Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On December 26, 2000, The Columbus Dispatch reported that in Columbus "ignorance of religious or ethnic customs" sometimes leads to discrimination against immigrants, in particular against Somali immmigrants, whose numbers have "soared to 14,000 citywide, from about 40 in 1996." Columbus has America's second-largest Somali population. Like other ethnic groups before them, Somali residents must travel a path they see as "pockmarked by fear, ignorance, unfair treatment and a lack of respect for their customs." Hassan Omar, the...

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 26, 2000, The Boston Globe reported on a tradition known as moonspotting, during which Muslims, "since the days of Muhammed,...scan the sky for the slender crescent of a new moon that signals an end to the fasting of Ramadan." Ramadan marks the period when the Koran was supposed to have been revealed to the prophet Muhammed. "It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the end of Ramadan to Muslims. After a month in which Muslims do not eat, drink, or have sex from sunup to sundown, the new moon signals...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On December 26, 2000, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported on Meadowcreek High School senior Haaris Quraishy, who is "among the estimated 9 million Americans observing Ramadan, the annual monthlong fasting period observed by Muslims around the world. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of the Muslim faith and requires worshipers to abstain from food, drink and sexual relations from dawn to sunset." Quraishy is "a standout guard" for the basketball team and was "named one of the top 10 players in...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On December 23, 2000, The Houston Chronicle reported that Ramadan is a way for orthodox Muslims and followers of the Nation of Islam to bury their differences. "Orthodox Muslims have long spurned Nation of Islam followers as 'not real Muslims,' for - among other reasons - insisting on observing Ramadan in December instead of when it descends according to the lunar calendar...But Nation of Islam founder, the late Elijah Muhammad, justified the December fast by explaining that the group's members were not 'mature enough in...

Source: The New York Times

On December 19, 2000, The New York Times reported on the Rabbi Meir Kahane Memorial Fund, which was established in memory of "the radical Brooklyn Jew and Israeli politician who was assassinated" 10 years ago. The fund supports the "political and religious activities in Israel" of Kahane's son Binyamin, who has "been associated with terrorist groups." Members of the Kahane political organizations "are still seen organizing anti-Arab demonstrations and handing out literature." In 1995, the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai...

Source: The Denver Post

On December 19, 2000, The Denver Post reported that while it may seem like Ramadan fasting is responsible for Denver Nuggets' athlete Tariq Abdul-Wahad's flu, he insists it is not. He says that during his first three years in the NBA, he never lost any weight during Ramadan. This year, however, he has lost weight and he blames it on the flu. Since most games are at night, fasting is not a problem, since the fast is broken at sunset. Nuggets rookie center Mamadou N'diaye, also a Muslim, said Abdul-Wahad has helped him "grow in his...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On December 18, 2000, The Christian Science Monitor reported on a Christian and her appreciation of Ramadan. She focuses on fasting, because it requires self-restraint. As she understands it, fasting is a way for people to turn away from materially satisfying the physical body and instead, turn to spirituality, to "a realm beyond the physical and to the home of the perfect and divine." She believes that the spirituality emphasized during Ramadan is not restricted to one religion or only one time of the year. In a...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On December 14, 2000, the St. Petersburg Times reported that Ramadan fasting is tough for athletes, especially when they become dehydrated. Rabih Abdullah is one such example. "Coaches like to talk about mental toughness and willpower, about sacrifice and commitment. Well, they need to look no further than Rabih. He is all of those things, a man of faith playing a game grounded in fear and brutality...It's challenging enough, but it can be tricky for the handful of professional and collegiate athletes who follow the Koran....

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

http://libpub.dispatch.com/cgi-bin/documentv1?DBLIST=cd00&DOCNUM=37752&TERMV=230:4:234:7:241:5:

On December 14, 2000, The Columbus Dispatch published an article entitled "Post Office Oks Break For Muslims."

Source: The Plain Dealer

On December 14, 2000, The Plain Dealer reported that "about 40,000 Muslims throughout Northeast Ohio are in the midst of Ramadan, a month of fasting and reflection that commemorates Allah revealing Islam's holy book, the Koran, to the prophet Mohammed. Among the faithful are scores of new immigrants who have come from countries where Ramadan is as deeply ingrained in the culture as Christmas is among Americans. For them, maintaining their schedule of prayers and keeping the traditional sunrise-to-sunset fast presents new challenges...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 10, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that "during the month of Ramadan, two Muslim teenagers on the Magnolia High School basketball team have to execute something tougher than a crossover dribble: playing hoops in the afternoon after going all day without food or water. Talal Trablci and Khalid Khoudari, who play on the freshman-sophomore team in Anaheim, won't be alone in competing on an empty stomach. Hundreds of Muslim high school athletes, sprinkled on teams throughout Southern California, face the same...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 10, 2000, Los Angeles Times reported that "during the month of Ramadan, two Muslim teenagers on the Magnolia High School basketball team have to execute something tougher than a crossover dribble: playing hoops in the afternoon after going all day without food or water. Talal Trablci and Khalid Khoudari, who play on the freshman-sophomore team in Anaheim, won't be alone in competing on an empty stomach. Hundreds of Muslim high school athletes, sprinkled on teams throughout Southern California, face the same challenge:...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 8, 2000, The Los Angeles Times reported that "an Islamic holiday display now shares a patch of grass in Mission Viejo with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, marking what Muslim leaders say is the first time in California that the holy month of Ramadan has received equal billing with Christmas on public space. The small billboard shows a photograph of the Kaaba--the central shrine of Islam in Mecca, Saudi Arabia--with a message: 'Season's Greetings.' A caption under the photo reads 'The First House of Worship on Earth.'...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On December 8, 2000, the St. Petersburg Times reported that Muslim students have developed tactics for surviving the day without food during Ramadan. " 'We've all learned little tricks,' said Naveed Kamal, a 16-year-old senior in a private Muslim school, the Universal Academy of Florida. 'Eating yogurt, Gatorade and Power Bars at suhur helps.' 'Gyro meat is especially long-lasting,' said 15-year-old Ossama Elsham, a fellow student. Both also attend classes at USF. Muslims worldwide, including 5.5-million in the United States,...

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 6, 2000, The Boston Globe reported that "the Palestinian-Israeli battles that have convulsed the Middle East since late September have sparked the most intense wave of assaults on Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide since World War II, Jewish leaders say. In France, more than 50 synagogues have been attacked, some more than once, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, one of several organizations monitoring the events. Most assaults were fire bombings, but there also have been numerous stonings, targeting students...