What was surprising about this event was that it didn’t take place in a region that has never seen or heard about Muslims or Islam before — this was Orange County, California.

Deborah Paly speaks at the protest.

And while Orange County might be infamous for being extremely right wing and politically conservative, it was shocking to see this kind of backlash against Muslims in their own community, as the Muslim community in Orange County is fairly large and has been there for decades.

Interestingly enough, this protest happened at an ICNA Relief fundraiser to build a homeless shelter for women, fight against hunger and other reliefs programs for Southern California. Yet protesters were shouting slogans such as, “Never forget 911,” “We like our U.S. Constitution,” “Under One God not Allah” and “We don’t want your Shariah law here.”

As I was watching the video of the protest, I asked myself “Is it their fault they are misguided and uninformed or is it our own fault as the Muslim community for not communicating what Muslims really believe?” One can only wonder if any of them were aware the meeting inside the building was how to improve the community they live in.

I believe that if these protesters knew that it was a fundraiser to build a homeless shelter for women, fight against hunger and other relief programs, as opposed to thinking Muslims are trying to replace the U.S. Constitution with “Shariah law,” many of them would not be in opposition.

Yes, many who have hatred towards Islam and Muslims would still be there, but the numbers would a lot less. And yes, the protest was organized by politicians and city officials, but the bulk of the protesters were residents of Orange County.

The sad reality is that there are some non-Muslim Americans that believe in the myth that Muslims in America want to “take over and rule this country” like “they do for the rest of the world”.

The average citizen of Orange County is not Buddhist, Hindu, or Sikh but you don’t see people protesting outside the meetings or places of worship of those religions. Why? Because even though they don’t follow those faiths they don’t see them as a threat to their way of life.

As such, it is now on the shoulders of the Muslim American community to educate their non-Muslim community members on who Muslims really are and what they stand for.

If I had the opportunity to talk to those protesters I would have told them that just like you all, we Muslims are against child molestation, domestic violence and want women’s rights.

Just like you all, we believe in the God of Abraham. We follow Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jesus and the Virgin Mary, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and Noah and all the Prophets Christians and Jews believe in (peace be upon all of them).

The reason for this fundraiser is to raise funds for a shelter for the homeless and battered women here in Orange County. Just like all of you we want to make this community a better place. Yes, we have a different faith and beliefs, but our religion does not teach us to force others to convert or for us to impose Islam or Shariah on others.

As we practice our faith, it teaches us to abide by the local laws of the land. We believe and abide by the U.S. Constitution, State, County and city laws just like all other Americans. If you want me to go home, I’d have to go back to Northern California but I like SoCal too!

UCLA’s National Lawyers Guild, Law Students for Justice in Palestine and the ACLU present:

The Climate for Student Protest: The Case of the Irvine 11
Wednesday March 9, 2011 at 12:15
Law School 1430 Lunch (not pizza) will be served

Please join us for a discussion with:

-Jacqueline Goodman Rubio, Law Offices of Jacqueline Goodman Rubio, part of the UCI 11 criminal defense team
-Ameena Qazi, Deputy Executive Director, Staff Attorney, CAIR-Los Angeles
-Marya Bangee, Coordinator of UC Irvine alumni support efforts

Moderated by UCLA Law School Professor Devon Carbado

On February 8, 2010 students organized an act of protest in opposition to a speech delivered by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the UC Irvine campus. The students were disciplined by the university and recently Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas filed charges against these students. Join us for a discussion about the implications of the case for the students directly involved and student protesters more generally during the current trend of filing criminal charges against protesters and dissidents.

One witness accused Muslim community leaders of discouraging their members from cooperating with law enforcement, while Sheriff Leroy Baca of Los Angeles testified the exact opposite, stating that Muslims have a positive relationship with local law enforcement. More sessions are to follow in the next year and a half.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/us/politics/11king.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0819-disney-hijab-20100819,0,5537139.story

Looks to be another casualty in the war against Civil Rights.

Boudlal informed her supervisor she wanted to wear the hijab and they said they would check with corporate, but she never received a response.

Later on, Disney’s costume department went as far as fitting her for a hijab designed to work with her costume, but they never followed through.

Boudlal attempted to follow protocol in effort to get permission to wear her hijab, but the system just didn’t respond. And now, when she takes the initiative, she gets burned.

Disney should follow through with the hijab they were going to provide for her. She’ll be able to wear her hijab, Disney’s dress code is met, and everyone is happy. No lawsuits required.

Watch Keith Olbermann: There is no ‘Ground Zero Mosque’
In a Special Comment, Countdown’s Keith Olbermann clarifies the misconceptions surrounding the community center.

Send a note of thanks to Olbermann via e-mail: Countdown@msnbc.com, KOlbermann@msnbc.com

Watch Jon Stewart mock Islamophobia: Mosque-erade
Send a note of thanks to Stewart through: http://www.comedycentral.com/help/questionsCC.jhtml

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also cautioned GOP against painting all of Islam “with a brush of radical Muslim extremists”.
Sent a note of thanks to Gov Christie through: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/

by DAVID SCHECHTER / WFAA-TV

EULESS — A North Texas apartment complex is facing accusations that it segregates Muslims in buildings away from other tenants — or refuses to rent to them at all.

The complaint comes from former leasing agents at the StoneBridge at Bear Creek complex in Euless. They say Muslims were routinely denied apartments even when there were vacancies.

“If somebody called over the phone inquiring about an apartment, we were told that if they have an accent or a different name that we are supposed to tell them that we didn’t have anything available,” said Daneisha Davis, who worked there for a year-and-a-half.

Michelle Williams was Davis’ co-worker. She says Stonebridge’s manager told her, on a regular basis, to turn away potential walk-in renters if they looked Asian or Middle Eastern.

“Make it undesirable for them to want to come back,” is what Williams says she was told. “Even though we were only 80 percent full, or 75 percent full. We had plenty of apartments we could’ve rented out.”

“She referred to them as ‘curry people.’ And they used curry to cook with, that they smelled bad and they were dirty,” said Davis.

For the duration of the time the women worked at Stonebridge, they say they were told there was one condition under which they could rent to Muslims: If they were all kept in the same two buildings of the 21-building complex.

“She definitely made it clear to both of us that she didn’t want other residents complaining about having to live next to ‘curry people,’”  Davis said.

“Wow. Wow. That’s unfortunate,” said AbdulNasir Jangda, an Imam at the Islamic Association for the Mid-Cities. “When we start grouping people together, we’re creating a very divisive element. How are we supposed to understand and relate and appreciate one another if we can’t stand to live next together?”

In January, Davis filed a Federal Fair Housing complaint against Stonebridge, alleging discrimination. The complaint made, via e-mail, was sent on a Saturday.

The next Tuesday, Davis was reassigned to other properties inside the company.

She has since quit and is looking for work.

Though she hasn’t sued, Davis does have a lawyer. “It’s obviously suspicious in the case of the timing,” said attorney Ty Gomez.

Stonebridge denied a News 8 request for an on-camera interview. But on the phone, the company said Davis’ re-assignment had been in the works. It says an internal investigation found no evidence of discrimination or steering minorities into specific buildings.

And Stonebridge says it has residents of all ethnicities throughout the property.

The federal government has transferred Davis’ complaint to the Texas Work Force Commission — Civil Rights Division. She hopes the agency will be able to right what she sees as a fundamental wrong.

“People come here for a chance at a better life and to be treated fairly, and they’re not being treated fairly,” she said. ” And I don’t even think they know it.”

“I am paying a pretty high price, but it’s worth it.”

E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com

The Facts: The Simon Wiesenthal  Center, which has built the Museum  of Tolerance here in LA, has been issued the permit to build a Museum of  Tolerance in Jerusalem. There is some tension behind this because many believe that it is on a Muslim cemetery. This issue ought to be judged with knowledge, said Ran Boytner, an Israeli-born archaeology professor here at UCLA. After interviewing the opposing sides, namely the Museum of Tolerance and the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Los   Angeles, with the additional help of Ran Boytner, the truth finally emerged. The reason is because each said the opposite thing when asked if the Museum of Tolerance was to be built on top of a Muslim cemetery.

Ran Boytner affirmed that the site they are going to build on is a Muslim cemetery and that the cemetery will be removed and reburied elsewhere. It”s definitely a Muslim cemetery, there”s no question about that,? he said. He said that it was partially covered by a parking lot sixty years ago, and while the reasons for the building of that car park are nebulous, the fact is that there is a car park there that is on top of what was once a cemetery.

CAIR made it very clear that it is a Muslim cemetery there. This is the whole reason they are against it. Munira Syeda, a representative of CAIR-Los   Angeles, said, “we never said, ‘don’t build,’ we just want it to be moved elsewhere. Not doing so will further the tension and animosity between Muslim and Jewish communities. Companions of Prophet Muhammad and other famous Muslim scholars are said to be buried there. So, obviously the site has a special religious significance for Muslims, aside from having archaeological value.” She said that this Museum will be a good thing, and it has good intentions, and it is just the placement of this Museum that is the issue”being that it is atop a Muslim cemetery. It would not be tolerant, both Boytner and Syeda noted, for a Museum of Tolerance to build on top of a Muslim cemetery.

