By Nicolette Kelegian, Annenberg Radio, USC
 
LOS ANGELES, California (April 19, 2013) – The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is scheduled this weekend at the University of Southern California. On Saturday, there will be more than 300 booths spread across the University Park Campus and more than 150,000 people are expected to attend the festival.

While there are various different booths around campus ranging from authors and publishing houses to fresh food collaboratives, there are two tents likely to stick out: Islamic organizations prepared to educate people about Muslims and the Islam religion.

The Islamic Circle of North America organization was established in 1968 and has been present at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books since 2004. The organization claims it’s the largest Muslim organization in America. The Islamic Circle’s main goal in attending this festival each year is to educate the people according to Waqas Syed, the organization’s deputy secretary general.

“We are more about offering facts about our religion; What does Islam say about terrorism, about violence, and other things so people can make their own informed opinion,” said Syed.

At the festival, the Islamic Circle of North America has distributed up to 12,000 copies of the literature and 4,000 copies of the Holy Qur’an all for free.

“The objective of the project is not to proselytize or convert people but to basically provide educational opportunities for the general public to know and inquire about Islam and Muslims,” he said.

This year, this festival is coming just days after the Boston Marathon explosion, which many Americans speculate has Muslim ties. Syed is concerned about how people will react to the booth this year, but doesn’t plan to back out. In previous years, there have been people who didn’t like this organization’s presence at the festival.

“a person whose Marine brother had died in the Iraq war was pretty upset and said you killed my brother and things like that, but overall we’ve had a very broad support from everyone” Syed said.

Al Islam is the second Islamic organization attending the festival this year. Al Islam is like a digital portal of books on Islam and lectures available for people who want to learn more about Islam.

Imam Shamshad Nasir belongs to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Nasir is the Regional Imam for California, Nevada, and Nebraska. “There are so many misunderstandings and Islam is a very misunderstood region in the world right now and especially in the American society,” Nasir said.

Nasir wants to clear up the stereotypes people have against muslims. “People think that all Muslims are terrorists, which is not true. We want to remove the misunderstanding by telling them that Islam is peace, Islam is submission to the will of God,” Nasir said.

Both organizations said they are aren’t trying to convert people to Islam, but better educate people about the religion.

In light of the Boston explosions, USC’s Department of Public Safety has said it’s asked for an on-call bomb sniffing dog and more LAPD officers to help out with the large crowds at the festival this weekend.

Article Courtesy: Annenberg Radio, USC

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The festival that has become a staple in the tight-knit Orange County Arabic community for nearly 20 years has become a place of protest outside the event gates but inside, the party goes on.

By day, families play games, take their children on rides and peruse aisles of Middle Eastern cuisine and hookah tents at the Arab American Day Festival in Garden Grove. When night falls, music will overwhelm the venue on Main Street, a dance party will ensue and, according to some, the protests will begin.

Friday night drew heated controversy outside the gates between festival-goers and a group carrying signs disparaging the prophet Muhammad and passing out Bibles. Police said no arrests were made Friday and about 30 officers were at the festival on Saturday, the night expected to draw the largest crowds.

Festival organizer and founder Ahmad Alam said the protesters stood with a microphone and signs yelling anti-Islamic sayings. One of the signs reportedly used a phrase from the anti-Muslim movie that has sparked riots at U.S. embassies across the world and resulted in the death of a U.S. ambassador and several others.

But Alam said this is nothing he hasn't seen before. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Alam said the festival has seen its share of anti-Muslim groups outside their festival. "Our people are used to this," he said.

Orange County Register, 29 September 2012

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Expose draws our attention to a link to a YouTube video that was posted on the official EDL Facebook page this morning. It features a brutal attack by Russian skinheads on an anti-racism festival at Miass in August 2010. The link has since been removed without explanation.

The soundtrack to the video is "Kick the Reds In" by the neo-Nazi band Whitelaw, which you may recall was also used by the EDL's Essex Division to advertise an anti-mosque protest in Chelmsford last month.

