Houston news conference follows series of anti-Muslim incidents
HOUSTON, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, September 20, the Houston
office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) will hold a
news conference at which the Muslim civil rights group will call on religious
and political leaders in Texas to speak out against Islamophobia. That call
comes following a series of anti-Muslim incidents in the state, including a
firebomb attack Friday on an Islamic center in El Paso.
WHAT: CAIR-Houston news conference on Islamophobia
WHEN: 11 a.m., Monday, September 20, 2004
WHERE: CAIR-Houston Office, 5821 Southwest Freeway, Suite 304,
Houston, TX
SEE: http://www.cairhouston.org
CONTACT: CAIR-Houston, 713-838-2247, 832-656-0449
SEE: "Failed Firebombing Disturbs Islamic Center Leader"
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20040919-170992.shtml
"Islamic Center Of El Paso Threatened"
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/3742351/detail.html
"Unfortunately, when political and religious leaders remain silent on the
issue of anti-Muslim hate, bigots mistake that silence for acceptance and act
accordingly," said CAIR-Houston Executive Director Iesa Galloway.
In August, CAIR asked law enforcement authorities in McAllen, Texas, to
investigate an intentionally-set fire at a Muslim store as a possible hate
crime. The fire followed two separate incidents in which unknown parties
painted the phrase "Go Home" on the door of the store. The hate-graffiti
appeared just after the store began running advertisements on local television
that featured a Muslim woman wearing an Islamic head scarf.
Earlier this year, a man was arrested for threatening the same El Paso
Islamic center targeted in Friday's terror attack, an arson suspect was
arrested at the scene of a fire at a Muslim business in San Antonio, vandals
scrawled racist graffiti on the interior of a Lubbock mosque, and a home-made
bomb exploded in the mailbox of a Houston Islamic center.
In response to anti-Muslim incidents nationwide following the 9/11
attacks, CAIR published a "Muslim Community Safety Kit." The safety kit may be
obtained free of charge by e-mailing pubs@cair-net.org. (Include name, address
and phone number when requesting the safety kit.)
SEE ALSO: "American Muslims Still Feeling 9/11 Backlash"
http://www.silive.com/living/advance/index.ssf?/base/living/1095439519142750.xml
"UC Police Probe Possible Hate Crime"
http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2412669,00.html
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 29 regional
offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada.
CONTACT:
Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org;
Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a journalist's window to
the American Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called ISLAM-INFONET,
receive news releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim
positions on issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to ISLAM-INFONET, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/islam-infonet/
SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations
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Related links:
http://www.cair-net.org
http://cair.biglist.com/islam-infonet
CONTACT:
Ibrahim Hooper, +1-202-488-8787,
+1-202-744-7726, cair@cair-net.org, or Rabiah Ahmed,
+1-202-488-8787, +1-202-439-1441, rahmed@cair-net.org
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