the Achilles heal of interfaith relations...

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Issue 29: Friday, 11 June 2021

THIS WEEK IN DC — D.C. Mayor Announces Public Safety Grants to Stem Gun Violence; U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Permanent Residency for Some Immigrants; Supreme Court Takes up Case about FBI Surveillance of Mosque; Senate Poised to Pass Huge Industrial Policy Bill to Counter China; US Capitol Riot: Senate Spells Out Intelligence and Police Failures; Biden Administration Says It Has Identified 'Nearly All' Migrant Children Separated From Parents Under Trump; U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul Joins Call to Move 2022 Olympics from China Over Persecution of Uyghurs; Biden Revokes and Replaces Trump Executive Orders That Banned TikTok; White House Infrastructure Talks With Capitol Collapse; Vice President Kamala Harris Heads to Guatemala to Talk About Reducing Corruption, Reducing Migration to the United States; Biden Embarks on First Foreign Trip of His Presidency; Bipartisan Senate Group Reaches Tentative Infrastructure Deal.

IN THIS ISSUE
* Statement: MPAC Congratulates the Honorable Judge Zahid Quraishi for His Historic Confirmation
* Faithwashing and the Censorship of Palestine Advocacy in Interfaith Engagement
* Palestine: Tell Your Story
* MPAC Files Amicus Brief on Religious Freedom with U.S. Supreme Court
* Israel/Palestine Legislative Tracker

FEATURED ISSUE


** MPAC Congratulates the Honorable Judge Zahid Quraishi for His Historic Confirmation
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Yesterday, the United States Senate approved the nomination of Zahid Quraishi to be appointed as a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey. The Muslim Public Affairs Council applauds this historic moment as Judge Quraishi is now the first American Muslim to serve as an Article III federal judge.

The Biden Administration is fulfilling its promise to make the federal government more representative of the rich diversity of America.

Read the full statement → ([link removed])

Photo via: Reuters/Ammar Awad


** Faithwashing and the Censorship of Palestine Advocacy in Interfaith Engagement

By: Prema Rahman, MPAC Policy Analyst, and Leela Cullity, MPAC Policy Intern
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The intersectional struggle for Palestinian liberation characterized by years of systemic injustice and oppression continues to be minimized and censored in interfaith communities through faithwashing. Faithwashing is the use of interfaith relations to whitewash crimes committed against the Palestinian people. This approach works explicitly to erase Palestinian suffering and conflate critiques of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. This tactic works to distract interfaith partners from addressing the perpetual settler-colonial violence in Palestine, only leading to the widespread legitimization of an apartheid system, rather than active resistance, including several non-violent approaches in addressing the atrocities. We need to encourage and engage in interfaith conversations that respect the other side’s views but do not deflect criticisms against the Israeli government’s war crimes and repeated violations of international law as the occupying force.

Faithwashing creates a false narrative of “historic” Jewish-Muslim rivalry as the core cause behind the ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestine, detracting from the reality of Israeli apartheid and occupation of Palestine, and moreover, detracting from the history of “Jews prospering copiously” at the height of Islamic civilization, according to historian Bernard Lewis.

In doing so, faith washing purports the solution to lie in interfaith dialogue and positioning towards neutrality instead of scrutinizing and addressing occupation and apartheid head-on.


Read full article—> ([link removed])

In conjunction with the Yale Free Exercise Clinic, MPAC has submitted an Amicus Brief ([link removed]) with the United States Supreme Court arguing for the right to religious freedom of an inmate from Arizona.

Palestine, the world needs to hear your account of what is happening.

In order to advocate for meaningful change in U.S. policy impacting Palestine, the Muslim Public Affairs Council is amplifying human stories of Palestinians and their families by ensuring top officials in the Biden administration see them. To submit your story, please use the form below. Upon submission you will receive an email acknowledging its receipt. If your story is one we’d like to follow up on for further details or if we have questions, we will contact you at the phone number and email provided.

