WHAT PRICE DIGNITY?
NYC MUSLIM LEADERS AND THE POLITICS OF COMPROMISE DURING THE LAST YEAR OF THE BLOOMBERG-KELLY ADMINISTRATION Somber Reflections on the 16 th Day of Ramadan (Monday, August 6, 2012 C.E. ) By Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu, wa Ramadan Karim ! Tonight as the sun sets over the skies of New York City, and Muslims break their fast ending yet another day and beginning another night of Ramadan worship, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will host yet another annual iftaar , just as his Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, hosted another annual Pre-Ramadan briefing a few weeks ago. These events have occurred over the past years, but in 2012 they have taken on an ominous significance. As the world now knows, over the past year the Associated Press revealed in a Pulitzer Prize winning set of articles, that the NYPD, under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly, engaged in widespread, warrantless surveillance