Deacon Spencer (left) and friendsIt was generally known that Robert Spencer, the rabid Islamophobe who runs the Jihad Watch website, has a background in the Melkite Catholic tradition.

However, all credit to the excellent Loonwatch for pulling the material together and exposing Spencer's role as an ordained deacon at Our Lady of the Cedars Catholic Church in Manchester, New Hampshire (see also Bartholomew's Notes on Religion).

In response to the Loonwatch exposé an online petition has now been posted, evidently by a fellow member of the Melkite Catholic Church, stating that it is unacceptable for a hatemonger like Spencer to hold the post of deacon and calling on the US Church leadership to remove him from that position.

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The Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an official investigation into a mosque attack at the NATO İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana, following claims that the attack was carried out by U.S. soldiers, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Turkish and U.S. generals, as well as other relevant authorities, will be asked for information about the incident as part of the investigation, reports said.

Local media in Adana had earlier reported that a number of soldiers at the İncirlik base entered the mosque on New Year's Eve, destroying its minbar and windows along with the Quran. Turkey's chief of staff subsequently denied the allegations.

Windows in the prayer room were broken by unknown individuals and there was some additional small-scale damage, the chief of staff said in a written statement issued late Jan. 10.

Hurriyet Daily News, 13 January 2013

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On Friday, December 14, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) will announce the launch of the "MyJihad" educational campaign at a press conference in the morning and at a community party in the afternoon.

MyJihad is an independent national initiative that seeks to share the proper meaning of Jihad as believed and practiced by the majority of Muslims. Jihad is a central tenet of the Islamic creed, which means struggling uphill in order to get to a better place.

Earlier today, the official MyJihad website was made live. The website includes detailed information about the campaign. View Myjihad website here: http://www.myjihad.org

On Monday, December 11th, the first bus ad campaign appeared on 25 Chicago buses. View the ads here: http://myjihad.org/photo-gallery/chicago-buses-live-shots/

The MyJihad campaign was founded by CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab as an independent initiative, with initial sponsorship by CAIR-Chicago and with a view for various organizational or individual sponsorships in later stages. The campaign is expected to quickly take on a life of its own.

Volunteers working on the campaign include activists and students, but the majority of volunteers have come from a group of working mothers who are disturbed by the prospects of their children growing up in an environment of gross misinformation about Islam that sometimes spills into outright hatred, such as with the recent anti-Islam ad campaigns sponsored by hate blogger Pamela Geller

The MyJihad campaign includes putting up public ads on buses and trains, as well as a social media component on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, where users are asked to tweet what their Jihad (struggle) is using the #MyJihad hash tag. Thousands of users have already tweeted and thousands more have liked the Facebook page.

"We have been overwhelmed with the participation of people of other faiths tweeting their struggles," said campaign volunteer and Naperville mom Angie Emara. "People of different backgrounds are finding a common language, they're learning to see themselves in one another as they share similar expressions of their daily Jihad."

The group hopes to follow up on the Chicago bus ad campaign with similar campaigns in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Houston, and Seattle.

Ahmed Rehab released the following statement:

"Jihad is a term that has unfortunately been widely misrepresented by the actions of Muslim extremists first and foremost, and by attempts at public indoctrination coming from Islamophobes who claim that the minority extremists are right and the majority of Muslims are wrong. The MyJihad campaign is about reclaiming Jihad from the Muslim and anti-Muslim extremists who, ironically but not surprisingly, see eye to eye on Jihad. It is also about pushing for an intelligent and informed understanding of Islam and its concepts and practices in the media, the educational circles, and the public. Most of all, this campaign is about giving voice to our views, our practices, and simply put, our reality, a reality that is too big to be left out of the conversation."

CAIR press release, 13 December 2012

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The Islamophobia Awareness Month will be hosting a series of events aiming to highlight and address issues surrounding anti-Muslim hatred. This event in East London saw the launch of the campaign that included organisations from different religious and political backgrounds.

