earth-shattering news that "Alqaeda intends to attack the United States in the coming months." Ashcroft shared photographs of seven people being sought in connection with terrorism investigations. CNN described another portion of Ashcroft's address which focused on possible threats in these strange terms,

He also warned that terrorists may not have a typical look and that 'the face of al Qaeda may be changing.' Our intelligence confirms al Qaeda is seeking recruits who can portray themselves as Europeans,' he said." (emphasis mine)

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FBI Tried To Lure Orlando Shooter Into Terror Plot In 2013
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FBI Tried To Lure Orlando Shooter Into Terror Plot In 2013

A police officer in Florida has revealed that Omar Mateen was targeted by an FBI informant in a failed attempt to push him to commit a terror attack.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation tried to ''lure'' Orlando shooter Omar Mateen into committing a terror plot in 2013 through the planting of an informant in his life, revelations that raise serious questions about the FBI's indirect role in shaping the recent Orlando terror attack through its entrapment policies.

In an exclusive interview published June 15, Sheriff Ken Mascara of Florida's St. Lucie County told the Vero Beach Press Journal that the FBI dispatched an informant to ''lure Omar into some kind of act'' but he ''did not bite.''

The plan, Mascara said, came after Mateen had threatened a courthouse deputy by saying he could order al-Qaida operatives to kill his family.

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Dear politicians: Muslim Americans aren't just tools in the war on terror
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By Jennifer Williams

Dear politicians: Muslim Americans aren't just tools in the war on terror

Islamophobia is becoming a big enough problem in the US that presidential candidates are now getting asked about it. That's a positive development, and fortunately many of them are responding by arguing firmly that this is a problem that must be challenged. Unfortunately, though, many are giving a politically safe answer that carries some very negative connotations, and in some ways is as much a part of the problem as it is the solution.

Sen. Marco Rubio was the latest to do this. In Saturday's Republican debate, he was asked whether he would visit a mosque, as President Obama did last week. In his response, which I've reproduced in part below, he repeated the all-too-common argument that American Muslims should be treated with respect so that they will help US law enforcement in combating terrorism (my emphasis added):

First of all, let's recognize this. If you go to a national cemetery in this country, you will see Stars of Davids and crosses, but you see crescent moons. There are brave men and women who happen to be Muslim Americans who are serving this country in uniform and who have died in the service of this country. And we recognize that and we honor that.

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Islamophobia Kills
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Islamophobia Kills

The deadliest mass shooting in American history happened because of Islamophobia.

Islamophobia killed 49 people in Orlando. It didn't kill 49 Muslims. Instead it allowed Omar Mateen, a Muslim terrorist, to kill 49 people in the name of his Islamic ideology and the Islamic State.

Omar, like so many other Muslim killers, could have been stopped. He talked about killing people when he worked at G4S Security, a Federal contractor that provided services to the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. But, according to one of the co-workers he stalked, a former police officer, his employers refused to do anything about it because he was a Muslim.

The FBI conducted an investigation of Omar Mateen. They put him on a watch list and sent informants. They interviewed him and concluded that his claims of Al Qaeda ties and terrorist threats were reactions to ''being marginalized because of his Muslim faith.'' Omar told the agents that he said those things because ''his co-workers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim.''

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Noor Zahi Salman: Everything You're Hearing About Me Is a Lie Updated
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Sam Husseini

Noor Zahi Salman: Everything You're Hearing About Me Is a Lie Updated

[Addendum: My source has now been in direct communication with Noor Zahi Salman. She says that she has read this article. She states in a text which I have seen that instead of blaming her, since she had nothing to do with the shooting, shouldn't the people who sold the guns take some blame? She writes all she wanted ''was a home, family, and peace for the media to say these lies isn't right.''

[A friend, who is with her, adds: ''It is not an easy time for her ... and having a child ask a mother 'where is daddy' can't be easy and for New York Post to show her son's face is not right.'' Text added June 16 at approx 12:15 ET a.m.]

Original Article [June 15, 2016] :

Virtually everything in the media about Noor Zahi Salman, Omar Mateen's wife, is from anonymous government sources. They lie in situations like this.

Such anonymous sourcing helped facilitate the lies used to invade Iraq and countless other horrific policies. They're doubly dangerous during a panic, consider that after government anthrax killed people in 2001, Andrew Sullivan talked about using nuclear weapons.

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I'm on the Kill List. This is what it feels like to be hunted by drones
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Malik Jalal

I'm on the Kill List. This is what it feels like to be hunted by drones

Friends decline my invitations and I have taken to sleeping outside under the trees, to avoid becoming a magnet of death for my family

I am in the strange position of knowing that I am on the 'Kill List'. I know this because I have been told, and I know because I have been targeted for death over and over again. Four times missiles have been fired at me. I am extraordinarily fortunate to be alive.

I don't want to end up a ''Bugsplat'' the ugly word that is used for what remains of a human being after being blown up by a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator drone. More importantly, I don't want my family to become victims, or even to live with the droning engines overhead, knowing that at any moment they could be vaporized.

