Now food threatens right-wing bloggers.

 

—By Hamed Aleaziz

| Tue Aug. 9, 2011 1:29 AM PDT
ilovemypit/Flickr

For the last two weeks, Whole Foods promoted frozen products made by Saffron Road, maker of all-natural halal foods, in celebration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Emphasis on these products, which include famous Indian and Thai dishes, drew the ire of right-wing bloggers like Debbie Schlussel, who in late July blasted the Whole Foods promotion on her blog with a story titled ”Anti-Israel Whole Foods Wishes You a Happy Ramadan.” According to various media outlets, the backlash forced Whole Foods to cancel the promotion. This morning, theHouston Press said it obtained an email from Whole Foods that reads: “It is probably best that we don’t specifically call out or ‘promote’ Ramadan…We should not highlight Ramadan in signage in our stores as that could be considered ‘Celebrating or promoting’ Ramadan.” Not surprisingly, commenters on Twitter spending the better part of the morning blasting the company for the leaked message. Reza Aslan, an expert on Islam, tweeted: “Under pressure from Right Wing Nuts, Whole Foods cancels #Ramadanpromotion. Right. BC my local Whole Foods is full of Republicans. Morons.”

But not so fast: the grocery store says the promotion is still on.…

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Today, DemocracyNow! used this bittersweet instrumental track during the break in Johan Galtung’s discussion of the Norway tragedy, “Norway’s Johan Galtung, Peace & Conflict Pioneer, on How to Stop Extremism that Fueled Shooting,” with the backdrop of scenes from a ceremony in a mosque in Norway. Identifying the track took some doing, but I located it on the site for the artists, “Explosions In the Sky.” Enjoy.

This bears repeating. That is to say that September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is repeating it today.

May 20th, 2010

New York – Today, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a nationwide group founded by family members of those killed on 9/11 issued the following statement, which may be attributed to their spokesperson, Donna Marsh O’Connor:

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows strongly supports efforts to bring an Islamic Cultural Center to lower Manhattan, near the Ground Zero site. We believe that welcoming the Center, which is intended to promote interfaith tolerance and respect, is consistent with fundamental American values of freedom and justice for all.

We believe, too, that this building will serve as an emblem for the rest of the world that Americans stand against violence, intolerance and overt acts of racism and that we recognize that the evil acts of a few must never damn the innocent.

To arrange an interview with a member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, please contact David Lerner or Shonna Carter, Riptide Communications, 212-260-5000 (dlerner@riptideonline.com or shonnac@riptideonline.com ).

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is an organization founded by family members of those killed on September 11, 2001. Currently comprised of over 200 families, the group advocates nonviolence and adherence to the rule of law in the pursuit of justice and accountability. 

Michael Franti & Spearhead

“But politics and big events
They never seem to notice the little guy
So make a plan or simply hold a hand
But don’t ever be a passerby.”