Breaking the Ramadan fast in the company of Jews

July 10, 2014 (RNS) Muslim tradition calls for breaking the Ramadan fast in the evening with a date and a sip of water, and increasingly these days, the company of Jews. Muslim-Jewish iftars are popping up across the nation, bringing together dozens and sometimes hundreds of people for a celebratory Ramadan meal and a chance to forge interfaith…

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Local religious leaders unite for change in immigration law

April 4, 2014   Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in Southern California hold vigil calling for a revamp in federal immigration laws. Several of Southern California’s most prominent religious leaders held a vigil for immigration reform in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, underscoring a growing interfaith effort to change the nation’s laws. Immigrants who are…

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Calif. Arab sparks debate over ethnic mascots

December 2, 2013   LOS ANGELES — On game days in Thermal, where date farms and desert surroundings evoke the Middle East and nearby communities have names like Mecca and Oasis, fans cheer a high school team known as the Arabs. A belly dancer jiggles on center court. And a black-haired, mustached mascot wearing a…

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At helm of NYPD, Bratton will take on role of healer-in-chief of a worried Muslim community

December 6, 2013   When William J. Bratton takes over as commissioner of the New York Police Department early next year, he will inherit the country’s most powerful local counterterrorism force, but one that has alienated the city’s large Muslim community. “We need to heal some of the wounds, reopen the communications and the partnership,”…

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Muslim Artists Perform to Break Stereotypes

November 12, 2013   For decades, Arab actors have been successful in Hollywood. Among the most successful are Omar Sharif, Tony Shalhoub, and F. Murray Abraham; the latter won an Academy Award for his role in Mozart. However Muslims, openly proclaiming their religion, are a minority in the U.S. population and an even smaller minority in the…

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