Your voice, and your stories can impact change.
SHARE YOUR STORY → ([link removed])

GOOD TO KNOW
* 'An extraordinary moment': NJ's Zahid Quraishi makes ([link removed]) history as first Muslim federal judge
* Exciting news from our partners! Riz Ahmed, Pillars Fund, USC Annenberg & Ford Foundation unveil ([link removed]) the blueprint for Muslim inclusion
* UK police are making ([link removed]) Muslim mental health a terrorism flag
* Muslim family killed ([link removed]) in 'premeditated' truck attack in Ontario, Canada
* Stacey Abrams-led group launches ([link removed]) campaign to mobilize young voters of color around voting rights bill
* The second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the U.S. settles ([link removed]) Muslim discrimination lawsuit for $5.5 million
* China spread ([link removed]) disinformation videos on Uyghur Muslims two years ago. YouTube let them stay up
* Recent Spate ([link removed]) of Mass Shootings Is Among Worst in U.S. History




LEGISLATIVE TRACKER:

Review status of key legislation on issues we're covering —

The bills below seek to address the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people.
1. HR.2590 Introduced by Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4]
Referred to Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 4/15/21
To promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation and to ensure that United States taxpayer funds are not used by the Government of Israel to support the military detention of Palestinian children, the unlawful seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank, or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law.
2. S.Res.225 - Introduced by Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on 5/19/21
A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the value of Palestinian and Israeli lives and urging an immediate cease-fire and diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
3. H.J.49 - Joint Resolution introduced in the House by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY-14}
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 5/20/21
A resolution calling for congressional disapproval of the proposed direct commercial sale to Israel of certain weaponry and munitions.

What can you do to help?

Contact your local congressional offices. ([link removed])

- THIS WEEK IN HISTORY -

June 6, 632 - Prophet Muhammad passes away (approximate date); June 6, 1950 - Turkey: The Adhan in Arabic is legalized; June 6, 1967 - Israeli troops occupy Gaza during second day of the Six-Day War; June 6, 1982 - 30,000 Israeli troops invade Lebanon to drive out the PLO; June 7, 1099 - The first crusade in Jerusalem begins; June 7, 1967 - Israel captures Wailing Wall in East Jerusalem, Jericho and Bethlehem; June 7, 2000 - The UN recognizes the blue line as the border between Israel and Lebanon; June 8, 1941 - British-French Troops overflow what was Pro-German Syria; June 8, 1974 - Saudi Arabia and USA sign military and economic contract; June 9, 1999 - In the Kosovo war, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia signs a peace treaty with NATO; June 10, 1967 - Israel, Syria, Jordan, Iraq & Egypt end "6-Day War" with UN help; June 10, 1916 - Great Arab Revolt begins against ruling Ottoman Turks; June 12, 1906 - The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire,
later laid down the foundations of Pakistan; June 6, 640 - Muslim army sent by Caliph Omar begins siege of Heliopolis, city succumbs mid to late July, paving way for Muslim conquest of Byzantine Egypt; June 10, 1982 - Israeli troops reach outskirts of Beirut.


June 6, 1966 - Civil rights activist James Meredith wounded by white sniper in Mississippi; June 6, 1968 - Sen. Robert F. Kennedy dies from his wounds after he was shot the previous night; June 7, 1776 - Richard Lee (Virginia) moves Declaration of Independence in Continental Congress; June 7, 1862 - The US and Britain agree to suppress the slave trade; June 7, 1946 - US Supreme Court bans discrimination in interstate travel; June 8, 1906 - President Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act which allows the president to create national monuments based on scientific, cultural or natural features; June 8, 1953 – The US Supreme Court rules in District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. that restaurants in Washington, D.C., cannot refuse to serve black patrons; June 8, 1789 - James Madison introduces a proposed Bill of Rights in the US House of Representatives; June 9, 1772 - 1st naval attack of Revolutionary War takes place in Providence, RI; June 9, 1870 - US President Ulysses S. Grant meets with
Sioux Chief Red Cloud at The White House in Washington, D.C.; June 10, 1692 - The first victim of the Salem witch trials is hanged for witchcraft in the colony of Massachusetts; June 10, 1752 - Benjamin Franklin tests the lightning conductor with his kite-flying experiment; June 10, 1898 - US Marines land in Cuba during Spanish–American War; June 10, 1963 - US Equal Pay Act signed into law by President John F. Kennedy; June 11, 1776 - Continental Congress creates committee to draft a Declaration of Independence; June 12, 2016 - Gunman opens fire at nightclub in Orlando, FL, killing 49, injuring 53 - worst mass shooting in the US.

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