In a perverse move to fight fraud, officials sacrifice democracy to security by closing hundreds of polling places:

• Afghan Officials Promise Security for Elections (AP / Washington Post)

“May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid” — George Washington:

• People Of The Book: The True History of the Koran in America (Boston Globe)

Elbaradei’s petition for reform has “collected 800,000 signatures, nearly 700,000 of them secured through the [Muslim] Brotherhood website”:

• Egypt’s Youth Build New Opposition Movement (AP / NPR)

“Nudity is allowed in the West. How come wearing decent clothes is not allowed?” asked Hamzeh Mansour, the secretary-general of Islamic Action Front:

• Muslim World at Odds Over French Burqa Ban (AOL)

For Erdogan free trade, not sanctions, are the way to peace:

• Turkey Seeks Closer Trade Ties with Iran (AP / WTOP)

“More than nine hundred mosques have existed in the U.S. since the early nineteen-nineties, and the oldest one, located in Dearborn, Michigan, recently marked its seventy-third anniversary”:

• Back Issues: Mosque Stories (New Yorker)

Supreme Court Justice Breyer equates the burning of the Qur’an with shouting fire in a crowded theater, although it seems to us a comparison to shouting “fighting words” is more appropriate …

• Somalia’s Shebab Stage Demo Over Koran Burning (AFP)

… but the New York Civil Liberties Union says Derek Fenton’s “First Amendment rights probably were violated” when he was “fired for burning the Koran while off-duty”:

• Koran Burner Derek Fenton Booted From His Job At NJ Transit (New York Daily)

Iran’s internal struggle over the release of the American hiker is worthy of study:

• Iran Frees American Sarah Shourd — After a Power Struggle (Washington Post)

A federal appeals court granted a new hearing to a Muslim woman in considering whether you lose your first amendment rights when in a holding cell awaiting a decision on a community service extension deadline:

• New Hearing Ordered In Holding-Cell Hijab Suit (San Francisco Chronicle)

Re-defining chutzpah, after condemning the Muslim-American community’s bid to build a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan, the ADL now offers “to help American Muslim communities that are facing opposition to the building of mosques”:

• ADL Starts Interfaith Coalition To Help US Muslims (Jerusalem Post)

“Opponents claim the charges mask an attempt by Erdogan to silence critics, but the government, in its second term and gearing up for elections in 2011, says the removal of the military’s shadow over politics is overdue”:

• Turkey: Scrutiny Falls on Coup Leaders (AP / Washington Post)

As Indian Muslims show they understand Islam’s respect for the sacred scriptures of others …

• Indian Muslim Leaders Condemn Attacks on Christian Properties in Kashmir (The American Muslim)

…  Ayatollah Khamenei’s call for the US to punish desecration of the Quran, shows how little he understands of the American system of impartial justice, religious liberty, and constitutional protection …

• Iran’s Khamenei Urges US to Punish Koran Defilers (AFP)

… meanwhile, in Muslim community members in Knoxville call the desecration of a Qur’an there an unrepresentative “isolated incident;” even Neo-Nazis are surprised by the act and characterize it as a “hate crime” …

• Quran Vandalism Doesn’t Reflect Area Sentiment, Muslim Leader Says (Knoxnews.com)

Amidst supposed “peace talks”, Netanyahu refuses to yield anything on curbing the future construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, even at the risk of derailing the entire talks:

• Israel to End Settlement Moratorium (Al-Jazeera)

Lawyer says student suffers from PTSD; Sharif, the NYC man stabbed repeatedly by the student, says he has no doubt the attack was fueled by anti-Muslim bias, regardless of  the PTSD:

• Lawyer: Student Accused of Stabbing Muslim Cabbie in NYC Has PTSD From Afghanistan Experiences (Los Angeles Times)

Skateboarder shouts “Dude, you have no Quran!” as he grabs the text to deliver it into “the safe hands of a smiling local Muslim leader”; no news of whether the attempted burner wants his property back:

• Quran Burning FAIL: Skateboarder Foils Extremist (Huffington Post)

Constitutional amendments that move power from the military to the civilian government pass handily:

