Hi Friend,
Muslim Advocates frequently uses the press to advocate for religious liberty, fair treatment and equal opportunity for American Muslims and all people. We have also become a go-to source for expert testimony on anti-Muslim discrimination, tech accountability, legal matters and much more.
Muslim Advocates in the News presents a window into a significant part of our advocacy work as highlighted in the press and media.
Please check out our Spring 2022 edition and let me know what you think.
Eric Naing,
Communications Director
Muslim Advocates
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First American Muslim Woman Nominated to Serve as Federal Judge
Biden nominates Muslim woman to the federal bench, a first in US history as he diversifies the judiciary, [[link removed]] USA Today — 19 January 2022
Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights organization, wrote in a July letter to Schumer and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that Choudhury has a "stellar reputation" for advancing the rights of minority communities and that her nomination would make much-needed history.
Biden Nominates First Muslim Woman As Federal Judge, [[link removed]] Christianity Daily — 9 February 2022
US Muslims react to Biden's nomination of first Muslim woman to be federal judge, [[link removed]] Middle East Eye — 7 February 2022
Bangladeshi-American one step away from becoming first Muslim woman on US federal bench, [[link removed]] The Business Standard — 20 January 2022
Biden nominates first US Muslim woman to federal court bench, [[link removed]] Al Jazeera — 19 January 2022
Biden nominates first Muslim woman and first Bangladeshi-American to serve as federal judge, [[link removed]] Daily Kos — 20 January 2022
Muslim woman to become a federal judge in US, [[link removed]] Global Village Space — 20 January 2022
Joe Biden Nominates First Muslim Woman to US Federal Court Bench, [[link removed]] MVSLIM — 20 January 2022
Nusrat Jahan Choudhury Nomination Hearing
Hearing begins for first Muslim-American woman nominee for US federal bench, [[link removed]] The National — 27 April 2022
Upon her nomination, Muslim Advocates Senior Policy Counsel Sumayyah Waheed urged Congress to give Ms Choudhury and her fellow nominees a fair hearing. “American Muslims in particular have not been treated fairly by the Senate confirmation process and we urge members of both parties to avoid attacks based on one’s faith and to avoid spreading harmful anti-Muslim tropes,” Ms Waheed said in a statement obtained by The National.
Colleyville Synagogue Hostage Crisis
All Hostages Are Out Alive And Safe At Congregation Beth Israel In Colleyville, [[link removed]] Suspect Dead, CBS (DFW) — 12 January 2022
Muslim Advocates condemned the attack and stood in solidarity with the Rabbi and synagogue.
Terrorism by proxy?, [[link removed]] Dallas Voice — 21 January 2022
Multiple Law Enforcement Agencies Respond to Hostage Taking at Congregation Beth [[link removed]]
Israel in Colleyville, [[link removed]] Bharat Express News — 16 January 2022
Buffalo Shooting
Buffalo gunman's racism appears linked to mainstreaming of white nationalism, [[link removed]] Salon — 16 May 2022
"In Christchurch, New Zealand and El Paso, Texas and Poway, California and now again in Buffalo, New York, a gunman motivated by a white nationalist conspiracy theory about invading immigrants shot and killed people of color," said Sumayyah Waheed, senior policy council for Muslim Advocates, in a statement referencing a series of mass shootings carried out by white supremacists in recent years.
Anti-Muslim Spying on Muslim Organizations
CAIR National releases new evidence on spies for Investigative Project on Terrorism, [[link removed]] Columbus Dispatch — 12 January 2022
CAIR also said it found that IPT was spying on former Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), now the state's attorney general. Other organizations that were allegedly spied on include: the Muslim Alliance of North America, the Islamic Society of North America, Muslim American Society, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, Muslim Advocates, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic Networks Group, and Zaytuna College, according to CAIR.
80 U.S. Muslim organisations call for federal investigation into anti-Muslim group’s ‘spying’, [[link removed]] 5 Pillars — 7 February 2022
Justice Department urged to probe anti-Muslim group's alleged spying, [[link removed]] Middle East Eye — 1 February 2022
For NJ Muslims, new spying scandal comes as no surprise after years of surveillance, [[link removed]] NewJersey.com — 28 January 2022
Big Tech's Anti-Muslim Problem
Dignity in a Digital Age review: a congressman takes big tech to task, [[link removed]] The Guardian — 30 January 2022
And then there is the single greatest big tech crime against humanity. According to Muslim Advocates, a Washington-based civil rights group, the Buddhist junta in Myanmar used Facebook and WhatsApp to plan the mass murder of Rohingya Muslims. The United Nations found that Facebook played a “determining role” in events that led to the murder of at least 25,000 and the displacement of 700,000.
