Civic

South Asian Solidarity After September 11

December 19, 2001

Source: www.satyacircle.com

http://www.satyacircle.com/rathod3.html

On December 19, 2001, Satyacircle.com published another view on South Asian solidarity in the editorial "E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One." It noted, "While the invocation of this phrase certainly is appropriate for America as a whole, its message is particularly relevant to the South Asian-American community, which has been placed under considerable strain over the past few weeks. As increasing numbers of South Asian...

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Religious Holidays at the White House

December 17, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On December 17, 2001, The New York Times reported that "there is a creche in the East Room of the White House this year, as there has been every December since... 1967. But last week there was also a Hanukkah party with a kosher buffet among the glittering forest of White House Christmas trees, and last month there was the first iftar dinner held in the Executive Mansion, complete with fresh dates and Muslim prayers, to break the daily fast during Ramadan... The many gods in American life are alive and well at the White House,...

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Employers and Religious Holidays

December 17, 2001

Source: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On December 17, 2001, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that "almost all companies count Christian celebrations as their only official religious holidays, with employees of other faiths often forced to work on their holy days or use vacation time for a holiday off... Still, a growing number offer floating holidays or other schedule adjustments that allow workers to stay home on the days that matter to them... A survey this year by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious...

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Town Common to be Home to Diverse Displays

December 16, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 16, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "two more displays will soon join the Christmas creche on the town common [in Norwood, MA] this holiday season. Norwood selectmen, with little discussion, approved the applications... for a kiosk celebrating religious diversity and a billboard supporting separation of church and state.

Connecticut School Board Addresses Celebration of Religious Holidays

December 14, 2001

Source: The Hartford Courant

On December 14, 2001, The Hartford Courant reported that at a recent school board meeting in Coventry, CT, "parents were upset about the wording of a memo School Superintendent Michael Malinowski sent to principals. The memo urged them to be mindful of the separation of church and state. Malinowski sent the memo after discovering that a creche and a cross had been put up in the school system... In impassioned speeches, parents said that in striving to be politically correct, the school system is being intolerant by not exposing...

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FBI Uncovers Plot to Bomb Mosque and Congressman's Office

December 14, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 14, 2001, The Los Angeles Times reported, "At Mosque, Relief and Thanks." While members of the King Fahd mosque community were feeling "gratitude," the alleged bomb plot "also set off another round of acrimony between Muslim and Jewish organizations." The article reported that "The Muslim Public Affairs Council called on the Justice Department to freeze the JDL's assets, just as federal authorities recently shut down the Holy Land Foundation" and "the Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] demanded that the Anti-...

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Indian Cultural Society of Lansing: Interfaith Efforts to Help Needy

December 14, 2001

Source: The Lansing State Journal

http://www.lsj.com/news/local/011214indians_3b.html

On December 14, 2001, The Lansing State Journal reported, "Indian community helps food bank feed the hungry." The article noted, "Leaders of the area's Indian community Thursday apologized for donating only $10,000 to the Greater Lansing Food Bank this year. But food bank officials were thrilled to receive the money from one of their largest donors during a lunch for senior citizens...

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FBI Uncovers Plot to Bomb Mosque and Congressman's Office

December 13, 2001

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-121301jdl.story

On December 13, 2001, The Los Angeles Times reported "JDL Leader Accused in Mosque Bomb Plot." The article explained, "The volatile chairman of the militant Jewish Defense League and another of the group's top officials faced federal charges Wednesday of plotting to blow up a Los Angeles area mosque and an office of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista)." The article continued, "Rubin, long seen...

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FBI Uncovers Plot to Bomb Mosque and Congressman's Office

December 12, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/transcripts/issa_text121201.html

On December 12, 2001, The Washington Post published the full transcript of the press conference of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) regarding the bombing plot. His statement read, in part: "Although this plot apparently involved members of the Jewish Defense League, I know that Jewish Americans, of which I have some of my colleagues with...

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Kansas City Celebrates Pluralism

December 12, 2001

Source: The Kansas City Star

http://www.cres.org

On December 12, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that "since Sept. 11, leaders in government - like those in schools, hospitals, media and business - want to be sure they are discharging their duties with particular sensitivity to religious concerns... As part of a recognition of pluralism in the [Kansas City] area, Jackson County Executive Katheryn J. Shields is developing a six-month calendar of community open houses scheduled by ethnic and faith...

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Jewish Inmate in Ohio Allowed Beard

December 11, 2001

Source: The Plain Dealer

On December 11, 2001, The Plain Dealer reported that "an Ohio inmate may keep his flowing beard as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal yesterday to intervene in a challenge of state rules on prisoners' facial hair. The high court without comment let stand a 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling giving inmate Hbrandon Flagner, a Hasidic Jew, an exemption from Ohio's beard-length rule. The state argued that a decision in the Elyria native's favor could invite a flurry of lawsuits over prison grooming rules... Flagner, who...

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Hanukkah Embraces "Spirit of Religious Freedom"

December 10, 2001

Source: The Boston Herald

On December 10, 2001, The Boston Herald reported that "more than 200 Jews from around the region gathered yesterday at sundown in Downtown Crossing [Boston] as Mayor Thomas M. Menino lit a giant 15-foot menorah to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. 'Hanukkah represents the first documented fight for freedom of religion and freedom from oppression. It is appropriate for this Hanukkah event to honor the troops in Afghanistan because that is exactly what they're fighting for,' said Rabbi Rachmiel Liberman of the Lubavitch-Jewish...

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Pagan Festival Site Denied Renewal of Permit

December 10, 2001

Source: The Kansas City Star

On December 10, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that the Gaea Retreat Center is a "170-acre private camp - which allows nudity in certain places and is host to an annual pagan festival - is the first Leavenworth County operation in recent memory that couldn't get its special-use permit renewed... The pagan festival attracts about 1,200 participants. The total number of visitors approaches 4,000 a year... 'I can't think of a time in the four years I've been here that we've denied a renewal,' said county Planning Director John...

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Hanukkah Embraces "Spirit of Religious Freedom"

December 10, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On December 10, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "the traditional program of Hanukah songs was expanded to include 'God Bless America' and Oseh Shalom, the Jewish prayer for peace... Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, who rode a cherry-picker into the air to light the 30-foot-high candelabra, called it 'a symbol of hope against violence and oppression'... In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the recent suicide bombings that killed more than two dozen civilians in...

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Hanukkah Embraces "Spirit of Religious Freedom"

December 9, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 9, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "with the country at war and violence raging in the Holy Land, the lights of Hanukkah must burn brighter than ever, some Jews say, to help dispel the darkness. The menorah, a symbol of freedom and religious tolerance, must continue to inspire hope... For the congregation of Chabad of Westborough, [MA] tonight's public lighting of a 9-foot menorah at the town rotary captures, in a small but meaningful way, the holiday's message of faith and resolve... One year ago, the town denied...

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