CAIR-MN Asks School District to Clarify Assurances on Anti-Muslim Speaker

MINNEAPOLIS, July 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today said it will seek clarification from Independent School District #482 in Little Falls, Minn., after a district official said a Tea Party group has "signed off in writing" that a scheduled appearance by the head of an anti-Muslim hate group will not violate policies prohibiting harassment or disparagement of any religion.

CAIR-MN Action Alert: Oppose Hate Speech in MN High School
http://www.capwiz.com/cair/issues/alert/?alertid=62786091

CAIR-MN Asks Schools to Cancel Anti-Muslim Speaker (Brainerd Dispatch)
http://brainerddispatch.com/node/51833

Yesterday, CAIR-MN issued an alert calling on district officials to consider the negative impact the July 29 speech by "Brigitte Gabriel," head of the hate group ACT! for America, will have on district students and to rescind approval to hold the event in a school facility.

CAIR Alert: Ask School to Drop Anti-Islam Tea Party Speaker
http://tinyurl.com/kkglfqq

"We welcome the assurance that this extremist anti-Muslim speaker will adhere to district policies prohibiting harassment and religious disparagement, but we need to know what actions will be taken if the policies are violated," said CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya.

Saroya said CAIR-MN will monitor the event and will consider filing a federal complaint against the school district if the policies are violated.

CAIR-MN Asks School to Drop Anti-Muslim Tea Party Speaker (SC Times)
http://tinyurl.com/o6x7mto

CAIR-MN: Islamic Group Says Speaker with Anti-Muslim Views Shouldn't Speak at Tea Party Event (MinnPost)
http://tinyurl.com/p9qt6tk

CAIR Islamophobia Backgrounder: ACT! for America and 'Brigitte Gabriel'
http://tinyurl.com/o5k6aey

ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and respectful.)

Contact: Independent School District #482 Superintendent Stephen Jones: 320-632-2001, [email protected]; Little Falls Community High School Principal Tim Bjorge: 320-616-2201, [email protected]

COPY TO: [email protected]

ACT! for America leader Hanah Kahwagi Tudor, who goes by the pseudonym "Brigitte Gabriel," claims an American Muslim "cannot be a loyal citizen" and that Islam is the "real enemy." She once told the Australian Jewish News: "Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim." She also claimed that "Islamo-fascism is a politically-correct word. . .it's the vehicle for Islam. . .Islam is the problem."

According to an expose of the group by the Tennessean newspaper, "ACT members see themselves as warriors in a clash between Western civilization and Islam."

Backgrounder: Anti-Islam Group Finds Fertile Ground in Nashville (Tennessean)
http://tinyurl.com/5tdzoxg

The Southern Poverty Law Center lists Gabriel as one of the "Anti-Islam Inner Circle" and says, "She is prone to sweeping generalizations and exaggerations as she describes a grand, sophisticated Muslim conspiracy bent on world domination."

SEE: The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle
http://tinyurl.com/6xl4d4h

When asked whether Americans should "resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation," Gabriel said: "Absolutely. If a Muslim who has -- who is -- a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day -- this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America."

Gabriel stated: "America and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and identify the real enemy: Islam."

SEE: Islam's March Against the West
http://www.aina.org/news/20060219174802.htm

Along with her stated desire to have Muslims barred from public office, Gabriel has also claimed that Arabs "have no soul" and that Muslims worship "something they call 'Allah,' which is very different from the God we believe [in]."

SEE: A Case Study in Sincere Hypocrisy: Brigitte Gabriel
http://tinyurl.com/kjgr66

Video: Brigitte Gabriel Says Arabs Have No Souls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaocTdWOtJ4

A person staffing an ACT! for America information table in Florida was caught on video bragging that he desecrated the Quran, Islam's revealed text, and urinates in the washing stations Muslims use to perform their ritual ablutions (wudu) for prayer.

That person states: "Their foot baths, I love pissing in them. . .The Quran makes worthless toilet paper. It just kind of scratches my a** a little bit. . .To me, I like desecrating their [Muslims'] holy stuff."

SEE: Person at ACT! for America Table in Fla. Brags of Desecrating Quran
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn5UfW6GOc4

According to an expose of Gabriel and her group published in the New York Times:

"Through her books, media appearances and speeches, and her organization, ACT! for America, Ms. Gabriel has become one of the most visible personalities on a circuit of self-appointed terrorism detectors who warn that Muslims pose an enormous danger within United States borders."

The New York Times also stated: "[Gabriel] presents a portrait of Islam so thoroughly bent on destruction and domination that it is unrecognizable to those who study or practice the religion."

SEE: Brigitte Gabriel Draws Crowds in U.S. With Anti-Islam Message (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/us/08gabriel.html

Another expose of Gabriel's hate group published on Politico.com quoted an Arab-American activist who said: "The idea that congressional staffers would agree to meet an organization led by a woman whose agenda is pure unadulterated hatred and whose purported life story is a laughable fiction -- it's sad."

SEE: Anti-Islamic Groups Go Mainstream (Politico)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/50837.html

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya, 612-327-6700, E-Mail: [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations