On Sunday, August 20th at Italian Lake, Harrisburg, the Community Responders Network, a grassroots coalition committed to confronting and preventing incidents of bias in Central Pennsylvania, and the Harrisburg Mayor's Interfaith Advisory Council, organized a unity rally we called "Speak up for Unity, No Hate Here!” The purpose of the event was to affirm equality, non-violence, cross-cultural acceptance, and interfaith cooperation.
Jacob Bender, CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director, said: “Regardless of the identities of the alleged bombers of the Minnesota Islamic Center, who we hope will be quickly apprehended, this attack comes in the midst of a nationwide campaign of vilification and demonization of Muslims and the Islamic faith by Islamophobic activists, irresponsible media personalities, and even high-ranking government officials. Only a concerted and united effort by the Muslim community and its interfaith and social justice activists will defeat the voices of hate now transgressing our national values of pluralism, democracy, and justice.”
It has been over two months since a courageous group of March on Harrisburg activists embarked from Philadelphia to a 105-mile political pilgrimage to the Pennsylvania Statehouse to demand real reform with three pro-democracy and anti-corruption bills: automatic voter registration, non-partisan redistricting to end gerrymandering, and a ban of legalized bribery.
Many American Christians recognize the importance of learning about Muslim faith and culture; but that recognition is not as widespread as it should be. Iftekhar Hussain, a Muslim U.S. citizen and business consultant born in Bangladesh, and Chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Pennsylvania, has worked for 15 years to expand awareness among willing learners. Also a member of the Philadelphia CAIR’s executive committee, he teaches in churches, synagogues, mosques, schools and other settings throughout our region, always offering his knowledge and insight at no cost.
Seorang Yahudi telah dipilih untuk memimpin masyarakat muslim. Jacob Bender, dengan tubuhnya yang tipis, rambut keperakan, kata-katanya yang lirih, dan jemarinya yang sibuk menandai bulir-bulir tasbih berkepala Bintang Daud, senantiasa memiliki sesuatu bagi umat Islam Amerika Serikat. - 9 July 2017 - Download PDF
Jacob Bender, Executive Director of CAIR-Philadelphia, said: “As a civil rights organization, CAIR has great respect for the judicial system of the United States, and notes with approval that three lower courts suspended President Trump’s ‘Muslim Travel Ban’ and questioned its constitutionality. And without assigning any racial or religious animus to the SCOTUS judges themselves, we believe that the Supreme Court overlooked the broader atmosphere of anti-Muslim bigotry in the nation and the failed to consider, as did the lower courts, the President’s contribution to the current Islamophobic climate.”
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States allowed parts of President Trump's Muslim Ban to take effect on a temporary basis, while blocking other parts of the Ban. The Supreme Court plans to make a final decision about the case later this year. In the meantime, here's what you need to know about how this development may impact you, your family, your education or your business in regard to the six targeted countries: Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Libya, and Yemen.
Interfaith Iftar Celebration at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Bryn Mawr, Doylestown Meeting in Solidarity with the Muslim Community, Interfaith Iftar Celebration at Masjidullah and more.
Other immigrants, such as those from Germany, Italy, and Asia, often got the cold shoulder, too, but it was not as severe. The U.S. always has been a little bipolar on immigration — elated at the idea of a Land of Immigrants, but some of us not so keen when the new arrivals don’t look like us.
Muslims are the latest to arrive in numbers, and they carry the additional burden of being associated with terrorism. “Bad luck,” as with Japanese immigrants in California at the outbreak of World War II, observes Jacob Bender, executive director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. For Muslims, 9/11 created “a level of suspicion that was heretofore unknown to their community.” Bender happens to be Jewish.
