Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, Ahmed Rehab, takes part in a conversation with Wael Ghonim, a leading Egyptian activist and protest organizer, and Jerome McDonnell, host of WBEZ’s WorldView on 91.5 FM in Chicago.

Aymen Abdel Halim, the communications coordinator for Chicago’s Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), described the bill as a violation of citizens’ constitutional and civil rights. “This is kind of a widespread action against all Americans,” he said. “What we are seeing is a continued erosion of our civil liberties.”

Amina Sharif is the communications coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Chicago Chapter. She speaks with Vocalo’s Shantell Jamison about the recent Lowe’s decision to pull ad space from TLC’s “All American Muslim” program and what this says about the American sentiment of Islam.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab talks to WGN Radio’s Jonathon Brandmeier about how the home improvement chain, Lowe’s, gave in to anti-Muslim bigotry when it decided to pull its ads off the show ‘All-American Muslim’.

“It’s a stupid decision morally and a stupid decision economically,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on Islamic-American Relations Chicago. “They need to acknowledge their error and that they got duped by right-wing bigots, apologize and resume their ads.”

Ahmed Rehab discusses the ridiculous decision by the chain store Lowe’s to pull it advertisements from the show ‘All-American Muslim.’ “Imagine if a major American advertiser were to pull its ads off of ‘Jersey Shore’ because they received objections that the show, while portraying a group of Italian-Americans, made the glaring error of excluding Mafiosi,” writes Rehab.

“We were really disappointed and stunned that Lowe’s, a major corporation, would take such a stupid decision to side with bigotry,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago. Rehab called the group’s action a step in the wrong direction and an insult to the Muslim community.

Chicago activist, Ahmed Rehab, said a conference call was planned with Muslim groups and other groups to craft a response. He said it is not too late, however, for Lowe’s to fix things. “There will be room for reconciliation,” he said. “We would call on Lowe’s to do the right thing and apologize for their really insane action and to reverse the decision to pull out.”

“What we’re being told here essentially is that it is too controversial to have a show with Muslim characters that are not portrayed as terrorists,” remarked CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab.

“It’s something that we must take very seriously,” said CAIR-Chicago executive director Ahmed M. Rehab. “CAIR-Chicago is very disturbed by this news. The Muslim community is disturbed. People of conscience are disturbed. We’ve called police to investigate it, and to prosecute it as a hate crime, because that’s what it is.”

A stabbing at the Champaign train station this week is not a hate crime, according to the charges filed by the state’s attorney’s office. But an advocacy group disagrees. Amina Sharif, spokeswoman for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Thursday it’s important to discourage prejudice.

Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, talks to Worldview’s Jerome McDonnell about the protests in Egypt against the country’s military leaders.

Amina Sharif, communications director for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) office in Chicago, said she is hopeful for the new series, because it will offer “a more mainstream image of American Muslims. They are often stereotyped and misunderstood because of negative portrayals in media and pop culture. [This program] is normalizing Muslims,” said Sharif. “That’s the way [of] American culture – we needed ‘The Cosby Show’ to help normalize African American families. In this society public opinion is shaped mainly by media and pop culture,” she said.

Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago executive director commended the TSA for Egan’s firing. “We made it clear that Egan’s discourse was as much an embarrassment to the agency and the values it stands for, as it was an affront against Muslims and other minorities,” Rehab said in a statement.

Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago executive director commended the TSA for Egan’s firing. “We made it clear that Egan’s discourse was as much an embarrassment to the agency and the values it stands for, as it was an affront against Muslims and other minorities,” Rehab said in a statement.

“The TSA works hard everyday to keep Americans safe,” Amina Sharif, TSA communications coordinator said in the release. “When such egregious behavior is flagged on the part of one of their agents, it breeds confidence in us as passengers that it is dealt with as swiftly and as seriously as it was in the case of Roy Egan.”

