Results tagged “muslim”

Senator Joseph Lieberman discussed the Fort Hood shooting on Fox News yesterday and said he would launch a Senate investigation, noting there were "strong warning signs" that suspect army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan was an "Islamist extremist." The Independent Democrat from Connecticut added, "If that is true, the murder of these 13 people was a terrorist act and, in fact, it was the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11."

The Daily News follows up on the Muslim woman who slashed her husband's throat, apparently over his lack of devotion to Islam and his forcing her to eat pork, wear short skirts, and drink. Rabia Sarwar's handwritten confession stated, "I did not sleep. I started thinking to kill him," and then she went to the kitchen to get a knife.

A Staten Island woman was charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a deadly weapon after slashing her husband's throat with a knife. The police say the devout Muslim woman was upset her husband did not follow Islam strictly, allegedly making her drink alcohol, dress in short skirts, and eat pork.

Meet Yousef al-Khattab, a Jewish-born, Jersey-raised convert to Islam who operates a pedicab in Manhattan. The Post describes him as "attention-loving" in a profile that's already up on al-Khattab's website, Revolution Muslim. The site is full of videos showing al-Khattab, who changed his name from Joseph Leonard Cohen, confronting the heathens about their sinful ways. Watch him tear this "Flesh God-worshiping pagan" a new one:

With the federal authorities continuing their investigation of an alleged terror plot with roots in Denver and Queens, some New York City Muslims have accused the feds and NYPD of racial profiling. Queens Islamic activist Monami Maulik said over the weekend, "An entire community and people and religion should not be profiled and characterized as terrorists because of certain investigations."

Proof that everyone could use a little Chuck E. Cheese in their lives; reportedly the establishment got hundreds of Muslim-Americans flocking to their spot in the Atlantic Terminal Mall "as part of the three-day Eid al-Fitr festival on Sunday." That's right, it's tradition (dating back to around 2004)!

          

President Obama delivered a speech about the United States' relationship with the Muslim world from Cairo University in Egypt, telling a worldwide audience, "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." Full text here and video after the jump, but here are some excerpts:

America is not and never will be at war with Islam. We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security. Because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire...

Continue reading "Obama Asks For A "New Beginning" With Muslim World"

Yesterday, the city honored the 110 members of teams from the NYPD, FBI and other agencies who helped foil the terror plot to bomb Bronx synagogues and attack the National Guard base in Newburgh, NY. Mayor Bloomberg said, "I feel safer today in this city than ever before. They have prevented what could have been a terrible loss of life." And Governor Paterson said, "The work was simply outstanding, and it demonstrates the increased sophistication that counterterrorist activity has had to undergo to keep up with the widespread threats. I can't thank all of them enough."

Three of the four men who were arrested for allegedly plotting to plant bomb outside two Bronx synagogues and shoot planes at a National Guard base in Newburgh, NY were charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the United States and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles. James Cromitie, 55; David Williams, 28; and Onta Williams, 32 appeared in court and were held without bail; assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said, "It's hard to envisage a more chilling plot to bring murder to a ...community... These are extremely violent men. These people who are eager to bring death to Jews."

17-year-old Ali Kamara, a black Muslim, was walking home on Staten Island Tuesday night after it was announced that Barack Obama was elected president when he was brutally assaulted by four white men. Kamara tells the Daily News: "I see the car coming. They looked at me and said, 'Obama!' They were not happy. They had hoodies on. They started hitting me with bats and my body started vibrating." Luckily, Kamara was able to break away and hide until the thugs left; his mother, who moved with Ali to Staten Island from Liberia in 2000, showed the News a bloody towel she used to staunch his wounds. An NYPD spokesman says the department's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident as a bias crime. And Kamara says he heard his assailants scream the word "Obama!" but not any other racial or religious slurs, so it could be the bullies just mistook Kamara for the new President-Elect.

Muslim families who want two days out of the year to be official school holidays are facing stiff resistance from Mayor Bloomberg, who has repeatedly said that students should not have any more days off. Public schools are closed on major Christian and Jewish holidays, and some Muslims say it's unfair that none of their holidays are observed. The Staten Island Advance reports that on Friday a group called The Coalition for Muslim School Holidays pressed the City Council for two days off: the final day of Ramadan and Eid Ul-Adha, which marks the culmination of the Hajj. Bloomberg insists that if Muslim holidays are made official, the door would be opened for other religious groups to demand their days off; it's a safe bet that Festivus adherents are following the situation closely.

The political news cycle yesterday was dominated by the controversy surrounding this week’s New Yorker cover; called “The Politics of Fear,” it depicts Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as America-hating radical terrorists gloating in the Oval Office. New Yorker editor David Remnick, who celebrates his tenth anniversary helming the magazine with this issue, spent the day making the interview rounds and getting some great publicity for the magazine; speaking to Wolf Blizter on CNN, he defended the cover as “Colbert in print.”

Barack Obama’s campaign spokesman Bill Burton is calling this week’s New Yorker cover art “tasteless and offensive.” The illustration by Barry Blitt depicts the Illinois senator in the Oval Office wearing traditional Muslim garb while doing a “terrorist fist jab” with his wife Michelle, who is dressed in fatigues, with an Afro and an AK-47 slung over her shoulder. To complete the scene, there’s a portrait of Bin Laden over the fireplace, in which an American flag is ablaze.

Mayor Bloomberg was in the Sunshine State yesterday, attending a breakfast hosted by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, and took the opportunity to slam the "whisper campaign" smears against Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama. Bloomberg said, "Let's make sure that we, as Jews and as voters, keep the conversation focused on the facts and not let it descend into false rumor and innuendo."

Two members of a three-judge federal appellate court panel took the city to task yesterday for removing the principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy. Debbie Almontaser, who helped found the dual-language school with an emphasis on Arab culture, stepped down before the school opened last fall, after controversy over remarks she made in the NY Post.