Anti-Muslim Hate on Twitter
Jewish, Muslim groups voice concerns over Musk Twitter takeover, [[link removed]] Religion News Service — 28 April 2022
‘Musk’s takeover threatens to make Twitter an even more dangerous place for Muslims and other marginalized people — and that includes the very real possibility of allowing Trump back on the platform,’ said Sumayyah Waheed of Muslim Advocates.
More Free Speech or More Misinformation? Reactions Mixed to Twitter Sale, [[link removed]] VOA — 25 April 2022
Trump Back on Twitter?
Elon Musk says he'll reverse Donald Trump Twitter ban, [[link removed]] NPR — 10 May 2022
"What Musk proposes to do with the platform would represent a severe backslide in favor of allowing hate and misinformation that would put our communities in even more danger," said Sumayyah Waheed of the civil rights group Muslim Advocates. The group is a member of Twitter's Trust and Safety Council, which advises the company on its policies and products.
Rights groups warn of 'real danger' to Muslims, marginalised if Trump returns to Twitter, [[link removed]] The New Arab — 11 May 2022
Elon Musk Says He Would Lift Twitter Ban On Trump, [[link removed]] AFP — 10 May 2022
Prisoners' Religious Liberty
10th Circuit reinstates group prayer lawsuit of 1993 WTC bomber, [[link removed]] Colorado Politics — 9 February 2022
The civil rights organization Muslim Advocates and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, a public interest law firm, weighed in to the 10th Circuit on Ajaj's behalf. Both argued that the Bureau of Prisons should not be able to avoid judicial review of its congregate prayer policies through its allegedly tactical transfers of Ajaj to new facilities.
10th Circuit Revives 1993 World Trade Center Attacker’s Religious Rights Case, [[link removed]] Law Week Colorado — 14 February 2022
Prisoner Meals During Ramadan
US jail settles lawsuit, agrees to serve Muslims Kosher meals during Ramadan, [[link removed]] Middle East Eye — 21 April 2022
According to a 2019 study conducted by Muslim Advocates, about nine percent of the US state prison population is Muslim, while in some states that number is as high as 20 percent.
NYPD Spying on Muslims
NYPD's top official faces backlash for downplaying Muslim surveillance, [[link removed]] Middle East Eye — 22 March 2022
In 2012, Muslim Advocates and other organisations filed a lawsuit against the NYPD on behalf of several individuals and groups who were harmed by surveillance. They won the settlement, which eventually forced the NYPD to pay more than a million dollars to the Muslims "they denied spying on", Muslim Advocates interim legal director Naomi Tsu said.
"The NYPD filmed, tracked and monitored Muslims in mosques, restaurants and schools with cameras and undercover officers in New York, New Jersey and beyond - all without their knowledge," Tsu said.
"As part of the court proceedings, a federal appeals court explicitly said that our clients plausibly pled that the NYPD ran 'a surveillance programme with a facially discriminatory classification'."
"The NYPD's attempts to rewrite this proven history of spying on American Muslims is jaw-dropping and a worrying sign that they could do it again."
Anti-Muslims Spying on Muslims
New York attorney general urges Justice Department to probe anti-Muslim group, [[link removed]] Middle East Eye — 4 April 2022
Sumayyah Waheed, policy consultant for the civil rights group Muslim Advocates, told MEE that "for far too long, illegal spying on American Muslims has been accepted and justified by public officials at the highest levels despite the clear harms this has on our communities."
"The lies and fear peddled by Anti-Muslim zealots have not only found their way into misdirected government policy but also sow mistrust in our communities - not just in New York but nationwide. We need to do everything we can to combat this dangerous, anti-Muslim misinformation campaign."
Abortion and Religious Pluralism
Is Abortion Permitted in Judaism?, [[link removed]] Snopes — 9 May 2022
Most American Muslim advocates argue against the abortion ban in the United States. An open letter by a coalition of Muslim groups said: By defining life as beginning at conception, this law adopts the religious belief of some Christians who believe that all abortion is immoral.
Supreme Court Justice Jackson
Interfaith rally supports Ketanji Brown Jackson in front of Supreme Court, [[link removed]] Religion News Service — 30 March 2022
While Jackson has generally been private about her faith, speakers in her favor prayed for Senate action and tied their support for her to their religions. Representatives included members of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Catholics for Choice, Muslim Advocates, People for the American Way, National Council of Jewish Women, Washington’s Masjid Muhammad and the National Baptist Convention, USA.
Muslim Girl Recommends Muslims Advocates as the #1 Organization to Support as part of "10 MUSLIM PROJECTS TO GIVE ZAKAT AND SADAQAH TO" [[link removed]]
On a mission to “halt bigotry in its tracks,” Muslim Advocates [[link removed]] represents the Muslim community in courts and political theaters so that American Muslims are free from discrimination and hatred.
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