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Head Of Germany's Protestant Church Wants Islam Taught In State Schools
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Head Of Germany's Protestant Church Wants Islam Taught In State Schools

Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm called for ''tolerance'' and ''religious freedom'' in a recent interview.

The head of the Protestant Church in Germany has called for Islam to be taught in state schools across the country as a way to make young Muslims impervious to the ''temptation of fundamentalists.''

Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm told the Heilbronner Stimme newspaper that teaching Islam in schools nationwide would give Muslim pupils a chance to take a critical approach to their own religion.

Seven of Germany's 16 federal states offer some form of Islamic religion classes in their schools, similar to the Catholic and Protestant religion classes they have traditionally had. Germany has about four million Muslims, about five percent of the total population.

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Ending the Terror Campaign Against Muslims
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By Caitlin Steinke

Ending the Terror Campaign Against Muslims

Most of us recall the anti-Muslim violence that skyrocketed in the wake of 9/11. Brown men and women perceived to be Muslim were murdered, attacked, spat on and threatened. Mosques were vandalized with bullets, rocks and Molotov cocktails. Many Muslims cancelled their plans to visit or study in the United States out of concerns for their safety, while those already within our borders feared the worst for themselves and their children.

Despite the pleas of the Bush administration to not blame all Muslims for the violent acts of a few, such language was rendered meaningless by the actions of the U.S. government. In response to 9/11, the U.S. government subjected Muslims in the United States to persistent harassment and intimidation and implemented formal policies to abduct Muslims from all corners of the globe, torture Muslims at CIA black sites, hold Muslims in secret prisons, and deny Muslim detainees even the most basic due process. There were calls for the U.S. military to "nuke" Islamic countries, and for Americans to defeat Islam before it could defeat the United States.

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5 Ways Journalists Can Avoid Islamophobia In Their Coverage
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By Gabriel Arana

5 Ways Journalists Can Avoid Islamophobia In Their Coverage

It is the duty of journalists to inform and educate. But when it comes to Islam and the Muslim community -- in the U.S. and across the world -- news outlets have far too often served to spread misinformation and perpetuate prejudice. Whether it's networks running segments asking if Islam is a violent religion or anchors demanding Muslim guests account for the acts of religious extremists, Islamophobia crops up in coverage whenever terrorism or the Middle East are in the news.

Some of the bad coverage is the result of willful prejudice and ignorance; it's hard to imagine any amount of information getting the Sean Hannitys and Bill O'Reillys of the world to stop spreading hate.

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Islamophobia: When Freedom From Fear Is a Fantasy
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By Curt Goering

Islamophobia: When Freedom From Fear Is a Fantasy

Rights and freedoms are the focus of this year's Human Rights Day, according to the UN. Those rights and freedoms -- freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear -- are the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which applies to all human beings. But this year in particular, that last one, "freedom from fear," gets stuck in my throat. Because we're not all free from fear these days. Not by a long shot. Not while ISIS perpetrates indiscriminate attacks. Not while Bashar al-Assad wages terror on his own people. Not while Iraqis in the religious minorities are targeted for kidnappings and extortion. And not while young Eritreans must either flee their country or face a lifetime of military conscription. And people cannot be free from fear when political leaders in the United States -- a country that prides itself upon being a beacon of hope and freedom -- threaten to close their doors to refugees fleeing unspeakable cruelty and atrocity. Not while longtime refugees in the United States are targeted, shunned and attacked.

We at CVT have worked for 30 years to help survivors of torture secure basic human rights - to be free from torture and to have access to rehabilitative care. Refugees flee their homes because of persecution and war, but they come to the United States because of a deeply-held belief in the promise that is America: the promise of freedom, safe harbor and opportunity. Upon arrival in the United States, refugees speak of the exhilaration they feel in breathing air of optimism and hope. But given the current climate of heinous backlash against refugees in this country, the ground feels like it's shifting beneath our feet. How on earth did we get here?

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Chris Herbert, Amputee Soldier, Nails Why Blaming All Muslims For ISIS Is Ridicu
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EsinIslam Reports - Islamophobia

Chris Herbert, Amputee Soldier, Nails Why Blaming All Muslims For ISIS Is Ridiculous In Facebook Post

A soldier who lost his leg has summed up perfectly why blaming the world's Muslim population for the terrorist actions of the Islamic State group is deeply flawed.

Chris Herbert posted the message on Facebook on Tuesday because he was "frustrated by some people expecting racism" from him, because he "got blown up".

In the post, which has been shared more than 25,000 times, he details all the incredible things that Muslim people have done to help him, as well as unpleasant experiences he has had with 'White Brits'.

He concludes: "Although, a lot of people helped in my recovery! I don't hate white brits either! hahaha)

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When It Comes to Arson Attacks on a Mosque, We Are All Muslims
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By Caroline Russell

When It Comes to Arson Attacks on a Mosque, We Are All Muslims

I was shocked to hear the news of Friday night's attempted arson attack at Finsbury Park Mosque, which is on the boundary of my ward and is used by many of my constituents. I have taken part in some of the open days they have run for schools and the rest of the community, so I feel I know the place reasonably well. Thank goodness for the rain that mean the fire went out and did not take hold.

