State Rep. Dave Agema will not join Koran-burning pastor at Capitol rally

AP File PhotoState Rep. Dave Agema

Contrary to the announcement posted on the website of Rev. Terry Jones Tuesday, State. Rep Dave Agema will not be in attendance whenJones takes to the steps of the state Capitol Wednesday in Lansingto speak about Islam and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"He will not be at the event," Chris Jones, an aide in Agema's office, told MLive.com. The aide said he did not know whether Agema had been contacted about the event or whether he had, at some point, confirmed his attendance. 

He said Agema was at a Habitat for Humanity event and unable to comment or clarify.

Rev. Jones made the announcement on his web site, and also updated the location for his lecture Thursday, Sept. 8. 

Agema's been in the news recently for sponsoring legislation that would ban "foreign law" in Michigan. The legislation doesn't specifically invoke sharia law, but proponents and Agema have said the law is designed to protect Muslims who come to the United States to escape sharia law. 

State Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Muslim in the state Legislature, attacked the bill as part of Agema's efforts to pander to conservative voters. 

Agema is said to be considering a Congressional run. 

“[Agema] has actually introduced legislation to get rid of birth right citizenship,” Tlaib said at an Aug. 16 press conference. “This is a person who has a reputation of introducing bills that are about going after people of color and people of different faiths—racist bills.”

Jones made the announcement today on his web site, and also updated the location for his lecture Thursday, Sept. 8. 

Conyers Initiates Investigation of Religious Profiling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency in Michigan

Contact: Nicole Triplett, 202-226-5543

Friday, March 25, 2011

Conyers Initiates Investigation of Religious Profiling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency in Michigan
(Detroit)—Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement regarding allegations charging the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) with improper and inappropriate interrogations singling out American-Islamic citizens.

“The allegations of religious profiling raised by Michigan’s Council on American-Islamic Relations in Detroit yesterday should be of concern to all Americans,” said Conyers. “CAIR has alleged that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have engaged in a pattern of invasive body searches and interrogations concerning the religious beliefs of American-Islamic citizens while returning home from Canada.”

In CAIR’s letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, CAIR described the interrogations as follows:

The passengers hand their passports to an agent. The passengers are immediately told to turn their vehicles off. Within seconds, their vehicles are surrounded by agents brandishing weapons in their direction, whether or not there are women and children in the car. In some instances, there are snipers. The men are thrown against their vehicles, handcuffed, and taken inside for questioning. An invasive and humiliating body search is performed, which many have described as sexual harassment. Some are left handcuffed for hours on end, in many cases standing upright. Others are left in a cell. At least a dozen Muslim women of Somali origin have also reported being subjected to invasive and humiliating searches at the border that they felt were inappropriate and a form of sexual harassment.

American Muslims crossing the border have reported in alarming numbers that they are being subjected to extensive inappropriate questioning pertaining to religion and religious practices. A number of questions appear to be most common:

1. Do you pray five times a day?

2. Which mosque do you pray at?

3. Do you pray your morning prayer at the mosque?

4. Who is the Imam (religious leader) at your mosque?

5. Who else prays at your mosque?

6. Which Muslim charities have you donated to?

7. Which Muslim countries have you traveled to?

8. During your travels to these countries, have you been approached by anyone suspicious?

9. What do you think of Anwar al-Awlacki?

10. Which Muslim organizations are you affiliated with?

11. Are you affiliated with any terrorist organizations?

12. Do you know any terrorists?

13. Are there terrorists in your mosques?

All in all, the process can take anywhere between two to ten hours. More disconcerting is that these same individuals report being subjected to the same mistreatment and inappropriate questioning each and every time they cross the border.

“With federal hearings on radicalization and intense scrutiny by law enforcement of religious institutions, the American-Islamic community today is living in a climate that has the risk of producing a siege mentality,” said Conyers. “I am therefore contacting the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to initiate an investigation of these allegations, and I will be consulting Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).”

“The American-Islamic community should know that the federal government will protect the interests of the community, while maintaining the appropriate focus on national security. These allegations of racial and religious profiling at the border are not new and have been supported by previous studies of the Government Accountability Office. For example, in 2000, the GAO found that the U.S. Customs’ patterns used to select airline passengers for more intrusive searches resulted in women and minorities being selected at rates that were not consistent with the rates of finding contraband.”

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Radicalization in the U.S. Muslim Community Panel March 10, 2011

“The Extent of Radicalization" Among American Muslims

New York Republican Congressman Peter King held the first of a series of hearings today to examine the threat he’s calling the "radicalization of American Muslims." Over 50 Democrats on Wednesday sent a letter to King, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, warning that the hearings will jeopardize the trust between Muslims and law enforcement.

Witnesses at the hearing included Congressman John Dingell who represents Dearborn, the largest Arab American community in America and Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), Congress’ first Muslim American member. Additionally, Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, head of the American-Islamic Forum for Democracy, discussed the threat of not only violent but also cultural jihad being waged by Islamists inside the U.S. Also, Melvin Bledsoe and Abdirizak Bihi provided firsthand accounts of young Muslim Americans recruited by Islamic radicals.

Since Chairman King announced the hearing, interfaith, nonprofit, and governmental organizations have issued statements and held a variety of rallies across the nation against King's hearing, saying it will send the wrong message, by singling-out U.S. Muslims.

Arguments to take place in Oklahoma over ban on Islamic law in courts

From Matt Smith, CNN

November 22, 2010 6:21 a.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Oklahoma voters approve an amendment barring the use of Islamic law in state courts
• A U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order on the ban earlier this month
• The lead plaintiff says the amendment violates the First Amendment
• Backers cite a judge's refusal to grant a restraining order against a husband accused of rape

(CNN) -- A federal judge will hear arguments Monday on a temporary restraining order against an Oklahoma referendum that would ban the use of Islamic religious law in state courts.

Oklahoma voters approved the amendment during the November elections by a 7-3 ratio. But the Council on American-Islamic Relations challenged the measure as a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange issued a temporary restraining order November 8 that will keep state election officials from certifying that vote.

"What this amendment is going to do is officially disfavor and condemn the Muslim community as being a threat to Oklahoma," Muneer Awad, executive director of CAIR's Oklahoma chapter and the lead plaintiff in the suit, said earlier this month. In addition, he said, the amendment would invalidate private documents, such as wills, that are written in compliance with Muslim law.

The amendment would require Oklahoma courts to "rely on federal and state law when deciding cases" and "forbids courts from considering or using" either international law or Islamic religious law, known as Sharia, which the amendment defined as being based on the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed.

In bringing suit, CAIR argued that the amendment violates both the establishment and free-exercise clauses of the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom. Awad has said the amendment passed "under a campaign of fearmongering" about Islam.

2009: What is Sharia law?

Sharia law on ballot in Oklahoma

RELATED TOPICS

• Oklahoma
• Islam
• First Amendment

The entire U.S. Muslim population is about 2.4 million -- less than 1 percent of the country, according to a 2009 survey by the nonprofit Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

But supporters said a New Jersey case, in which a judge refused to grant a restraining order against a Muslim man whose wife accused him of raping her repeatedly, made it necessary for Oklahoma to take action to keep Islamic law from being imposed there.

The New Jersey decision, in which the family court judge found the husband was abiding by his Muslim beliefs regarding spousal duties, was overruled by an appellate court.

But in automated phone messages in support of the amendment, former CIA Director and Oklahoma native James Woolsey warned that there was a "major campaign in Europe to impose Sharia law" and that Islamic law "is beginning to be cited in a few U.S courts."

They Are Simply Burning A Book

"They are simply burning a book."

Keiser Report on Bizarre Robot Traders