Source: St. Petersburg Times

On December 5, 2002 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "Hillsborough school [FL] officials have decided they no longer will penalize high school students who take time off to observe a religious holiday. As always, students who miss class for a religious observance will receive an excused absence. But that absence will no longer cost them the exemption from semester exams awarded students who maintain perfect attendance. Such exemptions are a coveted privilege in many high schools. The new policy comes nearly two years...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1205/p14s02-lire.html

On December 5, 2002 The Christian Science Monitor reported that "to help counter what it sees as 'a rising tide of anti-Muslim rhetoric' in US society, a national Islamic civil rights group has come up with a particularly American response. It has launched a grass-roots campaign to get Muslims to sponsor educational materials for local public libraries. 'It's important that...

Source: The Associated Press

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5995-2002Dec3.html

On December 4, 2002 The Washington Post reported that "amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iraq and continued concerns about terrorism, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has renewed its message to employers that it is illegal to discriminate against foreign-born workers. The agency issued updated anti-bias guidelines yesterday...

Source: Connecticut Post

http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96%257E3750%257E1029127,00.html

On December 4, 2002 the Connecticut Post reported that "with the prospect of war with Iraq increasing, prayers for peace were offered by clergy of many faiths during a midday service Tuesday at Housatonic Community College. Despite bitter cold, about three dozen leaders of churches, mosques and synagogues gathered under a sunny sky in the college courtyard...

Source: religionwriters.com

http://www.religionwriters.com/public/tips/120202/120202a.html

On December 2, 2002 religionwriters.com reported that "the first week in December includes the celebration of Advent, Hanukkah, and Eid al-Fitr, and Christmas and Kwanzaa aren't far behind. After a year of constitutional controversies regarding religion, the winter holidays are yet another venue for debating the meaning of religious symbols in the public square....

Source: Northwest Indiana News

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2002/11/26/news/top_news/64c14bdeff4ff10886256c7d0026bd94.txt

On December 2, 2002 the Northwest Indiana News reported that "Aly Khan [came] forward as a candidate in hopes of replacing Bill Alexa when he retires from the [IL] state Senate at the end of the month. As a Muslim leader, active on both the national and local levels, the 37-year-old is well...

Source: Los Angeles Times

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-dec-01-me-saudi1-story.html

On December 1, 2002 the Los Angeles Times reported that "one of the nation's most prominent Islamic organizations has accepted a $500,000 donation from a Saudi...

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

On December 1, 2002 the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that "a construction company owner has been charged with a misdemeanor hate crime after two Boca Raton [FL] police officers said they watched him set fire to a sign announcing the new site of a mosque. George Aboujawdeh, 45, is the first person in Palm Beach County to be prosecuted for a hate crime directed at Muslims since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, said Michael Edmondson, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office. Aboujawdeh, a Catholic who was born and...

Source: Herald-Leader

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/4640933.htm

On December 1, 2002 the Herald-Leader reported that "born Michaela Colleen Jeffries, the Somerset, [Kentucky] resident and former Seventh-day Adventist converted to Islam in June, about a year after a tour of the Middle East led her to begin studying the Koran. 'Islam has given me an inner peace,' said Saleem, author of the autobiography Grasping for Love, about surviving...

Source: The Gazette

...

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55273-2002Nov29.html

On November 30, 2002 The Washington Post reported that "in a score of speeches since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the president has called for tolerance of Muslims, describing Islam as 'a faith based upon peace and love and compassion' and a religion committed to 'morality and learning and tolerance.' But a large number of foreign policy hawks -- some of them...

Source: Newsday

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-limosq293024235nov29,0,1664916.story

On November 29, 2002 Newsday reported that "nearly a decade ago, the Long Island Muslim Society bought two small houses on a busy street in East Meadow and began holding prayer services there. Now the Islamic group of about 40 families, mostly of Bangladeshi origin, wants to tear down the houses and build a new mosque and school in their...

Source: Austin American Statesman

On November 28, 2002 Austin American Statesman reported that "at Barsana Dham [in Texas], a Hindu temple, there were gathered a Roman Catholic bishop, an Episcopalian priest, Protestant ministers of various stripes (Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Unitarian and Baptist), a Jewish rabbi, Buddhist monks, a Muslim imam -- and more. That's not all. There were about 1,000 black people, brown people, yellow people and white people, men, women and children, and everybody took off their shoes in respect for Hindu ways."

Source: The Times-Picayune

On November 28, 2002 The Times-Picayune reported that "ever since the Sept. 11 attacks in America by Islamic extremists, Aneela Shuja of Kenner, a Muslim, has been on a mission to dispel the stereotypes and fear in the community about people of her faith. 'I felt somebody had to speak up or something bad was going to happen,' Shuja, 42, said. 'It is a calling for me. I have been encouraged to do this.' She's traveled around New Orleans talking at local public and Catholic schools and churches, to priests and politicians to...