I am even more shocked by some of the comments I found on Twitter. I probably shouldn't be surprised that there are people lurking in the darker corners of social media who think it's acceptable to publicly wish for every mosque in the country to be burned down, "preferably when full to the rafters". But in this case those worshippers are my friends, neighbours and constituents, and hate-filled attitudes like that sicken me to the stomach.

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London Islamophobia: Hate crimes against Muslims soared 47% as Met Police predic
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By Lewis Dean

London Islamophobia: Hate crimes against Muslims soared 47% as Met Police predicts Paris attack reprisals

Islamophobic hate crimes like the petrol bomb attack on Finsbury Park Mosque soared by 47% in the past year across London. Figures show there were 845 offences in the 12 months to October, up from 576 the previous year.

The Metropolitan Police believes the crime rate soared as a result of more victims reporting crimes, but it also believes world events can play a part in increase anti-Muslim sentiment, suggesting there could have been a spike in the number of attacks in the wake of the Paris attacks.

"We believe the increase in Islamophobic hate crime is due to a range of factors," a Met spokesman said. "This includes a growing willingness of victims to report hate crime, an improved awareness of staff in identifying these offences; and work with partners to support victims. World events can also contribute to a rise in hate crime."

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The Campaign For Dr. Aafia Siddiqui & Mumia Abu-Jamal
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By El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan

The Campaign For Dr. Aafia Siddiqui & Mumia Abu-Jamal

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):

This is coming to our readers from Raleigh, NC, where I shared a few thoughts with brothers and sisters who were in attendance at the Islamic Association of Raleigh (IAR) last night.

We have now entered the second month of the special three month drive for our sister, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui - an initiative that will culminate in demonstrations (on the home front) in New York City and Fort Worth, Texas. There will also, no doubt, be demonstrations in other parts the world on or around March 30, 2013.

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Why Isn't The Murder Of an American Boy An impeachable Offense?
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By Jacob G. Hornberger

Why Isn't The Murder Of an American Boy An impeachable Offense?

Article 2, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution reads as follows: The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice for matters arising out of the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.

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The National-Security State And The Dark Side: The Post-9/11 Kidnappings, Tortur
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By Jacob G. Hornberger

The National-Security State And The Dark Side: The Post-9/11 Kidnappings, Torture, Renditions, Indefinite Incarcerations

It seems to me that the most ardent proponents of such things as assassination, indefinite detention, torture, and assassination would concede that all these things reflect a dark side to which our nation has been led since 9/11. They would tell us, however, that such things are just necessary to protect our nation in the "war on terrorism" and to defend "our rights and freedoms" from those who would take them away.

Unfortunately, all too many Americans have bought into this notion. Their feeling is that while they might be discomforted by the dark things that the national-security state is doing to people, they can be excused because they are being done in the defense of our nation and of "our rights and freedoms."

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Who Is Dr Aafia Siddiqui & Why Did Algerian Kidnappers Demand Her Release?
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By El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan

The Algerian Hostage Crisis And Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):

This message is coming to our readers from New Jersey. I begin with a somber announcement. Yesterday I received a [missed] call from my sister-in-Islam, Dr. Asha A. Samad - she also sent me an e-mail with the following message:

Have you heard that Imam Omar abu Namous died this morning after fajr? Yesterday his qutba was about death... Alhamdulillah for long, motivational, exemplary faithful life during difficult times.

--- Sis. Asha A. Samad

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The Omnipotent Power To Assassinate Any Of Us: Obama's Decision To Assassin
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By Jacob G. Hornberger

The Omnipotent Power To Assassinate Any Of Us: Obama's Decision To Assassinate The 16-year-old Son Of Anwar al-Awlaki

Suppose an American citizen who is openly critical of governmental policy decides to take a trip overseas, say to Yemen. Suppose that President Obama orders the military and the CIA to assassinate him while he is traveling within Yemen. Suppose the order is carried out and that that American is, in fact, assassinated.

Most Americans would consider such an assassination to be a grave wrong. They might not like the criticism that the American was leveling against the federal government, but they would ardently oppose the idea of assassinating the man based simply on the fact that he was criticizing the government.

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The Fabricated Fatwa Of the Saudi Cleric: Zionist And Islamophobic Connections
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By El-Hajj M Saalakhan

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):

The Fabricated Fatwa Of the Saudi Cleric: Zionist And Islamophobic Connections

About nine hours ago I responded to an unfortunate report that was being disseminated through one of the online groups that I'm connected with. The report contained the outrageous claim that a Saudi cleric had issued a "fatwa" that permitted the rape of Syrian women by the so-called liberators of Syria. (That alone should have raised a number of red flags for any thinking person!)

My response was as follows:

This so-called "fatwa" is so bizarre, and violative of Islam, that I was immediately interested in checking the source. It should be noted that on the website where this is found there is also an editor's note (not included in the forwarded release) which reads as follows:

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