The event gathered high-profile speakers from the police and universities to members of parliament. Speakers included the British human rights lawyer, Imran Khan, who highlighted, what he believes, is a direct link between the negative portrayals of Islam in the media and hate crimes against Muslims.

Among the audience were many Muslims; hopeful to engage with other communities and change people's perception of Islam. They feel it's important to calm tensions that might exist amongst fellow citizens, because those tensions could and have spilled out into violence.

There is a strong feeling amongst Muslims in Europe that they are the target of discrimination and hatred. They feel like a community under siege. And they hope schemes like the Islamophobia Awareness Month will highlight these problems and bring about a grassroots change in society.

However, the society they live in doesn't have a very favorable view of Islam. A recent survey reveals just 25% of people feel positively about Islam. And over 60% feel Islam is incompatible in British society.

Event organizers believe a lot has to do with name association. Terms like terrorism and extremism is closely attributed to Muslim stories in the media. They believe this correlation then creates an attitude hostile towards Muslims.

The Islamophobia Awareness Month aims to reach many cities, schools, institutions and governing bodies. Engagement with other communities is seen as an important step in demystifying and tackling hatred against Islam and Muslims.

Press TV, 7 November 2012

For the campaign organised by the Collectif Contre l'Islamophobie en France as part of Islamophobia Awareness Month, see CCIF news report, 31 October 2012

See also the www.NousSommesLaNation.fr website that the CCIF has launched to support the campaign.

Links to media coverage of the CCIF initiative can be found here.

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The Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project at UC Berkeley announces the launch of Islamophobia Studies Journal, a a bi-annual peer reviewed academic periodical focusing on emerging research on and analysis about the nature of Islamophobia and its impact on culture, politics, media, and the lives and experiences of Muslim people.

You can download the first issue of the journal here.

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A high-flying businessman was hauled before the court for a tirade of religious abuse at a Muslim immigration official waiting to check his passport.

Anthony Holt, 65, had become wound up after reading an article in the Daily Mail about the "victimisation of Christianity" on a flight into Manchester. When he landed, the retired consultant refused to go through a desk where Sayima Mohammed was on duty.

He astonished witnesses by pointing at her and saying: "I don't want to be seen by that. I don't want to be seen by any Muslim in a position of authority. I want to be seen by someone who's English. This is England. This is my country. I'm not into all this Islam."

As Ms Mohammed burst into tears, her colleagues refused to check Mr Holt's documents and ordered him to calm down. When police arrived, Holt turned his attention to a cop, saying: "That's Islam. I'm not going to that. This is my country." The 15-minute row only ended when he was arrested.

During a police interview Holt claimed the abuse was not "personal". He said: "The problem I have is with Islam as a whole. It's threat to the British population and the British way of life. I wanted to take a stand."

Holt, of Railway Road, Urmston, pleaded guilty to using religiously aggravated threatening words or behaviour. He was ordered to pay £100 compensation and a £145 fine.

Trafford magistrates heard he had worked as a consultant advising lawyers about the purchase of railway stock until his retirement earlier this month.

The court heard the outburst took place in front of a queue of witnesses, including children. In a statement to police, Ms Mohammed said: "I felt threatened, shocked and humiliated to be treated in that manner for no apparent reason."

Praveen Sethi, defending, said Holt had been flying into Manchester at the end of "a stressful week". He had been reading an article in the Mail in which the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey spoke of the "victimisation of Christians and Christianity".

Mr Sethi said: "He took his frustrations out on the first person he saw. Mr Holt is a man of previous good character. He's not a racist nor against any religion what-so-ever, which makes it even more surprising he carried out this act."

The court heard Holt suffered from a neurological disorder which meant he could "explode" at any time.

Holt told magistrates his comments were not directed to Ms Mohammed, but at the fact she was wearing a scarf. He said: "I have pleaded guilty because I am. It's totally out of character for me. I deeply regret it and deeply regret any offence or distress I caused the lady. Nothing I said was directed to her personally."

Geoff Homer, chairman of the bench, told Holt: "You have said to this court this is a one off incident and we accept that."

Manchester Evening News, 2 June 2012

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