The DREAM Act is finally being put to a vote in the Senate TOMORROW, and it’s going to be a very close vote.
Our IL. Senator, Mark Kirk, is saying he will vote NO on the bill. That is why you must contact him and demand he do what is right for America. [...]

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab delivered the keynote speech at the 2010 United Muslim Students Association (MSA) Dinner, an event that unites the four main Naperville-area high school MSAs.

Check out our Civil Rights Digest and see how CAIR-Chicago works to help people in the Muslim community.

“Here in DuPage county officials seem to be more focused on the types of land that’s available in residential areas and want to appease residents’ concerns rather than the rights of religious institutions,” said Kevin Vodak, attorney for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

“A particular concern would be women who wear the hijab because obviously their standards of modesty are probably higher than most people and so they are more concerned about the groping, they are more concerned about the invasion of privacy,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on Islamic Relations in Chicago.

Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago invited representatives from CAIR-Chicago to speak to a men’s group as part of a four-part series on topics in Islam. Amina Sharif and Gerald Hankerson gave a presentation that explored American perceptions of Muslims. Congregants and other members of the community attended the session.

CAIR-Chicago communications Coordinator Amina Sharif and Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson gave a presentation to students at St. Ignatius Catholic school Wednesday, December 1st about the sociological and theological background of Islam.

This year the Naperville Central, Naperville North, Waubonsie Valley, and Neuqua Valley High School MSA’s will be hosting a United MSA dinner. The program will include dinner and a presentation from Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago.

CAIR-Chicago filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court on behalf of 49 Muslims of Somali heritage who were fired from Swift Co, a meat packing plant in Nebraska. The lawsuit intervenes in a class action filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in August.

In light of the growing concerns about the invasiveness of the new enhanced pat-down procedure, CAIR-Chicago offers recommendations to Muslim travelers.

“If you wear baggy jeans and you’re brought aside for secondary screening for wearing baggy clothing, you are just as much entitled as the woman in a hijab to be able to pat yourself down and then have your hands swabbed for residue. That’s the current TSA policy– it applies to any baggy clothing,” said Rehab

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif delivered a presentation to students at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Wednesday, Nov. 18th to share how CAIR-Chicago engages with the media and advocates for a fair depiction of Muslim-Americans.

Ahmed Rehab talks to Red Eye Radio’s Marc Germain about a Muslim woman who was denied service at a convenience store because she refused to remove her hijab.

On Tuesday, November 16th, Muslims all over the world and in America will mark the end of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, with communal prayers and celebrations.

See Chicago prayer locations and timings at http://www.chicagomuslims.com/

Check out our Civil Rights Digest and see how CAIR-Chicago works to help people in the Muslim community.

In order to continue CAIR-Chicago’s strong tradition of engaging the community, Executive Director Ahmed Rehab spoke at an event put on by DePaul University’s Muslim student group, UMMA, on the topic of Muslim activism.



See photos HERE

The Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) in Chicago hosted its sixth annual gathering. Muslim High school students from around the Chicago area came to learn how they can become leaders in their community and what it takes to turn ideas into action.

CAIR-Chicago staff and interns participated in a rally alongside the Assyrian community of Chicago to condemn violence against Iraqi Christians. The rally was organized in response to the massacre of dozens of Assyrians Christians in Baghdad on October 31st.



Read CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab’s reflections on the rally at his blog, www.ahmedrehab.com.

Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif presented to a DePaul University class about Middle Eastern communities in the U.S. Sharif’s presentation aimed to give students a broad understanding of the Muslim-American community in terms of its ethnic diversity, socioeconomic levels and political beliefs.

While CAIR-Chicago believes that Hizb ut-Tahrir has a right to their views that Muslim’s shouldn’t vote, the organization says that American Muslims must be civically engaged, from voting to running for office.

Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson specifically objected to the organizations point that even though Muslims have voted in the United States and around the world, it’s done them little good.

Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, will be speaking on November 9th at an event sponsored by DePaul University’s UMMA.

Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago said, “We feel sickened by this attack, and will not be silent. Those who perpetrated these cowardly murders cannot purport to call themselves men of God or men of faith.”

“We appreciate Judge Bernthal’s bold and principled decision and his acknowledgment that such threats are acts of terror,” said CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif. “We hope this sends a clear message to Islamophobes who try to threaten and intimidate Muslim Americans – that we will not live in fear.”

CAIR-Chicago’s complaint alleges the Irshad Learning Center’s First and 14th Amendment rights were violated when county officials refused to grant a special use permit to open an Islamic worship site and school.

Kevin Vodak, the attorney representing Irshad through the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the judge hopes to issue her ruling within the next couple of weeks.

