Danny Jensen
September 24, 2008 | 3:57 pm EST
A new poll finds that 23% of Texans erroneously believe Democratic Presidential candidate and Illinois Senator Barack Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a practicing Christian and has repeatedly let this be known in the 20 plus months he’s been campaigning for the presidency. The poll was conducted by the Texas Politics Projects and Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin and interviewed 550 registered voters between October 15th through 22nd of this year.
I don’t mean to mess with Texas, a practice which I understand is not looked kindly upon in those parts, but this troubling finding is just astonishingly ignorant. The candidates have been on the television for almost two years now, being reported on almost every single day and either people still cannot get their facts straight, or choose to believe in a conspiracy theory? To be fair, 45 percent of those interviewed in the poll knew Obama was a Christian, which, while still not a majority, is better than nothing, I guess. But the Lone Star State is well behind National numbers in their answer to this question, with only 11% of Americans on the whole believing Obama is a follower of Islam.
One also gets the feeling, although this was not asked in the polling, that a sizable portion of those who think Obama is a Muslim, also harbor the racist view that there’s something wrong with being a Muslim. The multiple levels of ignorance at work in such a situation are frightening, to put it mildly. Some people need to wake up and learn we’re living in the 21st Century, a time of multiculturalism, where the same old tired ploys used to divide people and exploit them politically and economically aren’t going to fly anymore. Read the rest of this entry »
Paris’ 19th Arrondissement, one of the cities poorest and most racially diverse districts, is suffering from increases in gang violence this month, but locals are questioning how much race and religion are instigating attacks. Even many social workers argue that the fighting is over turf and heightened by class tensions as the neighborhood becomes more gentrified. While perhaps race and religion are not the sole driving forces, much of the violence has occurred between Muslim youths of North African decent and Jewish teenagers.
Morad Chahrine, who directs the J2P social and cultural center, explains:
‘It’s less about anti-Semitism than fights among gangs of youths, who create alliances of one district against another,’ Mr. Chahrine said, noting the influence of American movies on the styles and habits of the gangs. ‘This idea of identity of territory starts with economic reasons. This is the youngest and poorest arrondissement in Paris, with a lot of unemployment, and that explains a lot.’- NY Times
Great to hear our culture serves as such an excellent role model to the kids of Paris. It’s a terribly upsetting situation, particularly when you consider that the motivation for the violence begins with self-hatred:
Mouada Abdelali, an artist who worked on youth projects, said that he had seen local French youths repeatedly stigmatised for their skin colour or immigrant descent. “One teenager said to me: “I hate everyone even myself”. How do you deal with that?” - Guardian UK
The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!
Katie Halper:
Brigitte Bardot Fine: Top 5 Bardotisms That Got Hot Sex Symbol In Hot Water
Obama Pound: In Historic Moment, White People Exposed To Fist Bump For First Time
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Nicole Hughes:
Get a Job: Top 10 Guides to Finding the Perfect Eco Career
Schwarzenegger Declares Drought in California
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Barcelona Fines Citizens for Using Drinking Water in Pools and Gardens
Coal Power Plants Waste Two-Thirds of Energy Input
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Jon Popham:
Megabus Expanding to the East Coast
Egyptian Blogger Freed from Prison
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Giulia Rozzi:
Diamonds In The Rough: A Ugandan Hip Hop Revolution
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Gina Telaroli:
Interview with Nina Davenport, Director of Operation Filmmaker
KidZui : Internet for Kids (and Those Young at Heart)
For Brigitte Bardot, the whole getting fined for making anti-Muslim remarks is soooo pasee. Been there, done that. Her repeat offender behavior has led the prosecutor to say, “I’m a bit tired of trying Madame Bardot.”
The former actress and model was famous for her sex symbol status and roles in films like “And God Created Woman” by Roger Vadim in 1956 and “Contempt” by Jean-Luc Godard in 1963. But it’s no longer her sex appeal or her films that gets the 73 into the headlines and into the blog posts of Gina Telaroli. Bardot has been a long-time a champion of animal rights, which she takes so seriously, she had a neighbor’s donkey castrated because he was sexually harassing her mare. But Bardot is not as fond of the Muslims as she is critters, and today was sentenced, for the FIFTH time, under a French law against for inciting hatred and discrimination on racial or religious or racial grounds. The equivalent of $23,325, this was the heaviest fine so far. So here are the five racism-inciting statements Bardot has made and paid for– literally– since 1997
1. “…my country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims.” - published in 1997 Open Letter to My Lost France Le Figaro.
