In midst of Ramadan, Chicago-area Muslims urged to boycott dates linked to Israel

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Written by Manya Brachear Pashman, Chicago Tribune reporter Manya Brachear Pashman, Chicago Tribune reporter

Published: 13 July 2013 13 July 2013

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Just as the Prophet Muhammad broke his daily fasts 1,400 years ago with the taste of a date, Muslims today end their daily abstention during Ramadan by biting into the flesh of the same sweet golden fruit.

But this year, many Chicago-area Muslims have added a present-day geopolitical purpose to that ritual by making sure the fruit did not grow on an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

The worldwide campaign organized by American Muslims for Palestine, a national group based in Palos Hills, is a seasonal offshoot of a movement that has encouraged boycotts of Israeli products and divestment from companies that do business with the Jewish state.

The group asks shoppers to boycott Israeli fruit companies and any brands distributed by an Israeli date consortium — business that represents about 35 percent of the world's date market.

Kristin Szremski, the organization's media director, said the group hopes to emphasize the importance of justice during Ramadan and make more Muslims aware of its broader efforts year-round.

"It's a matter of awareness," Szremski said. "In the Muslim faith, justice is tantamount. It's a main tenet of our faith."

During Ramadan, Muslims are commanded to fast from dawn to dusk as a show of patience and virtue. The fast not only prohibits eating and drinking during daylight, it also forbids vices such as smoking, profanity and ill temper.

Families rise before dawn to pray and share a light meal called suhur in Arabic. They gather again at dusk to break the fast by biting into a date, a simple sugar that the body can break down during subsequent evening prayers. The iftar meal that follows the prayers is often packed with protein.

But the first bite after the daylong fast is also packed with historical significance, said Maha Ghandor, 37, of Chicago Ridge, as she carefully inspected dates at the Shop & Save in Bridgeview on Thursday. She chose a box of glistening golden Medjool dates from South Africa as opposed to a darker and drier looking variety from California.

"These are the dates they lived off of a long time ago in the times of the prophet," she said. "Five people used to share one date. That's how they survived."

Ghandor wasn't initially aware of the boycott. When she learned about it, she agreed it's important to pay attention to the fruit's origins, if not for political purposes, then at least for the sake of quality.

Mike Nobani, manager of the Shop & Save who also is Muslim, said the store sells a steady stream of dates throughout the holy month, though none of the fruits piled high in the store's produce section come from Israel.

Instead, an entire wall was covered Thursday with boxes from South Africa, California, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Tunisia. Nobani said he doesn't see the point of selling a product that customers tell him they won't buy.

"Our clients were asking," he said. "They know what they want."

Szremski said she hopes the boycott against Israeli dates will send a powerful economic message.

Last year, the harvest in Israel was reported to yield about 30,000 tons of fruit, about 50 percent of which was exported.

Szremski said that represents an annual profit in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"It's a peaceful way to get Israel to comply with international law because settlements are illegal and occupation is illegal," she said. " By not buying products, we hit Israel in the pocketbook and effect change that way."

The Anti-Defamation League, which guards against anti-Semitism, said it is wary of the campaign's intentions.

American Muslims for Palestine promotes extreme anti-Israel views and anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans about the "just cause of Palestine," the group said in a statement.

Marwa Abed, 24, of Palos Hills, said she sympathizes with the campaign.

She said she has seen the Jewish-only road built at the edge of her grandfather's olive groves in the West Bank.

When her mother told her to select the least expensive dates in the supermarket last week, Abed pulled out her iPhone, took photos of the labels and started researching the companies.

She said biting into the fruit before prayers and a meal does more than give her a burst of energy and surge of sugar, it "opens your senses." This year, she said, it does that even more.

"Ramadan is all about doing justice," Abed said. "Doing justice between you and your creator, between you and the world, between you and your soul. Doing justice in all your actions. If I went the other route I don't think I'd be pursuing justice."

Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force-fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure – video

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Written by Source: Reprieve: Director Asif Kapadia; Yasiin Bey / Mos Def Source: Reprieve: Director Asif Kapadia; Yasiin Bey / Mos Def

Published: 08 July 2013 08 July 2013

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[go to the Guardian's website for the video, this is what we are doing daily]

As Ramadan begins, more than 100 hunger-strikers in Guantánamo Bay continue their protest. More than 40 of them are being force-fed. A leaked document sets out the military instructions, or standard operating procedure, for force-feeding detainees. In this four-minute film made by Human Rights organisation Reprieve and Bafta award-winning director Asif Kapadia, US actor and rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), experiences the procedure

Warning: some viewers may find these images distressing

African Americans Affirming the Jim Crow analogy in Palestine/Israel

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Written by Felicia Eaves and others Felicia Eaves and others

Published: 02 July 2013 02 July 2013

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July 1st, 2013