Tag Archives: Mayor Bloomberg

Muslim civil rights groups boycott NYPD’s Ramadan conference

Last July, some 400 Muslim New Yorkers gathered at the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) annual “pre-Ramadan conference” at police headquarters. Mohamed Shamsi Ali, the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, delivered prayers while Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the audience that “New York is a city built on religious tolerance.” This year, the scene was different. In the wake of the New York Police Department’s spy scandal, a coalition of Muslim groups in New York announced a boycott of this morning’s Ramadan conference.

Posted in Activism, US Politics, War on Terror | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

‘If I pray in public, I feel uncomfortable’: New Jersey Muslims, targets of NYPD surveillance, fight back in lawsuit

Top officials won’t hold the NYPD accountable for civil rights violations of Muslims. So it comes down to Muslim Advocates and a group of New Jersey Muslims to do the job.

Posted in US Politics, War on Terror | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

JNF embarks on NY gaywashing

A couple weeks back the Arava Institute for ecology in Israel did a feel-good-we-can-all-get-along online event featuring Pete Seeger, the American icon. The Arava Institute is partnered with the Jewish National Fund, which controls a lot of land in Israel … Continue reading

Posted in Israel/Palestine | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Noah’s arc

Last Friday at NYU, Noah Feldman, the terrifyingly-successful Harvard Law School professor and former Iraq war apparatchik, raised one of the central points in the pro-Israel argument when he said in essence that the Palestinians are not ready for democracy. … Continue reading

Posted in Israel/Palestine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 64 Comments