Free Republic

CBS2’s Greg Mills reports that mosques in our area have gone on high alert. This is an important time for those of the Islamic faith. The 30 days of Ramadan are just beginning. “It’s a month where we try to be better versions of ourselves. Both mentally, spiritually and physically,” says Qureshi. The holiday begins under the dark cloud of their fellow worshipers who share their faith and those of other faiths. Imam Quereshi has talked about what he called people who are isolated and have murder in mind. The Islamic Center has been also reaching out to synagogues, churches...

<p>This year's Ramadan was the most violence since 2007, with 671 people killed. Police said the deadliest of today's attacks took place when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a residential area in the town of Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding dozens. "My shop's windows were smashed and smoke filled the whole area," says a shoe shop owner, who survived an attack near his store in New Baghdad. "I went outside of the shop and I could hardly see because of the smoke. ... At the end, we had a terrible day that was supposed to be nice because of Eid."</p>

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Authorities were investigating as a possible hate crime the discovery of uncooked bacon scattered on the grounds of a New York City park where Muslims gathered to celebrate the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, police said on Monday. Festivities to mark the close of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, on Sunday had been publicized in local media and drew 1,500 participants to New Dorp Beach Park on Staten Island, said Cyrus McGoldrick, spokesman for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Organizers found uncooked bacon strewn about...

ISRAEL declared psychological war on hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners yesterday saying it would barbecue meat outside their cells to try to break their spirit.The 1,700 inmates, seen by Palestinians as symbols of resistance to Israeli occupation, want wardens to stop strip searches, allow more frequent family visits, improve sanitary conditions and install public telephones, supporters said. But Israeli officials insist the protest, launched on Sunday, is a ploy to secure easier communication with militant groups waging an almost four-year-old uprising, and have vowed to fight the prisoners’ liquids-only fast. The prisons service said it would draw on tactics used in hunger...