Source: The New York Times

On September 26, 1999, The New York Times reported that 21 Muslim cadets from the Middle East, who were freshmen at the State University of New York Maritime College, left the college due to alleged harassment and physical abuse by their classmates. The cadets claim that they had been subject to insulting remarks about their religion and their limited English skills, and that some of the Muslim cadets had been physically assaulted on two separate occasions. SUNY Maritime College has vowed to expel any cadets involved in...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On September 25, 1999, The Houston Chronicle reported that the application of an Islamic group for membership in Interfaith of the Woodlands, a social services organization in The Woodlands, Texas that only serves congregations within the Judeo-Christian heritage, has created a debate among the 16-member board of directors of The Woodlands Religious Community, Inc. Rabbi James Brandt, a board member representing the Beth Shalom Congregation, stated in an August 26th letter: "How can it make any sense to include the Christian...

Source: The Detroit News

On September 22, 1999, The Detroit News published an article entitled, "Arabs Boycott Disney: Groups Seek Worldwide Action After Park Exhibit Declares Jerusalem Capital of Israel."

Source: The Washington Post

On September 18, 1999, The Washington Post reported that the American Muslim Council is calling for a wide-scale voter registration drive for Muslims. Aly Abuzaakouk, executive director of the American Muslim Council, said that many of the country's 7 million Muslims come from countries where free voting and free elections are rare: "When you are voteless, you are weightless...It's a matter of education. A lot of them don't realize how important voting is. We are targeting that, by the election 2000, we should have at least 2...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 16, 1999, the Los Angeles Times published an article on the growing controversy over a Disney exhibit for Epcot's Millennium Village, scheduled to open on October 1st, which features Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Both Israelis and Palestinians lay claim to the city, which figures prominently in current peace negotiations between the two sides. A spokesman for Disney stated: "We are not taking sides on this issue...We are in the business of entertainment, trying to provide a good experience for our guests." Bill...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 7, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that plans for the Islamic Center of Southern California to build a 400-student grade school in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA have met a great deal of local resistance. The process of making the school a reality had been going fine until June, when community sentiment turned against the project. Protests have mostly targeted projected increased traffic - the Islamic Center's own studies have indicated that school-related traffic would be more than one-third of the traffic capacity...

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On September 3, 1999, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that 25,000 Muslims, including Hakeem Olajuwan and Cat Stevens, will gather in Chicago for the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America at McCormick Place. The event will attract 10,000 of the Chicago area's 300,000 Muslims. The opening night features an address by Cardinal Francis George, leader of 2.3 million Catholic in Cook and Lake Counties. The event comes after a report on Tuesday, August 31st from the Council on American-Islamic Relations that notes an...

Source: The Washington Post

On September 2, 1999, The Washington Post reported that the School of Islamic and Social Science located in Leesburg, Virginia, the only graduate school of its kind in the United States, held its first graduation of 14 students on Saturday, August 28th. The school's founder and president, Taha Jabir Alalwani, stated the purpose of the school's education: "The main message...is to build a bridge between Islam and the West...to understand the values of the founders of this beautiful country." The school emphasizes the historic and...

Source: Star Tribune

On August 28, 1999, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis published a response by Ibrahim Hooper, Washington, D.C. National Communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), to a second article written by Daniel Pipes, director of Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, in the August 24th issue of the Star Tribune. Hooper challenges several of the claims that Pipes makes in his article. First, Hooper calls Pipes' distinction between patriotic and chauvinist Muslims spurious. Second, Hooper states that CAIR has...

Source: The New York Times

On August 28, 1999, The New York Times reported that Georgetown University appointed Imam Yahya Hendi as its first Muslim chaplain. Hendi, who served as chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health, began work on August 10th at Georgetown. Hendi is also a doctoral student in philosophy and comparative religions at Temple University in Philadelphia. Rev. Adam Bunnell, the Georgetown chaplain who is in charge of the campus ministry, estimates that between 5 and 8 percent of the Georgetown...

Source: Star Tribune

On August 24, 1999, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis published a rebuttal by Daniel Pipes to an article by Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR that was published on August 14th in the Star Tribune. Hooper's August 14th article was a response to an article Pipes wrote that appeared in the August 1st edition of the Star Tribune. Pipes contends that CAIR has apologized for Hamas and Osama bin Laden and has promoted terrorism, intimidated "patriotic Muslims who disagree with CAIR's chauvinist agenda," permitted a "potential unindicted...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On August 19, 1999, The Christian Science Monitor published an article on a new book, Islam in America (Columbia University Press), authored by Jane Smith, professor of Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut and co-director of its Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. She states that many Muslim organizations in the United States "are searching for the essence of Islam" and are also involved in "determining the nature and authenticity of an indigenous American Islam." In a...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On August 19, 1999, The Christian Science Monitor published an article on the small but growing trend of Hispanic American conversions to Islam. Elizabeth Chawki, one of the approximately 15,000 Hispanic American converts to Islam, converted to Islam from her Christian heritage because she perceived a more direct connection to God, and she appreciated the sense of "brotherhood and sisterhood," the daily structure of life, and the inclusion of much of Jewish and Christian teachings. Benny Garcia, brother of Elizabeth...

Source: The Detroit News

On August 16, 1999, The Detroit News published an article entitled, "Modern Muslims Go Spiritual Online."

Source: Star Tribune

On August 14, 1999, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis published Hooper's reply to PIpes' August 1st commentary. Hooper points out that Daniel Pipes has a history of a "troubling bigotry toward Muslims." Citing several quotes from the writings of Pipes and commentaries on his work, Hooper shows that Pipes has a controversial stance toward Muslims. In 1983, a Washington Post book review states that Pipes displays, "a disturbing hostility to contemporary Muslims...he professes respect for Muslims but is frequently contemptuous of...