• Turkish Voters Approve Amendments in Referendum that Indicated Confidence in Nation’s Leader (Washington Post)
• Turkey: Nation on a Dual Course (AP / Washington Post))

As MFI’s president explains to students that while “America is unique in allowing any religion and any kind of speech,” but that drawing parallels between the Manhattan Islamic center Qur’an burning is “misguided” …

• On 9/11, Muslim Libertarian Scholar Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad Addresses Religious Freedom At Georgetown U (Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner)

… a recent poll shows that the work of MFI in the cause of reason, tolerance, and good-will has a long road ahead:

• Muslims Have Right to Build Mosque, But It’s Not Appropriate: Poll (NBC)

Despite the incapacity of the Pakistani government to distribute enough aid, efficiently and/or quickly enough, Pakistani Muslims effected by the flood make the best of the worst:

• Pakistani Flood Victims Celebrate Eid In Tents (Associated Press)

“In the past year,” Ariel Rosenberg, the spokesman of the Israeli Ministry of Construction writes, “the situation in the area under discussion has significantly worsened and the guards are witness to extremely hostile activity”:

• Jerusalem or Gaza – Where Is It Worse To Be Palestinian? (Ha’aretz)

“We changed the message to be a celebration of the freedom to read. Instead of burning, we should engage with those ideas,” said Barbara Jones, director of the Chicago library association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom

• Librarians, Muslims Read from Quran in Freedom Celebration (CarmiTimes)

“Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad of the Minaret of Freedom Institute points out that other Western democracies have laws b4323 Rosedale Ave.anning hate speech, but that freedom of speech in the United States is unique”:

• Quran Burning Offensive But Not Illegal in US (VoA)

FL pastor claims deal was reached with Imam Rauf of the planned NYC Muslim community center …

• Florida Pastor Calls Off Quran Burning (CNN)

… however, sources report that there was no deal, or even any discussions with the FL pastor:

• No Deal to Move New York Muslim Center – Sources (Reuters)

Americans are detaining 200 alleged “extremely dangerous or too politically sensitive to turn over to the Iraqis”:

• Four Al Qaeda in Iraq Militants Escape From U.S. Custody (Los Angeles Times)

“What do a Las Vegas casino manager, a Cambodian refugee, a Hurricane Katrina hero and a champion Georgian girls basketball team all have in common? They are all American – and they are all Muslim”:

• 30 Mosques in 30 Days (Al-Jazeera)

“One wonders how strip clubs, seedy bars and porn shops that exist in closer proximity to Ground Zero than the proposed center do not violate its sanctity, whereas a house of worship, albeit a Muslim mosque, does”:

• Muslim Victims of 9/11 Deserve A Mosque (NJ.com)

Is Terry Jones giving aid and comfort to the enemy? “Only God knows if there will be another such an opportunity to defend our religion and Koran,” says an insurgent pamphlet …

• Exclusive: Afghan Insurgents Use Planned Koran Burning to Turn Villagers Against U.S. (abc News)

… and as Evangelical leaders seek to dissuade Jones from his reckless course, even Sarah Palin has doubts about the wisdom of Qur’an burning:

• Qur’an Burning Will Boost Terrorism, Says Barack Obama (Guardian)

Indian authorities remove the enforced curfew in Kashmir for Eid-ul-Fitr, giving a reason to celebrate to a population under duress of unsettled competition between Pakistan, China, and India:

• Eid-ul-Fitr: Kashmir Valley Freed from Curfew (India One)

“According to a [new] Washington Post-ABC News poll, 49 percent of all Americans say that they have generally unfavorable opinions of Islam, compared with 37 percent who say that they have favorable ones”:

• Half of Americans Have Unfavorable Opinion Of Islam: Poll (Thaindian News)

The latest target of the Islamophobes is a small Muslim college:

• New Muslim College Welcomes Freshmen in California (AP / Washington Post)

With hate crimes against Jews outnumbering even those against Muslims, “Jews and Muslims share a common interest in fighting hate crimes in America and working to strengthen pluralism” …

• The Reality of Islamophobia in America (LA Times)