As the Tea Party convention comes to Daytona Beach, many polititians declined their invitation not wanting to associate themselves with speakers like Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim activist. “In other states, elected officials have pulled out and do not want to be on the same stage as her,” said CAIR media-relations director Ahmed Rehab.

Gina Cuellar, a 24-year-old psychology student at Cal State San Bernardino is happy that she converted to Islam.
“The qualitative anecdotes are women particularly are converting at a much faster rate, particularly Latinas,” said Ahmed Rehab, media relations director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington.

The County Board Tuesday gave unanimous thumbs-up to ordinance revisions that over the past few years were crafted, criticized and reworked in an attempt to streamline the process of locating places of assembly in residential districts. The new set of rules applies to clubs, lodges and other organizations as well as religious uses, but about 90 percent of such requests that come to the county are from faith groups.

A former delivery driver has filed a federal lawsuit against a soda bottling plant in Harvey that allegedly fired him shortly after he asked to time his lunch break to attend weekly Islamic prayers at a mosque.

“We’re relieved at the end of an era. Muslims don’t rejoice at the death of an individual. However, we are rejoicing at the death of dictatorship and tyranny, and the murderous period that Gadhafi was going after his own people,” said CAIR’s Ahmed Rehab. The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago says, now that the war against Gadhafi’s regime is over, Libya will face a new challenge.

A veteran officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Chicago is being disciplined after posting hundreds of racist and derogatory comments on Facebook. Not only were Officer Roy Egan’s racial and religious rants open for anyone to see, for years he openly identified himself by name on Facebook and listed his employer as U.S. Homeland Security-TSA, the Transportation Security Administration.

Just back from Egypt, Ahmed Rehab talks to Worldview’s Jerome McDonnell about the state of military rule and sectarian violence as Egypt inches closer to next year’s historic presidential election.

I read Neil Steinberg’s Oct. 3 column, “Suddenly they trust Obama to kill people.” I appreciate that he pointed out that the murder of Anwar al-Awlaki’s violates the Constitution.

The Sept. 21 opinion piece in the Daily Herald, “Israel’s future under siege from U.N.,” by Cal Thomas was inflammatory and illogical.

Michael Quigley, a Democratic Congressman from Chicago, made the New York Times on 24 September 2011. He made it by promoting the virtues of tolerance and diversity and lamenting the suffering that occurs when tolerance fails. Out and about in his Chicago district, he stopped in at a meeting of the American Islamic Conference.

Joshua Hoyt from the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), discusses the organization of the Egyptian Spring. According to Hoyt, physical courage in the face of police brutality is what led to the overthrow of the dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

Congressman Keith Ellison, accompanied by two American Muslim activists (of Egyptian origin), Ahmed Bedier, the president of United Voices for America, and Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago’s executive director, met on Wednesday, Sept. 29 with a big group of Egyptians, around 70, of all ages and backgrounds, in a location nearby the famous Tahrir Square.

Mike Quigley knows about cheap shots on ice. Now he’s an expert on being blindsided on the Internet and cable TV. Mr. Quigley, a Democratic Chicago congressman, had a relatively light Saturday recently. He played ice hockey in the morning, did a beach cleanup with the Sierra Club and hit four block parties in the 32nd, 43rd and 44th Wards. Along the way he surfaced at a conference held by the American Islamic College. It was a quick in-and-out, with remarks to perhaps 100 attendees about the strengths of American pluralism, the sort he makes to many groups.

Terms like “radical Islam” reflect negatively on a peaceful religion. The terrorists who recognize themselves as Muslims are not true followers of the religion as Islam condemns the killing of innocents. Therefore, the term “Islam” should be avoided in the discourse of terrorism and 9/11.

CAIR-Chicago’s Ahmed Rehab and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly discuss Congressmen Mike Quigley’s apology for Islamophobia in the U.S. as O’Reilly goes on to deny that Muslim Americans face discrimination. Rehab provides several statistics and examples that prove O’Reilly is blatantly wrong.

A Pennsylvania school district has decided not to stage a Tony Award-winning musical about a Muslim street poet after community members complained about the timing so soon after the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack. Ahmed Rehab, a spokesman for the CAIR-Chicago, said that literature and the arts are some of the best ways to bridge gaps between people.

Daniel Gerzina attends Chicago Fringe Festival on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 which was organized by HumanThread and presented by CAIR-Chicago and AFSC.

“For Amina Sharif, communication director of the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the mainstream interest in Islam and Muslims began after September 11, but the negative feelings were always there.

“For Sharif much of the blame lies with the media and popular culture in the US, which she says is often “orientalist and slanted” in its depiction of Muslims and Islam.”

See our recent media coverage here.

Ahmed Rehab appeared on The John Williams Show on CBS Minnesota to discuss Muslim relations both before and after the events out of 9/11.

Quand elle vient parler de l’islam dans les écoles, Amal Ali commence toujours par cette même question : “Qu’est-ce qui vous vient à l’esprit lorsque vous entendez le mot ‘musulman’?” La réponse, toujours la même : “terroriste”, a lancé ce jour-là un petit garçon de 10 ans. C’était il y a quelques semaines au collège Colin Powell, dans la grande banlieue de Chicago. “Qui partage cette opinion ?”, a-t-elle alors demandé aux quelque 600 enfants dans l’auditorium. La plupart des doigts se sont levés. “Il y avait pourtant plusieurs élèves musulmans dans l’assistance, mais le seul qu’ils pensent connaître, c’est Oussama Ben Laden”, soupire Amal Ali.

For Muslim Americans… Sunday wasn’t just the anniversary of a terrorist attack on their country. It was also the anniversary of the day public opinion of the community changed. The Council of American-Islamic Relations in Chicago wants to erase the link between the Muslim faith and the terrorist attacks. CAIR-Chicago’s Amina Sharif spoke with WDCB News reporter Brian O’Keefe.

With the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy, the United States has been concerned about its image and its relations with the Muslim world.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago and the American Friends Service Committee present a special event created and organized by HumanThread, a Pilsen-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting peace and inspiring actions that build a just society. The 9/11 Primer will memorialize 9/11 and reaffirm the role of artists as peacemakers.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations hopes Americans can move forward 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. Representatives including Muslims, Christians, and Jews say its time to quit feeding into fear and embrace the principles America was founded on.

The Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations hopes Americans can move forward 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. Representatives including Muslims, Christians, and Jews say its time to quit feeding into fear and embrace the principles America was founded on.

Muslim, Jewish and Christians leaders gathered to honor the victims of 9/11 and to address the increase in anti-Muslim discrimination post-9/11.

Members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations joined leaders from different faiths and backgrounds to reflect on 9/11 and call for an end to the fear and discrimination against the Muslim community in the wake of those attacks.

Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, joins CBS 2′s Jim Williams to talk about the effect of 9/11 on American Muslims

Ahmed Rehab and CAIR-Chicago staff discuss Islamophobia in a post-9/11 world with members of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago (CRLMC).

In the wake of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the Vocalo Overdrive team, Luis Perez and Shantell Jamison, asked Amina Sharif of the Council on American-Islamic Relations about the perception of Muslims in America. Check out what she had to say.

Ahmed Rehab of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says many people still are under the false impression that Islam is a radical religion, and that its believers want to change the U.S. into an Islamic state.

Met ‘We Shall Never Forget 9/11. The Kids’ Book of Freedom’, bereikt de Amerikaanse trend van kleurboeken met een politieke boodschap een cynisch hoogtepunt. Volgens uitgever Really Big Coloring Books moet dit informatieve kleurboek jonge kinderen die geboren werden na 11 september 2001, uitleggen hoe belangrijk de gebeurtenissen van die dag wel zijn voor Amerika en de Amerikanen.

CAIR-Chicago intern, Becky Fogel, created this audio documentary for Vocalo and Chicago Public Media on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to share perspectives on the media’s role in harboring Islamophobia. Becky interviewed civil rights activists in the Muslim community and had them share their thoughts on how public perception of Muslims has changed since 9/11.

As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy approaches, Wayne Bell, publisher of Really Big Coloring Books, Inc. of Clayton, Missouri, US, has released what he calls a “memorial tribute” coloring book. “We shall never forget: The kids’ book of freedom,” is being described by Bell as a “graphic coloring novel on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.” According to ABC 7 News in Chicago, the coloring book contains the phrase “radical Islamic Muslim extremists,” at least 10 times.

Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif says she was very offended by the sometimes subtle and sometimes overt anti-Muslim imagery displayed in the book, “it’s dangerous to put it in the hands of children,” she says, “this book gives them the false impression that Muslims are terrorists or paranoid conspiracy theorists.”

As many Americans gear up to mark the tenth anniversary of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, one Chicago-based Muslim group warns people should be careful not to give all Muslims a bad rap for the attacks. In the days following 9/11 there were reports across the U.S. of violence toward Muslim-Americans. The group American-Islamic Relations hopes the public has learned more about the Islamic faith’s message of peace since that time.

Amina Sharif, communications director for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Chicago Tribune that the book fails to separate extremist radicals from the majority of Muslims.

“I think it’s very clear that the book has an agenda and is anti-Muslim,” Amina Shariff, CAIR Chicago, said.

“If they are trying to imply subliminally some kind of Christian-Muslim conflict here, I think that that is very dangerous and completely inappropriate.”

The book allows children to color scenes like Navy SEALs raiding the Bin Laden’s compound, Osama bin Laden using a veiled woman as a human shield, and the World Trade Center Towers burning. The Chicago communications director of CAIR told the Tribune that the book shows 9/11 and its aftermath “in a ‘slanted’ manner,” painting Muslims in broad strokes and failing to distinguish extremist radicals from the majority of Muslims.

Amina Sharif, communications director for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the book depicts the events of 9/11 and the aftermath in a “slanted” manner, painting Muslims in broad strokes and failing to distinguish extremist radicals from the majority of Muslims.

“It’s hateful, inflammatory and completely inappropriate for children or anyone for that matter,” Sharif said.

“Islam teaches us that we are not merely physical beings but spiritual beings as well. But while most people acknowledge the need to nurture our bodies through sustenance and exercise, we tend to neglect the same for our souls,” writes Ahmed Rehab in the Chicago Tribune.

Christina Abraham, civil rights director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, added that these actions would speed up the process of overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad and would “lessen the human and economic costs of our struggle”.

Today in Cairo, frustrated activists plan to stage another mass protest to accelerate the pace of government reform. In a recent visit to Cairo, Ahmed Rehab, director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and frequent Worldview contributor, met with high-ranking officials and activists to discuss the way forward. He tells Jerome what he thinks the Egyptian people should demand now.

“Since the beginning of the peaceful demonstrations in Syria on March 15 this year, 1350 civilians have been killed. An estimated 15000 civilians have been detained, tortured or have disappeared and more than 12000 refugees have fled the country,” Christina Abraham, Civil Rights director at CAIR-Chicago, told the media in Johannesburg today.

“Erickson’s faux patriotism flies in the face of the basic freedoms enshrined in our constitution, threatens our commitment to pluralism, and undermines our culture of meritocracy, by seemingly mistaking the U.S. for a religious state that privileges her chosen faith over those of other Americans,” said Ahmed M. Rehab, Executive Director, CAIR-Chicago.

“It’s basically the ideal zoning application for DuPage County, with absolutely no controversy surrounding it,” said Amina Sharif, communications coordinator with the Chicago Council on American-Islamic Relations. “The area where it’s located is already commercially zoned, next to a synagogue, and there is more than adequate parking there. If the DuPage County Board had rejected this, then we’d have an obvious problem. This is a very easy thing to approve.”

“We’re living in a world now where there is no room for totalitarianism, dictatorships and oppression,” said Christina Abraham, civil rights director for the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Chicago. “When we see these movements happening, we need to support them. We don’t give leeway to governments that violate human rights, like the Assad government is doing right now.”

Yaser Tabbara may live half a world away from Syria, where he grew up. But as the uprising there continues, the Chicago lawyer has mounted a one-man legal and diplomatic assault against the Syrian regime to highlight the brutality of its response and help depose President Bashar al-Assad.

An argument among neighbors, involving 20 people, in Orland Hills on Saturday night ended in the arrest of a 46-year-old mother and her teenage son. “She contacted us and told us her side of the story,” Said Law Clerk Eyad Tabahi. “It’s in the preliminary stages of investigation. We’re looking into the matter to see what the proper course of action should be.”

The lawsuit naming DuPage County for its refusal to allow an Islamic prayer center just east of Naperville is moving ahead after attempts to settle the issue apparently fell short.

There is no legal implication to being labeled an unindicted co-conspirator, since it does not require the Justice Department to prove anything in a court of law. Merely claiming someone is guilty without due process defies the principles of our justice system.

“I think that we need to understand that Sharia is just religious law; to the extent that people use religious law as a part of their everyday lives. The majority of Muslims here don’t want to see Sharia imposed as some part of a government obligation, or anything of that sort,” said Christina Abraham.

The Overdrive invited Christina Abraham and Yaser Tabbara to help give perspective on the President’s speech from the point of view of people who are invested in the rights of the Middle Eastern people and the policy positions of the U.S.

Ahmed Rehab is the Executive Director of CAIR Chicago: the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He said the President sugar-coats the US demands on Israel. “Would you please do this, pretty please do that? That’s not the message the United States should have. We need to be a lot more courageous and bold and demanding of the right thing.”

“I think the President realizes that this is a historic opportunity for us to shift our foreign policy towards the Arab world, towards acknowledging the fact that it is the millions in the street calling for democracy and freedom, that are the real voice of that part of the world – and not the sporadic, peripheral, marginal, militant radical groups,” said Ahmed Rehab.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab comments on a hateful posting directed at Muslims that was found on an online forum for the Chicago White Sox.

“The difference between us and those that we fight, in the form of Al-Qaeda and other militant radical groups is that we are a nation of values. We’re a nation of laws. In the fight to maintain the upper hand we can’t loose our souls. We can’t loose our principles and our values that make us worth fighting for. At the end of the day torture is torture,” said Rehab.

“Bin Laden was a major figure, and his death was a major world event. You need to address that in a public manner with evidence and not just hearsay. It’s all about the DNA,” said Rehab.

Bin Laden’s death marks a key historical juncture, in that it offers us an opportunity to break away from the polarizing, divisive atmosphere he helped ignite and the paranoia and fear-mongering we unfortunately allowed to ensue in our culture as a result of it. For almost a decade, we have played into bin Laden’s hands by allowing him and his outfit to dominate our national discourse on Islam and Muslims.

“It [Bin Ladens' death] brings closure for the families of 9/11, and all Americans, and hopefully brings closure on an era,” said Rehab. “I hope now we can usher in a new era that focuses more on the Arab Spring which is the reality now, and less on the so-called War on Terror.”

“The relevance of bin Laden should be overshadowed by the wave of pro-democracy movements in the Middle East,” said Yaser Tabbara, a Chicago attorney and member of the board of directors of the Council on American Islamic Relations. “Bin Laden was already marginalized, I’m someone who goes to the Middle East quite a bit and I haven’t heard his name in a very long time.”

“It is a double-edged sword and it has to be balanced out against the conspiracy theories that are likely to come out if there is no evidence provided by the government that this was Osama bin Laden,” says Rehab.

“I think Obama should issue proof to the public that this was indeed bin Laden. We don’t need to see gory photos. We don’t need to put ourselves in a worse spot in terms of our national security, and so the DNA report, rather than the photos, can accomplish that,” said Ahmed Rehab.

“In Islam, people may pray for “justice, prosperity, for the nation and its leaders,” said Ahmed Rehab. “Getting people from different faiths to pray together for the common good, the good of our nation, is positive.”

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab appears as a live, in-studio guest on ABC7 News This Morning to talk to Hosea Sanders and Judy Hsu about the death of Osama bin Laden.

“I don’t think anything justifies torture. We as a civilized nation should be anti-torture. Many governments in the Western world, and the world in general are against torture. We don’t want to be known as the ones who are employing a Spanish Inquisition torture technique to keep ourselves safe,” said Rehab.

“I wish it would have happened sooner, so as to save trillions of dollars and thousands of lives. But nonetheless justice delayed is better than justice denied. We’re very thankful for the fact that this man has been apprehended and eliminated,” said Ahmed Rehab of CAIR-Chicago.

I sincerely appreciate that President Obama made that statement, and wholeheartedly agree that Osama bin Laden isn’t an Islamic leader; that in fact, he’s a mass murderer of Muslims,” said CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif.

“We’ve politicized 9/11, we’ve had costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with surges, military personnel, with trillions of dollars spent. And then at the end of the day it takes what we’ve been saying all along – good, hard intelligence and a committed group of surgical strikes,” says Ahmed Rehab.

“I’m just waiting to see if this is going to change anything in terms of our foreign policy, our strategy in Afghanistan and the war of terror, and if it will change anything in Muslim-West relations,” said Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif.

“We are optimistic; we are looking forward to a better day in which we can cooperate together for justice,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago.

Amina Sharif, spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago, sought to distance Islam from bin Laden during a news conference Monday.

“Bin Laden never represented Islam and was never seen as a Muslim leader,” Sharif said.

“The American Muslim community was relieved, there’s a sense of vindication. This has been a long time coming,” said Rehab.

Like many fellow Americans, Muslims also are eager to see an end to America’s ongoing military involvement in the world, said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago.

“This incident shows what we’ve been saying all along that it’s good intelligence and surgical strikes that are most effective in dealing with terrorists and not military occupation, certainly not the war in Iraq or the curbing of civil liberties and civil rights domestically,” Rehab said.

CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif comments on the death of Osama Bin Laden.

CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator speaks with Fox News on how the FBI is questioning travelers from Libya in Chicago.

CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator speaks to ABC News about the recent FBI questioning of Libyan visitors in Chicago.

CAIR, which advocates for religious freedom and civil liberties in the Muslim community, also maintains that Irshad officials tried to pursue remedies for the permit refusal through normal administrative channels before filing the federal suit.

Kevin Vodak, the attorney arguing the case for CAIR and Irshad, was pleased overall with the ruling.

CAIR-Chicago, which said the center would serve about 30 families, “will continue to pursue the Center’s right to use the facility they own to accommodate the needs of the community,” said Kevin Vodak, CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney.

“She’s asking for unpaid leave that means they didn’t have to pay her for the three weeks that she was going to be out and she gave them three months for which to prepare,” argues CAIR-Chicago attorney Christina Abraham.

“It’s a very timely and much needed initiative,” Ahmed Rehab said. “There has been a very one-sided conversation from Congress on Muslim rights and the Durbin hearing promises to balance the conversation… There have been a lot of politicians who are in denial as to the growing threat of Islamaphobians to the U.S. itself, this fear mongering, paranoid approach to anything Muslim.”

Christina Abraham talks to The Washington Post about a local teacher who was denied leave from work to preform the Hajj. The Justice Department is suing on the teacher’s behalf, accusing the district of violating her civil rights by forcing her to choose between her job and her faith.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab speaks with ABC 7′s Eric Horng about local Libyan students whose educations are now in jeopardy.