However, when I spoke to the Museum of Tolerance, they said it is definitely not a cemetery that they are going to build on. Liebe Geft, the director of the Museum  of Tolerance in Los   Angeles, who is also involved with the content in the museum in Jerusalem, said that, “were this the case, we would not proceed.” Clearly, they are proceeding, so maybe there is no cemetery. She also added that the site has been Jerusalem”s main parking lot since the 1960s; this parking lot is the same one that Boytner mentioned covered the cemetery. The Museum are the ones with the floor plans, and the site maps, so it makes sense that they really know where they actually are going to build. CAIR, on the other hand, said that the Museum was spreading false information, and that it is indeed on a cemetery. In fact, during the museum”s excavation of the site in 2006, more than 250 skeletons were unearthed. There”s no dispute about the existence of the cemetery,? Syeda said. She also urged the Wiesenthal Center to accord respect to non-Jewish cemeteries, as it does to Jewish cemeteries. The group spent 15 years forcing the removal of a Catholic convent from Auschwitz, saying the Jewish cemetery deserved “universal respect,”? she added, implying that this area deserves the same. The Museum, however, said that the Supreme Court ruling, which lasted over two years, confirmed that this is a site that is not considered a cemetery anymore, and it is an acceptable place to build on. CAIR, again on the other hand, said that the Supreme Court of Israel has allowed many unethical things to occur, like the continuing of an illegal occupation, the ongoing building of illegal Jewish-only settlements and the erection of an Apartheid wall, and thus cannot make any moral claims. The Museum, on the other hand, said that the main opponent of the project is a supporter of Hamas, whose intent is to destroy Israel and anything Jewish, and that this is only one of many construction projects that he has opposed in Israel. Eventually, one discredited the other, and there was nothing left to believe. It really stopped becoming about the cemetery altogether.

What could be extracted from this is that there was a cemetery in the area a while ago, and it was abandoned, and the issue is if a cemetery that is abandoned can really still be considered a cemetery. Is there a difference between bones in the ground and a cemetery? It”s true that many areas in Jerusalem have bones, and so it may be common to come by them once in a while, but this is a large concentration of bones. A similar conflict is ongoing in America with the graves of Native Americans. Archaeologists and scientists believe that by unearthing Native American burials, they may gain knowledge of the past. Native Americans believe that it is inhuman to do this to their dead, claiming also they know their past, and do not need scientists to affirm this. These issues both boil down to the issue on if it is ethical to unbury the dead, for whatever reason. Ran Boytner explained that when it comes to development, graves are unburied and reburied quite frequently. Across the world, it is routine that cemeteries are removed and people are reburied to make space for development, including for private, commercial and places of worship. Yet, given the context of the present conflict in the Middle East, no observer can escape the symbolic hypocrisy of building a Jewish Museum of Tolerance on top of a Muslim cemetery. It may be legal, but it certainly demonstrates no tolerance. Interestingly enough, there was an earlier plan to build a Muslim university on top of this same car park and cemetery a while ago, and it never went through because it did not have adequate funding. However, Affad Shaikh, another representative of CAIR-Los Angeles, said that the man who was to build this Muslim university was not considered a Muslim leader. He was very corrupt, and few agreed with his beliefs.? It is clear that this issue is really a clash of information drowned in a clash of two identities. In reference to the parking lot, Shaikh said that at the time the parking lot was being built, Muslims could not protest such an act. If they did, they were put in prison.

It is very important for the Museum to understand why this project is being contested, and for the contesters to understand why the Museum believes this place to be acceptable to build on. By truly understanding the other side, one can achieve a solution. The Native Americans versus the anthropologists issue was partially solved by NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), where a Native American must always be present at a development site, and if a grave is found, the most likely descendant is given the authority on what ought to be done with it. More often than not, the graves are unburied and reburied elsewhere. In both cases, it is the responsibility of those in charge to listen to the minority when it concerns their dead, and to address the concerns around this such that everyone may receive proper understanding of both sides, and a solution may appear.

But outside of religion and ethics, it”s clear this is also a political thing. If a Muslim cemetery is trampled on by a building that is founded by a Jew, Muslims will feel like Jews are trampling on their past. Ivan Strenski, a religious studies professor at UCLA, commented about people and religion. Religion is like an identity. It”s like being American. When you look at Iran and Iraq, the identity conflict is between Shi”as and Sunnis, and then when Israel comes in, its between Muslims and Jews.? So indeed, this is a clash between two identities. The only reason cemeteries are valued is because of their memory of the past. It”s actually brilliant that this particular museum is to be built, versus anything else, because this place is intended to be a place of tolerance. Perhaps if the Museum made an exhibit on this particular issue, or on the ancient cemetery, and chose to work closely with CAIR and other Muslim organizations in Jerusalem to bring a loud and accessible Muslim voice to the future Museum of Tolerance, the two religions would come together and learn how similar they are, and start a healing process. It is in peace that we can solve issues of violence, and we cannot be too naïve to translate our emotions from elsewhere here”we must try, though impossibly, to solve this with a fully open mind, and really understand where the other side is coming from. These political gestures, from both sides, have a kernel of anxiety that can be addressed, and extinguished. As for the placement of the museum, it is unlikely that everyone will agree on where it ought to be placed. In hopes that the two groups come together, maybe a conversation could be had where the Museum may justify its standpoint but also listen to the others, while those against it can justify their standpoint and listen to the Museum”s. Once each understands each other, and all the contradictions follow the same grain, both hands may place the first brick for this Museum that is bound to help tolerance in the region.