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A supporter of the English Defence League head-butted one of the group's opponents during an anti-racism music festival.

James Lee Elliott, 20, was drunk when he attacked a member of Leicester Unite Against Fascism during the festival last year. The assault took place during a free music festival called Love Music, Hate Racism in Leicester's Market Corner in October, Leicester Magistrates' Court heard.

Elliott, who the court heard is already subject to a three-year football banning order, approached an information stall run by Unite Against Fascism and tried to pull down one of the group's posters. After three attempts, the court heard, he managed to pull the poster away and was challenged by a one of the people who were running the stall.

Prosecutor Cheryl Goes, told the hearing on Thursday that Elliott head-butted the man before he was restrained by onlookers and the police were called. When two police officers arrived to take him away, Elliott became abusive, calling the two constables a series of foul names. The officers said Elliott smelled of alcohol and was glassy-eyed.

The officers initially intended to issue him with a dispersal notice, which would have meant he would have to leave the city centre. However, as he continued to swear at them and struggle, they attempted to restrain him but he began attempting to punch and kick them, the court heard. He was eventually handcuffed when a third officer arrived to help his colleagues.

Ms Goes told the court: "During his police interview he accepted he was at the event and was a member of the English Defence League and was angered by the poster." Elliott has seven criminal convictions dating back to 2007, Ms Goes said.

Elliott, of Rona Gardens, Thurnby Lodge, Leicester, had previously pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour, but denied resisting arrest and assault. He was due to be tried for those offences – which were caught on CCTV cameras – but changed his pleas to guilty on the day of the trial.

Kerry Patrick, representing Elliott, told the court that her client accepted he had been drunk and abusive but denied he had deliberately head butted his victim. He had pleaded guilty to the assault charge because he accepted there was contact between him and the man.

Ms Patrick said: "He accepts he was being abusive throughout and that he was intoxicated. He also accepts he was angered by the content of the poster and that he took it down after several attempts."

The chairman of the bench, William Langley, adjourned sentencing until Thursday, August 2. In that time, probation officers will compile a report on Elliott and his criminal history to guide the magistrates who sentence him.

Elliott was released on unconditional bail.

Leicester Mercury, 14 July 2012

Elliott's criminal history includes a conviction for assault following an attack on a UAF organising meeting in the run up to the EDL march in Leicester in October 2010.

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For a brief moment Friday, the song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" blared over the speakers of a ride at the Arab International Festival in Dearborn; but nearby, an anti-Islamic protest made its way down Warren Avenue, drowning out the lyrics' message of friendship with the angry shouts of attendees.

While the majority of the festival remained unscathed, the Bible Believers – a small contigent with an anti-Islam message – protested at the fair on Warren Avenue.

Near them, separated by Wayne County police, a crowd of 50-100 counter-protesters contested the group's presence with words and actions. Most were teenagers, while several adult festival-goers urged the youth to break up their groups and ignore the protest.

The group, armed with signs preaching messages against Islam, stayed for about an hour and a half. Bottles were thrown, swear words were shouted and obscene gestures were made while the police routinely stepped in to separate the groups. Midway through the affair, four mounted police officers were brought in to quell the crowd.

In total, the festival stretched several blocks and the protestors affected only a small area of the event. Nonetheless, two festival attendees were detained and issued citations for disorderly conduct, according to Wayne County Deputy Chief Mike Jaafar.

No official arrests were made, and Jaafar said his team was please overall with the outcome.

Dearborn Patch, 16 June 2012

This the second time that the Bible Believers have staged a provocative demonstration at the festival with their abusive banners, which denounce Islam as a "religion of blood and murder" and the Prophet Muhammad as a "child molesting pervert". They did the same last year.

Update:   See also "Christian missionary group with pig's head taunt Arab-Americans at Dearborn festival", Detroit Free Press, 16 June 2012

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