Ramadan Kareem

Gaza

STOP the cold blooded murder, torture, and isolation of innocent civilians.

Cry about justice and democracy.

Scream “Human rights violation!” America is disgraceful for letting this happen and supporting terrorism.

Blatant murder of innocent people.

War on terror? How can the US or better yet Muslim nations ever talk about fighting terrorism when they let something like this happen and turn their backs like nothings going on.

Even a hypocritical condemnation would look better than nothing at this point.

Stop bullying people with no defenses.

Stop killing innocent people after occupying their land.

You know damn well you have no business there in the first place.

VA Mosque Reaches Out, Joining Immigrant Fabric

By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2008; A01

 

For years, the Dar al Hijrah mosque was an isolated, slightly mysterious presence in Falls Church — a stark stone building hidden behind a row of trees, rarely visited by non-Muslims in the multi-ethnic Culmore neighborhood, and known mostly for traffic jams on Leesburg Pike as worshipers arrived for Friday prayers.

These days, the mosque bustles with visitors chattering in Spanish and Vietnamese as well as Persian and Urdu. Immigrants from a dozen countries gather there each Thursday, many with toddlers and baby strollers, to pick up donated chicken, bread, fruit and vegetables.

On weekends, the doors are thrown open for community blood drives or mental health fairs. At night, mosque officials often attend meetings at nearby churches, synagogues or social agencies, including a monthly brainstorming session called Culmore Partners.

“The average person here has had no interaction with Islam. They may even think we are the enemy, especially after September 11th,” said Abdulkareem Jama, a network engineer from Somalia who is president of the mosque’s board. “The more we open up and interact, the more we demystify things and seem normal to each other.”

Dar al Hijrah has evolved dramatically since 2001, when it came under official suspicion amid reports that a man linked to the terror attacks in New York and Washington had visited there. This year, its glossy 25th anniversary report includes congratulatory letters from a variety of private and public institutions.

The mosque’s coming out also reflects the growing cooperation between area Muslim institutions and the largely non-Muslim immigrant communities that surround them. In Culmore, the trend has brought many groups together to help immigrants who struggle with poverty, discrimination and legal problems.

Father Horace Grinnell is the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, a longtime anchor of Culmore. Until six months ago, he had never met the leaders of Dar al Hijrah. Now, they are collaborating on a health clinic and other projects.

“There has been a quantum leap in synergy and coordination,” Grinnell said. “They were painted pretty harshly after 9/11, but now they are reaching out on all fronts. We can both be a resource for people, whether they are Catholic or not.”

Beyond places of worship, the evolving mosaic of shops, restaurants and offices in Culmore and several other Northern Virginia areas reflects an increasingly comfortable meld of Middle Eastern cultures with the Latin American and Asian cultures that once dominated them.

On Leesburg Pike, a Pakistani dentist’s waiting room has Spanish-language and Muslim-oriented newspapers; an Arab-owned travel company books trips to Central America; and an Iranian grocery owner often chats with the Salvadoran discount furniture seller next door.

“There is harmony here,” said Luis Lazo, 55, as he stopped by to greet Lida Sadahjiani in her shop stuffed with Iranian delicacies. “We don’t speak the same language, but we have known each other a long time.”

Just across Leesburg Pike, Ali Altaf, 35, a bank employee, was eating lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant with his wife and children. In the window were signs in Arabic, Persian and Spanish. His waitress was a Peruvian immigrant named Emiliana Navarrete, 21.

“People here seem more knowledgeable about each other’s cultures now; they are getting to know each other better,” Altaf said. Navarrete showed the notepad where she had written the names of Persian dishes phonetically so she could understand telephone orders.

“Baba kanush, korma sapsi,” she practiced with a laugh.

Such public familiarity has not crossed the line into many personal friendships, let alone religious conversions, local leaders said. There are only a handful of Hispanic Muslims in the area, including Farhanaz Ellis, an outreach worker at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Sterling.

Ellis, born to a Catholic family in Panama, said her mosque had held a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and presentations for emergency workers. Yet she seemed to have few personal ties to area Latinos and said much of her work involved explaining Islam to outside groups.

“Many people here have the misperception that Islam oppresses women and that Muslims see non-Muslims as infidels,” she said. She does not try to change critics, she said, “just give them food for thought.”

One area Muslim who has plunged into Hispanic issues is Mukit Hossain, a Bangladeshi immigrant in Herndon who co-founded a day-laborer center there for Latino workers. The center provoked a public outcry and was shut down last year.

Hossain said area Muslims, most of whom came to the U.S. legally, traditionally had little interest in the problems of illegal or Latino immigrants. After the terror attacks of 2001, however, they began to face public hostility and find common cause with other immigrant groups.

“What happened on 9/11 was a wake-up call for all of us,” Hossain said. To those who question why he would help Hispanic laborers, he retorted, “Do they think I am a terrorist here to convert people?”

Immigration is a “human rights issue,” he said. “No one from any country should be treated like an animal.”

It was the threat of a crackdown on illegal immigrants that first brought Dar al Hijrah into close contact with advocacy groups. A meeting was called in Culmore to discuss how to help families in cases of raids or arrests, and mosque officials offered their premises.

