FBI spied on activists/ Imams gather in NY - Democracy Now

Democracy Now Sept. 21, 2010

Probe: FBI Improperly Spied on Activist Groupspartment probe has found the FBI
improperly monitored activist groups and individuals between 2001 and 2006. The
investigation covered FBI spying on the Thomas Merton Center, People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, Greenpeace, The Catholic Worker, and a Quaker peace activist.
The FBI was found to have opened and extended the monitoring despite lacking grounds
to suspect unlawful activity. Some Greenpeace members were placed on a terrorism
watch list after agents wrongly designated their nonviolent civil disobedience as
"Acts of Terrorism." In one case, FBI Director Robert Mueller was found to have
provided Congress with false information in claiming a 2002 Pittsburgh antiwar rally
was monitored because of intelligence that persons with links to international
terrorism would be present. Investigators say Mueller’s false testimony was
unintentional because he was wrongly informed.

Muslim Leaders Denounce Islamophobia

Islamic leaders from across the United States have gathered in New York to discuss
growing Islamophobia in the wake of the controversy over the proposed Islamic
cultural center in Lower Manhattan. Speaking before the Islamic Leadership Council,
Nihad Awad of the Council of American-Islamic Relations criticized the campaign
against the Park51 project.

Nihad Awad: "We believe that the entire nation has been engulfed into
misunderstandings and misinformation. There has been a campaign against this project
that we believe was unfair and unnecessary. We also understand that there are some
legitimate concerns and fears that came out of the 9/11 tragedy, which all our
leaders here and Muslims nationwide and worldwide have condemned. So it is unfair to
associate this building, this community, with 9/11."