… meanwhile back in Deutschland, a member of the board of the central bank argues the Nazis were mistaken only in the specifics,  claiming Jews are smart and Muslims inferior:

• Economist’s Views on Muslim Immigrants Sparks Controversy in Germany (Washington Post)

“It is regrettable that a pastor … with a church of no more than 50 people can make this outrageous and distrustful, disgraceful plan and get the world’s attention…. It is … not who we are.” — Sec. of State Hilary Clinton:

• Clinton: Planned Qur’an Burning Not the American Way (AP / Washington Post)
• Koran-Burning Plan Draws Worldwide Condemnation (Reuters)

“I do not underestimate the challenges that will be involved in bringing our work to completion. … we will clearly identify all of our financial backers,” Imam Rauf (identified as a Sufi by author Stephen Prothero):

• Imam Rauf: Mosque Will Move Ahead (Politico)

Syrian crackdown goes into high gear:

• Syria’s Solidarity With Islamists Ends at Home (New York Times)

2008 Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr warns that Islam is not Qur’an burners’ only target as they believe that “any religion .  .  .  which teaches that Jesus is not the Son of God” is “of the devil”:

• Quran-Burning Preacher Defines “Idiot” (AJC)

Rabbi Arthur Waskow reminds us that “Those who begin by burning books will end by burning people”:

• 5 Steps to Burning Books (Shalom Center)

“On one hand, 9/11 is a very difficult day for us, and on then other hand, Eid is like our Christmas, it’s a day for celebration,” says Zeba Iqbal, Executive Director of the Council on the Advancement of Muslim Professionals:

• Muslims Toning Down Eid Festivities In Honor Of Sept. 11 (Washington Post)

“The spectacle of Israeli youth helping destroy al-Arakib helps explain why 56% of Jewish Israeli high school students do not believe Arabs should be allowed to serve in the Knesset – why the next generation wants apartheid”:

• The “Summer Camp Of Destruction:” Israeli High Schoolers Assist The Razing Of A Bedouin Town (Max Blumenthal)

Foreign policy Realists from the Nixon Center question how strategic federally-funded programs in Israel are (a novel idea from the school of thought of Kissinger):

• Nixon Center Debate, “Israel; Asset or Liability?” (The Nixon Center)

Fordham University Professor Father Patrick Ryan explains how conflict, and cooperation between Christians and Muslims is not new:

• Bridging The Christian-Muslim Divide (NPR)

Step by step, and without intending to, Mobley’s captors seem to have turned a man who declined to be a spy into a murderer:

• The Post-9/11 Life of an American Charged with Murder (Washington Post)

“ElBaradei was not specific on where he would take his campaign next, but he threatened civil disobedience if the regime continues to ignore calls for change”:

• Egyptian Opposition Leader Urges Election Boycott (AP / WTOP)

Kelantan province fights monetary irresponsibility with its minting of dinars, because  “a piece of paper … is just an IOU”:

• Malaysian Muslims Go for Gold, But It’s Hard to Make Change (Wall Street Journal)

A ham-handed government attempt to smear the Muslim Brotherhood backfires, “turning a dinosaur into a living political phenomenon”:

• Egypt TV show stirs debate over Muslim Brotherhood (Washington Post)

MFI president Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad argues that Netanyahu’s attempt to convince Abbas that citizens of Israel and Palestine should be guaranteed civil rights but not “national rights” is a step backwards:

• Netanyahu Treats Negotiations Like a Joke (Minaret of Freedom Institute)

“The West has accused us of curbing the liberties of BlackBerry users, while America, Israel, Britain and other countries are allowed access to all transferred data”:

• U.S. and Israel Spying Behind BlackBerry Woe: Dubai Police (Reuters)

“[P]anicked depositors formed long queues at Kabul Bank branches throughout the country, nearly every branch a staging ground of outrage against the government”:

• Kabul Bank Run May Pose More Immediate Threat than Afghan Taliban (Christian Science Monitor)

Asked how far away from ground zero should Park51 be built, 9% of New Yorkers say no distance is sufficiently far away, demonstrating “why we don’t put fundamental rights up to a show of hands”:

• The Mosque Exclusion Zone, Quantified (Washington Post)