“We were blown away by their hospitality. They even bought us all pizza,” said Cindy Brown of Hogar Hispano, a nonprofit aid agency for Latinos on Leesburg Pike.

Mosque officials say they have no desire to push their religion on other immigrants, only to inform them about it. At community events, they set up a booth with brochures in Spanish, including a booklet on the history of Islam, women’s rights and “common misinterpretations” about their faith.

“We are one community of many cultures and faiths, and we want to break down the barriers that divide us,” said Mohammed Abdelilah, a manager at Dar al Hijrah. “This is nothing magic. It’s not for political gain. It is for the sake of God.”

At a recent food distribution in the mosque, families from Morocco, Iran, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea, Guatemala, Pakistan and Ethiopia waited their turn. Although clustered together by language groups, they greeted each other with smiles.

Carlos Moreno, 71, an immigrant from El Salvador, said that with food prices climbing, he and his wife were grateful for the assistance and felt comfortable visiting the mosque.

“The Bible says there should be no divisions between human beings, no racism and no prejudice,” Moreno said. “When we die, we all look the same. Rich or poor, black or white, we all go to the same place.”

MS Walk 07

By Muslim Link Staff

Muslims are getting more involved in civic activities to show their support for humanitarian causes. DC Area Muslim leaders, organizations, and youth believe their participation to improve the condition of their local community members is something that has been called upon them to do as Muslims.

Three dozen of the Washington-based Muslim American Society (MAS) Youth DC members recently took part in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walk at the Reston Town Center in Reston, Virginia on April 14th, 2007.

The annual MS Walk was sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) located in Mclean, Virginia.  BAH is a global strategy and consulting firm who has been recognized for its support of the walk for the last decade.

According to Dua’s Elbarasse, the project coordinator of MAS Youth Give, this is the first time MAS sponsored the walk. After participating in this walk, MAS Youth DC has decided they will commit their involvement to other charitable events in order to help raise awareness of some problems such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, and homelessness.

“MAS Youth DC participated in this walk to raise awareness about this devastating disease, and raise some money which will hopefully help to find a cure,” said Elbarasse director of MAS Youth Give Project.

The goal of this walk for Muslim youth was to mobilize American Muslim children and young adults to help create a better society by instilling in them the need for public service and encourage giving to those in less fortunate circumstances.

MAS officials believe their participation in the walk coincides with their motto which is to “aim to serve the Creator by serving his creations.”

According to National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), there are an estimate of 400,000 Americans suffering from the malignant effects of the disease each year.

Although it is not certain what causes the disease, or at what age one can be diagnosed with it, NMSS encourages parents to get their children checked annually for symptoms.

Sources from NMSS said the MS Walk is not just a fundraising event, but a celebration for the entire American community.   The donations collected will fund countless national and local programs and services to treat individuals who are diagnosed with the disease and also for research purposes.

Although MAS Youth DC members have to be between the ages of 14-30, most participants brought their younger siblings, cousins, neighbors and friends with them to the walk.

On a cold, gloomy, rainy morning, these children got up out of their warm comfortable beds and carpooled to the Reston Town Center to take part in the half-day activities.

Sumayah Hassan, 20, was one of the brave, enthusiastic Muslims who took her three younger sisters to the walk.   As a biology student at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia, Hassan finds interest in learning more about the consequences of infectious diseases and neurological disorders on the human body.   Her interest in the sciences of disease motivated her to influence her sisters to agree to tag along.

“The walk made me realize that we can make so much of a difference by just showing our support for someone who is suffering from an illness or have become victim of a social problem,” said Hassan.

The participants came with their umbrellas, with their toddlers, and elders on wheelchairs, and walked almost 4 miles in 1.5 hours.   The organizers collected the funds while the walkers received recognition for their good cause.  The event educated the public on the seriousness of the disease and distributed free educational brochures which provided key information regarding its effects.

The NMSS said MS is a disease that may appear one day and it could probably impair one for this rest of one’s life.   It is really one of those problems the public must be conscious of, said sources of NMSS.

Hassan wishes more Muslims would come out and support these types of causes.  Muslims were such low in numbers, but they were still noticeable and this is the best way to building human relations with people of other faiths.

She envisions Muslim families bringing their parents, and children to events like these.  “I believe this is our way of showing to the world when something affects our fellow human beings, we are feeling the pain as well and that we care,” said Hassan.

MAS Youth DC is the division of the Muslim American Society of Washington, DC that deals with young people.  MAS Youth Give program originated as a unique project of MAS Youth National and a crucial aspect of the Muhammad Awareness Campaign which started in the DC Area in October 2006.  MAS Youth Give is focused on encouraging the motivational efforts of Muslim youth to get involved in projects which help to improve the lives of the less fortunate in society.

Okazaki – 2

An Okazaki fragment is a piece of DNA that is made in the opposite direction of the normal strand. It is a part of the new DNA, but has to be glued to other fragments to make a complete strand. An enzyme called ligase sticks them (fragments) together and when it is part of the bigger strand it can be translated into a functional protein. But on its own, it doesn’t code for anything and is a nonsense piece of genetic information.

Like I would be, If i didn’t have my other fragments

So I guess were all O-frags and MAS is our glue and when we work together we make functional proteins.

Wild analogy.

I know.