2. “I am against the Islamisation of France. For centuries our forefathers…our fathers gave their lives to chase all successive invaders from France,” her book, A Cry in the Silence, 2003.
3. “Our lovely, kind street-walkers have been replaced by girls from the east, Nigerians, travellers, transsexuals, drag-queens, bearers of Aids and other friendly gifts… Not even French prostitutes are what they used to be.” A Cry in the Silence, 2003.
Read the rest of this entry »
Feministing directed me to this interesting video featuring Muslim women discussing the hijab (the traditional head and neck covering). There is no confirmation is the women are actresses or unscripted Muslims, none the less it’s definitely a thought provoking piece.
For more on Muslim women’s values and some articles about hijab, check out The Muslim Womens League at http://www.mwlusa.org 
December 25th, 2007
Chennai, India
India received quite a Christmas present today when Narendra Modi was sworn in for a third term as the leader of the western Indian state of Gujarat. Some of 
you may remember Gujarat as the scene of communal violence in 2002. The violence was triggered after 58 Hindus were burned to death when their train car was set on fire. Blaming Muslim mobs, right wing Hindu nationalists responded by demolishing Muslim monuments, shrines, and mosques, burning down Muslim housing complexes, and killing and raping Muslim men, women and children. At the end of the massacre, 2,000 people, almost all Muslim, had been killed, countless were injured and tens of thousands displaced. The police response ranged from passivity, to telling Muslims “we have no orders to save you;” from engaging in the anti-Muslim violence to offering persecuted Muslims help, only to deliver them into the hands of their would-be executioners.
The local government claimed that the Hindu response to the train attack was spontaneous. But it turns out the attack was coordinated, its planning preceded the tragic killing of the Hindus, and was supoprted by Gujarat’s police and local government. The state’s Chief Minister, the equivalent of Gujarat’s Governor, actually praised people for not attacking more Muslims, saying, the people of Gujarat have shown remarkable restraint under grave provocation.” This same Right Wing Hindu Nationalist governor showed his own remarkable restraint by tacitly supporting the anti-Muslim violence and telling the state police to wait for three days before quelling any attacks. The governor also helped, advised, and protected people like “Babu Patel, an anti-Muslim 
militant who bragged about cutting a pregnant Muslim woman’s womb open and removing the fetus:
There was this pregnant woman. I slit her open, sisterf**r, showed them what’s what, what kind of revenge we can take if our people are killed. I am not a feeble vegetarian. We didn’t spare anyone. They shouldn’t even be allowed to breed. I say that even today. Whoever they are”women, children, whoever”nothing to be done to them but cut them down, thrash them, slash them, burn the bastards.
This Governor by the way, was Narendra Modi, sworn in for the third time, today. Merry Christmas.
The teddy bear tragedy in Sudan has gotten worse. Protesters demanded the execution of Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher who named a teddy bear Mohamed!During a sermon, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, told worshipers “this an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad.”Hatred? Isn’t killing a woman who innocently mis-named a toy a much greater of a hateful action? Ironically protesters began their demonstration as they exited mosques after Friday sermons.At a time where there is already such a common misunderstanding of the Muslim faith, outrageous actions such as suggesting the killing of a woman who accidentally insulted a religion simply make matters worse. Is it not religion that teaches us to forgive? And if so, why can’t the people of Sudan pardon this woman’s ignorance?Wouldn’t it be better to spare her life as an example of how conflict can be rationally discussed? Why not use this situation to raise awareness about the Muslim faith and its values? I never knew naming a toy Mohamed was such a crime against Muslims, but now I know because of this very situation. Afterall , awareness is the key to avoiding conflict.To learn more about the Muslim faith visit http://www.islamicawarenesssociety.com/
By Giulia Rozzi
A British teacher in Sudan may be lashed for naming a teddy bear Mohamed. Apparently the teacher was unaware that doing such a deed was highly insulting to the Muslim faith and now may face cruel punishment for her misunderstanding. Aren’t stuffed animals suppose to provide joy and not pain?
Andy Kondrat:
