September, 01 2010, 12:20pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper,
202-744-7726,
E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com;
CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin,
202-488-8787
E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
CAIR National PSA Campaign Challenges Growing Islamophobia
Public service announcements feature Muslim 9/11 first responders, interfaith leaders
WASHINGTON
A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization
today launched a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign
featuring Muslim 9/11 first responders and designed to challenge the
growing anti-Muslim bigotry in American society.
[SATELLITE FEED FOR PUBLIC SERVICE AND NEWS DIRECTORS:
Feed Dates are Wednesday, September 1st, 2010, and Thursday, September
2nd, 2010. Both Feed Times: 1:00-1:30 p.m. ET (Fed in Rotation)
Coordinates: Galaxy 19/C07 Slot B, FEC: 3/4/ Symbol Rate: 6.1113 / Data
Rate: 8.448 / Downlink Freq: 3835.500V, Synaptic Digital Satellite
Operations Trouble Line: 212-812-7134]
CAIR's PSA campaign is also designed to offer an implicit
challenge to the Florida church that plans to burn copies of the Quran,
Islam's revealed text, on September 11.
CAIR '9/11 Happened to Us All' PSA, Firefighter (30-Second)
CAIR '9/11 Happened to Us All' PSA, Firefighter (60-Second)
CAIR '9/11 Happened to Us All' PSA, Medical Responder (30-Second)
CAIR 'We Have More in Common than We Think' PSA, Interfaith (30-Second)
The PSAs are also available at: www.thenewsmarket.com/CAIR (Registration is required.)
Two of the three PSAs, which will be distributed today and
tomorrow by satellite to television stations nationwide and online
through social media sites, feature Muslim first responders to the 9/11
terror attacks, with the theme "9/11 happened to us all." Copies of the
PSAs will also be mailed to selected television stations, with a focus
on stations in New York and Florida.
The third PSA features Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders
describing the "golden rule" as expressed by their respective faiths --
and ends with the phrase, "We have more in common than we think." That
PSA is designed to show the commonalities between faiths and to
challenge those who -- like the members of a Florida church who plan to
burn Qurans on September 11 -- would divide America along religious
lines.
A 2005 CAIR public service announcement (PSA) rejecting
terrorism and religious extremism and was seen by some 10 million
television viewers nationwide. That PSA, called "Not in the Name of
Islam," featured ordinary American Muslims stating "that those who
commit acts of terror in the name of Islam are betraying the teachings
of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad."
SEE: CAIR 2005 'Not in the Name of Islam' PSA
Other national American Muslim organizations took part in the
news conference outlined each group's individual and joint initiatives
designed to promote religious freedom, challenge growing anti-Muslim
bigotry in American society and to mark the anniversary of the 9/11
terror attacks.
The other Muslim organizations that took part in the news conference included: (in alphabetical order)
- Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations in the Washington Area (CCMO)
- Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
- MAS Freedom
Earlier this month, CAIR released an online toolkit
designed to help Muslim communities organize proactive local
educational and outreach initiatives tied to events such as a "National
Day of Unity and Healing" on the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 terror
attacks.
SEE: 'Teachable Moment Community Response Guide' Toolkit
The toolkit, called a "Teachable Moment Community Response
Guide," offers guidance, tools and resources to help Muslim communities
respond to specific current events such as the end of Ramadan Eid
al-Fitr holiday occurring near September 11, the upcoming "Burn a Koran
Day" by a church in Florida, the anti-Muslim bigotry generated by the
smear campaign against a planned Islamic community center in Manhattan,
and the ongoing tension and misunderstanding surrounding the building or
expansion of mosques nationwide.
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.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
(202) 488-8787LATEST NEWS
X Suspends Journalist Ken Klippenstein Over Publication of JD Vance Dossier
"The 'free speech absolutist' has once again silenced a journalist he didn't like," said one observer.
Sep 26, 2024
X—the social media platform formerly known as Twitter—suspended Ken Klippenstein's account Thursday after the investigative journalist posted an article containing a link to a dossier on Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate JD Vance that allegedly came from an Iranian hack of former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.
Klippenstein, who formerly worked at The Intercept, said on his paid Substack Thursday that his X account was suspended for violating the platform's ban on posting private information.
"I know that it is general practice to delete 'private' information from leaks and classified documents, but in this case, not only is Vance an elected official and vice presidential candidate, but the information is readily available for anyone to buy," he wrote. Vance is also the junior U.S. senator from Ohio.
Klippenstein continued:
We should be honest about so-called private information contained in the dossier and "private" information in general. It is readily available to anyone who can buy it. The campaign purchased this information from commercial information brokers. Those dealers make huge profits from selling this data. And the media knows it, because they buy the data for reporting purposes, just like the campaign. They don't like to mention that though.
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An X spokesperson toldZeteo's Justin Baragona that "Ken Klippenstein was temporarily suspended for violating our rules on posting unredacted private personal information, specifically Sen. Vance's physical addresses and the majority of his Social Security number."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the Trump campaign's claim of an Iranian hack. Iran's government denies any such action.
Numerous observers accused Musk—a self-described "free speech absolutist"—of hypocrisy over X's suspension of Klippenstein's account, although it is not known if the billionaire owner had any role in the decision. Other users also reported punitive action against their accounts over the dossier post.
"I'm old enough to remember when free speech zealot Elon Musk was outraged by Twitter's censorship," journalist Seth Hettena said on X.
Jacobin writer Branko Marcetic posted that "this scenario is actually a good preview of the future none of us want, but that we're heading to currently: A major story breaks, establishment press refuses to cover it, and the indy media that does is throttled by tech censors."
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Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Deanne Criswell said during a White House briefing that forecasts suggest Helene will make a "dead-on hit to Tallahassee" and "this is going to be a multistate event with the potential for significant impacts from Florida all the way to Tennessee."
Although this Atlantic hurricane season hasn't yet been as intense as U.S. scientists expected, trends in extreme weather disasters have led some insurance companies to exit the Florida market in recent years. Farmers Insurance announced last year that it would stop covering property in the state, in an effort to "effectively manage risk exposure."
While the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade group, said in May that "legislative reforms passed in 2022 and 2023 have created a pathway to a stable Florida market," reporting from this week shows that residents—who aren't ultrarich—are still struggling to get and keep coverage.
"Florida ranks sixth among states with the largest shares of homeowners who don't have meaningful insurance. About 18% of homeowners across the state—about 1 in 6—are without it," NBC Newsnoted Wednesday. "Nearly 20% of Florida homeowners pay $4,000 or more a year for homeowners insurance—the largest share in the country, according to the Census Bureau."
According toThe Palm Beach Post, the global reinsurance broker Gallagher Re said in a Wednesday analysis that "landfall in the Big Bend or Panhandle region of Florida as a major hurricane (Category 3, 4, or 5) has historically translated to insured losses in the low single-digit billions."
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Gallagher Re suggested that "Helene's private insurance market losses should be expected to land in the range" of $3 billion to $6 billion, but if the hurricane "unexpectedly" moves toward Tampa, it could be over $10 billion.
Florida isn't the only state facing insurance trouble thanks to climate chaos. Voxreported last year that "insuring property in California has been a dicey proposition," pointing to torrential rainfall that "caused as much as $1.5 billion in insured losses" and "the costliest wildfires in U.S. history, including the 2018 Camp Fire, which led to more than $10 billion in losses."
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In a June blog post, Rachel Cleetus, policy director with the Union of Concerned Scientists' Climate and Energy program, wrote that "Congress and regulators need to ensure more transparency in the insurance market on how companies are evaluating risks as they make decisions about premiums. There also needs to be better information on what kinds of incentives companies are providing for adaptation measures that would help reduce risks."
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The Climate & Community Institute on Wednesday also shared recommendations in a new report—Shared Fates: A Housing Resilience Policy Vision for the Home Insurance Crisis—using case studies from California, Florida, and Minnesota.
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Former Republican New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani can no longer practice law in the nation's capital after a federal appeals court on Thursday concurred with a disciplinary committee's recommendation for permanent disbarment over his efforts to "undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election" in service of then-President Donald Trump's "Big Lie."
In a one-page ruling, the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals permanently revoked Giuliani's law license, finding that the former federal prosecutor and personal attorney for Trump failed to explain why he should not be subject to reciprocal punishment after the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division disbarred him in July for lying about the 2020 election.
The New York tribunal found that Giuliani "repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjurious, to the federal court, state lawmakers, the public... and this court concerning the 2020 presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country's electoral process."
Giuliani is also facing criminal charges related to alleged election subversion in Arizona and Georgia. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last December following a $148 million defamation judgment for falsely accusing two former Georgia election workers of engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy to "steal" the 2020 election.
These blows, culminating in Thursday's D.C. disbarment, mark a stunning fall from grace for Giuliani, who, as "America's Mayor" in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, was named Time's "Person of the Year." Giuliani parlayed his popularity into a 2008 run for president in which he was an early GOP front-runner.
Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman slammed the D.C. court's ruling as a "miscarriage of justice."
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