“Language is to ideas what the body is to the soul. It is the physical manifestation of thought. It is the mortar with which we shape our understanding of the world.” – Ahmed Rehab

CAIR-Chicago Outreach Coordinater Gerald Hankerson discusses Muslim American involement in this election:
“Even with the election cycle there is much argument and debate whether Muslims should be involved. One way or another we are living here, and our life is being impacted by whether or not we decide to offer our voice and our balance. So most definitely religion may factor into it on certain issues, such as immigration reform, such as protecting first amendment rights, because we definitely want to see that our faith is not impeded for us to be truly considered Americans,”

When the topic was brought up, yet again, that America has been attacked by Muslims, Ahmed Rehab responds:

“Here’s also a pattern that you need to be aware of. In almost every one of those cases it was Muslims who helped foil these terrorists plots. In the case of the “underwear bomber” it was his own father, a Muslim, who reported him. In the case of the “time square bomber” it was a Muslim who saw the smoke from the car who reported him. Even in this case Saudia Arabia was actually the country that tipped us off about this plot.”

Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson discusses the importance and the potential power of mobilizing young people to vote in elections. He describes some of the efforts CAIR-Chicago makes to reach young people early in life, to instill in them a sense of civic duty.

“For American Muslims, the biggest concern right now is the quality and tone of the debate,” added Rehab. “Whether this debate is on our national security, or our jobs or the economy or even the place of Muslims in America, our concern is that the nature of the debate in America has become more and more divisive, cynical, frenzied, paranoid, and we are very concerned about that and we wish that they debate itself, regardless of the positions people take, to be rooted in more intellect and empirical analysis and honest debate and mutual understanding.”

Exercise your right to vote! Polls are open from 6:00am-7:00pm. Find your polling place here: http://www.vote411.org/pollfinder.php

We are the most diverse religious community in this nation, representing people different needs and interests, who grow in complexity and variance. We all pay taxes to maintain the upkeep of our neighborhoods and its institutions. And we have a responsibility to make our voice count—we can, and should vote.

CAIR-Chicago applauds the efforts of law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United States, Europe and the Middle East to foil an apparent plot to ship packages containing explosives from Yemen to synagogues in Chicago.

Check out our Civil Rights Digest and see how CAIR-Chicago works to help people in the Muslim community.

Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director, appeared as a live guest today on Fox Chicago’s morning show, Good Day Chicago. Abraham spoke with hosts Anna Davlantes and Corey McPherrin regarding the controversy over political analyst Juan Williams’ Islamophobic statements on Fox News.

October 16th marked Immigration Democracy Day for voters and volunteers. Asian, Latino, Polish, Muslim residents and their supporters learned about political participation, heard from their future leaders, and finally, put knowledge into action by early voting.

Ahmed Rehab challenges Bill O’Reilly’s notion that there is a “Muslim Problem” in the world, and that mainstream Muslims are not doing enough to fight extremism.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab discusses the Juan Williams/NPR controversy on CNN’s The Situation with Wolf Blitzer. Rehab debates conservative pundit Cliff May, of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, on the irrationality of William’s comment.

Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, discusses the Juan Williams controversy with conservative political commentator Michael Medved.

“I thought that NPR did the right thing,” Ahmed Rehab said. “They have a reputation to protect, and clearly his unobjective and sensational characterizations were not a good fit for their objective standards of journalism.”

Rehab says comments like those made by Williams encourage the stereotypes that generate fear of Muslims.

“There seems to be a refusal and willful ignorance when it comes to the simple notion that Muslims are not one in the same with terrorists,” he said.

“American Muslims are not a threat to this nation,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “The threat to this nation is those who would divide us based on race, faith or ethnicity because those are the ones who undermine our values.”

“Alsherbini claims that the targeting practice began after Jan. 2009 when Randy Keller became mayor of the village. On Aug. 27, 2009, under the orders of Keller, Alsherbini was served with a notice to appear for proceedings to revoke his business license, according to the suit.”

Christina Abraham discusses the lawsuit CAIR-Chicago filed for businessman Ala Alsherbini, against the village of Worth.

On Sunday, October 24, join CAIR-Chicago at the CIOGC-MPAC Conference.

CAIR-Chicago filed a discrimination complaint in federal court against the Southwest Suburban Village of Worth on behalf of Ala Alsherbini, a local Muslim business owner.

While Obama’s rhetoric has been encouraging, Muslims want to see more done, Amina Sharif, communications coordinator of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Thursday.

“Words are nice but action would be better,” she said.

There has been too little progress on a resolution between Israel and Palestine and Muslims are concerned about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sharif said.

The Anti-Defamation League, which describes itself as the premier civil rights organization fighting anti-Semitism, recently published list of the “top ten most influential anti-Israel groups in America.” Ahmed Rehab discusses what this move says about the real mission of the organization. “The ADL is slowly but surely shifting its focus from fighting real bigotry to doing public relations work for the government of Israel, including shilling for its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories,” says Rehab.
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A Muslim family was wrongly denied access to an aquatic center in Lyons last summer when employees told them their clothing violated the facility’s rules, state officials said Friday. “This incident is a blatant example of anti-Muslim discrimination,” Christina Abraham, civil rights director for the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Everyone is entitled to the equal enjoyment of public places.”

CAIR-Chicago received a favorable ruling today from the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) regarding a discrimination complaint filed against a Cook County recreational pool on behalf of a Muslim family.

Check out our Civil Rights Digest and see how CAIR-Chicago works to help people in the Muslim community.