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif talk to NBC 5′s Christian Farr about a Chicago area man who was placed on the No Fly List as leverage by the FBI to get him to become an informant.

The distinctive minaret and golden dome will be absent, but MECCA — after months of controversy — won approval Tuesday to build a mosque near Willowbrook. After rejecting a call to send the matter back to the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals for further study, the board signed off on the revised plan by approving a conditional-use permit 13-5.

“We think there is a bias against the Muslim institutions,” said Kevin Vodak, the lawyer for CAIR-Chicago. He noted that the board rejected the Irshad proposal without explanation, which is highly unusual, and that last fall the county took up an amendment to prohibit any new religious institutions in residential areas. “Most of the new proposals are from Muslims,” Mr. Vodak said.

“Its an embarrassment to our political system,” said Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director. “There is nothing wrong with questioning the sources of radicalization, the nature of radicalization. The problem is when he fails to differentiate between the mainstream on one end, who is us, and the extreme on the other end – the many and the few – the community and underground individuals. Failing to distinguish between the two is precisely the problem we are seeing at the hearings.”

Christina Abraham, Civil Rights Director at CAIR-Chicago, debates anti-Muslim blogger Robert Spencer over Rep. Peter King’s Islamophobic hearings on “Radical Islam” in America.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director takes on liar and fear monger Frank Gaffney.

Muslim Americans in Chicago call Thursday’s hearings embarrassing; Embarrassing to Muslims and Embarrassing to Americans as a whole. The result is America is no better off today than it was yesterday when it comes to representing the intentions and the population of the Muslim people in the United States.

“It seemed like a political circus. It seemed like it was for political show and not an honest attempt by Rep. Peter King to address the issue of radicalization,” said CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, in a press conference responding to the congressional hearings.

“The whole issue of Muslim community, radicalization, Islamaphobia, etc, it is being politicized more and more,” said Ahmed Rehab. “And as we approach the next presidential elections, I fear it may explode just like it did with the last presidential election cycle. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that this is happening. It’s not good for our nation. It’s not an intelligent way to discuss the issues. It’s insulting.”

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab, a regular contributor to some of the nation’s largest news publications is, coming to Purdue University to talk about the Egyptian Revolution.

“The stereotype that the Arab world, or the Muslim world, is forever stuck between dictatorship on one end and Islamist extremist theocracy a la Iran on the other end has been defeated with the people saying there’s a third alternative. It’s called democracy and that’s what we want,” said Rehab.

Ahmed Rehab speaks with John Williams about different controversies on Muslim persecutions. Rehab talks about the idea of guilt by association and how it is very speculative to associate the Muslim community with radicalized individuals.

Ahmed Rehab and fellow activist Laith Saud discuss their recent experiences in Egypt and the country’s transition to democracy.

Worldview frequently checked in with Chicagoan Ahmed Rehab who was in Cairo during the mass protest movement that eventually brought down President Hosni Mubarak. Ahmed, also the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago, left Egypt this week. He joins us in studio to reflect on his experiences

For area Muslims, practicing their faith can require traveling to mosques outside their communities or gathering in residential homes to pray. Now after years of fundraising and preparation, several groups want to move ahead with plans for their own places of worship in DuPage County.

Amina Sharif refutes the idea that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood would change Egypt into a radical Islamic state and go against the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

Chicago Egyptians are commenting on the news that President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down. They’re excited that this will bring a new era for Egypt and are hopeful the country will recover quickly.

Ahmed Rehab says the the biggest weapon the Egyptian people had against Mubarak was their numbers and perseverance. Rehab is excited that peaceful demonstrations were extremely effective in this revolution.

Ahmed Rehab had his hopes up when Mubarak began his speech, but along with the crowd was quickly disappointed. Rehab and the protesters in Egypt were very upset that Mubarak had not stepped down from office.