CAIR-Chicago would like to treat you to a day of fellowship and fun. Join us for the Fall 2010 MYLS Conference “Jump Start Your Future- Commit to Activism!”

“Read and your Lord is Most Honorable, Who taught with the pen, Taught man what he knew not.”

These are among the Quranic verses read by CAIR-Chicago Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson at the American Library Association (ALA) Banned Books Week Read-Out in Washington Square on September 25. The most recent list of most frequently banned readings for 2010 was topped by the Qur’an, the holy text of Islam.

On Monday, Oct. 4th, CAIR-Chicago Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson met with an international envoy from Israel and Palestine to share ideas on how to improve Jewish-Muslim relations through art.

The immigrant community is at a crucial crossroads in Illinois. This year we will elect a new Governor and Senator to our state- two offices that have very important authority over immigration and fiscal resources for the immigrant community. Join us for Immigrant Democracy Day and cast your early vote!

CAIR-Chicago proudly congratulates Sufyan Sohel, a CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Law Clerk, on receiving recognition by the prestigious PSLawNet Pro Bono Publico Award. Sohel, a third year student at DePaul University College of Law, was nominated by DePaul and placed second in the national competition.

A group of 25 DePaul students and staff visited the CAIR-Chicago office last month to learn about the organization’s civil rights activism on behalf of immigrants. The students were part of a class that focuses on young people from diverse cultural backgrounds and teaches about the realities of life for immigrant youth and the organizations that facilitate and incorporate them into Chicago’s wider community.

CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney Kevin Vodak discusses the absurdity of proposed legislation aimed at limiting citizenship rights.

“We know people don’t vote in midterm elections like they do for presidential elections,” said Ali Malik, American Democracy Project fellow at CAIR-Chicago. “But I’m telling people that for us in the Muslim community it goes far beyond the controversy over the proposed New York City Ground Zero mosque. There is serious Islamophobia going on and we need to vote for people who will represent all voters equally.”

On September 11th, CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham spoke to first year Law School students at Kent Law School about the divisive rhetoric surrounding Muslims in America. She was joined by esteemed Northwestern law professor Joseph Marguilez.

ICIRR representatives, including board member and CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab, took the stage alongside Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Congressman Danny Davis, and State Treasurer and Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

“We’re tired of candidates who take us for granted — or worse yet, insult our intelligence — instead of doing the leg work to earn our votes on the merit of their character and track record,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago.

CAIR-Chicago attended a protest outside FBI headquarters where Executive Director Ahmed Rehab spoke out against intimidation tactics used by the government against anti-war activists. Rehab also talked to CBS and the Chicago Tribune about the need to speak out against such tactics.

“Muslims are kind of the new kids on the block in DuPage and they are going to face the highest burden in having to go to commercial areas, buy more expensive land, create larger developments and be completely away from their neighbors,” Vodak said.

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif emceed a banquet hosted by the Northwest Suburban College on Friday, September 24. Speakers included Rami Nashashibi, executive director of the Inner City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and Dr. Zaher Sahloul, Chairman of the CIOGC (Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago).

“Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Monday that the investigation into Abudayyeh’s organization was ‘a waste of taxpayer dollars.’

‘Hatem is a longtime, respected leader in the community. It is unthinkable that he would have any connections to terrorism,’ Rehab said. ‘This is a new low. … This is an example of FBI overreach when it comes to activism or commentary on the (Middle East) conflict.’”

Ahmed Rehab deconstructs Pamela Geller’s fear mongering misinformation campaign against the Park51 community center in New York and exposes her anti-Muslim bigotry.

Join CAIR-Chicago at the FBI Headquarters to protest recent FBI raids of the homes of peaceful, anti-war activists.

CAIR-Chicago announced today that it is deeply concerned about the FBI’s recent raids on the homes of anti-war activists in the Midwest.

CAIR-Chicago is issuing the following statement in response to the raids.

On Saturday, September 25, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab spoke at a workshop dealing with post 9/11 backlash.

DuPage County is on the verge of passing sweeping restrictive zoning and land use ordinances which will have an adverse impact on all religious institutions.

Here are some of the proposed changes and what you can do to challenge them.

CAIR-Chicago Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson will participate in another banned book reading hosted by the American Library Association. Hankerson will read from the Qur’an.

Come join CAIR-Chicago at the Unity Rally for Immigration Reform and the DREAM Act with Our State Legislators.

From Ahmed Rehab’s point of view, however, American culture — including textbooks — routinely vilifies Islam and focuses unduly on the militaristic aspects of the religion.

“Islam has a wealthy history that goes beyond the battles, in the arts and cultures and sciences,“ said Rehab, spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR). “There’s this strange attempt to portray anything Islamic as uniquely bad.

“When someone comes along and then speaks the truth, or basically renders an accurate account of reality, then (readers) are shocked and confused because it goes against everything they have heard, therefore it must be a lie. It’s what I call willful ignorance.”

“The reprehensible attack against this Jewish congregation is an insult to all of us,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago. “An attack against one house of worship is an attack against every house of worship.”