Ahmed Rehab talks about how upset and angry the Egyptian protesters are after the televised statement from Mubarak. Rehab said the protesters are even more upset and is worried about what may happen after the Friday prayers.

CAIR-Chicago representatives talk about the history making resignation of President Mubarak. Yaser Tabbara comments on the persistence of the Egyptian people for Mubarak to step down.

As Egypt’s President Mubarak resigns, Ahmed Rehab speaks about the excitement seen throughout the country. Rehab and Egyptian protesters marched in Tahrir Square hugging each other and cheering after hearing the news.

Ahmed Rehab reveals how the protesters in Egypt are reacting to the news that Hosni Mubarak has resigned. Rehab and other Egyptian protesters had been rallying against the Mubarak regime for 18 days.

Ahmed Rehab is in Egypt right now currently joining the protests in Tahrir Square. He reports that the protests will not stop until Mubarak resigns from office. ABC News reports that Chicago Egyptians are extremely upset at the televised speech from Mubarak and continue to hope for change in Egypt.

Ahmed Rehab discusses possible reasons Mubarak stepped down today and what that means for the country. He says that Egypt is on its way to a new beginning and that the start of a new Egypt will not be easy.

Ahmed Rehab speaks with Fox Chicago News about how Facebook and Twitter played a role in gathering all the people in Egypt to come together. Rehab said that social media allowed the Egyptian people to gather quickly and in large enough numbers that security forces could not prevent the movements.

In Cairo, Egypt, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets Friday after hearing that Hosni Mubarak resigned after three decades of rule. Fireworks, car horns and celebratory gunshots in the air were heard around the city of 18 million.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s speech on Thursday disappointed many protestors in Egypt. Many demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square eagerly awaited what they thought would be Mr. Mubarak’s resignation.

Many Chicago-area residents with ties to Egypt welcomed the news that President Hosni Mubarak had resigned and handed over power to the military.

After the speech from President Mubarak stating that he would not step down, Ahmed Rehab speaks about the reactions from the protesters. Rehab also discusses where the peaceful protests should go from here.

Ahmed Rehab talks to Ed Schultz about what’s happening in Egypt shortly after Mubarak said he would not step down, as well as what needs to be done in the country in order for a peaceful revolution to be successful.

Ahmed Rehab talks to MSNBC from Tahrir Square as Egyptians, and the whole world, wait for Mubarak’s resignation.

Ahmed Rehab is in Egypt right now and after hearing the speech from Mubarak, he is worried about the possible confrontations during what may be the largest protests on Friday. He assures that the Egyptian protests will not calm down until Mubarak steps down from office.

Ahmed Rehab speaks on CLTV about Mubarak and his decision to remain President. Egyptian protesters are continuing their rally and even marching towards the Presidential Palace. Rehab comments on the will of the people and that Mubarak must step down soon in order to avoid any harm to people.

American-Egyptians and supporters are deeply disappointed by Mubarak’s refusal to step down as President. CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinators shared how upset they were with the Egyptian President’s decision, and their hopes for a peaceful resolution.

As crowds of protesters in Egypt erupted in anger, Egyptians in Chicago were glued to their televisions and computers as they grappled with what they called shocking news: The president of Egypt was not stepping down despite weeks of protests and hints that he would do so.

As protests continue to grow in Egypt, speculations regarding who will take President Hosni Mubarak’s place grow as well. For the past two weeks, U.S. media coverage has portrayed the Muslim Brotherhood to be first in line to succeed Mubarak’s regime. However, some say the Muslim Brotherhood is not as radical as most people think.

“He gave a 50,000-word speech that didn’t include the only word people wanted to hear, which is goodbye, said Ahmed Rehab, a democracy activist from Chicago in Egypt to join the protests. “Everybody was just sitting there not listening except for that word and when they didn’t hear it, that’s it, they were done. They didn’t want to hear anything else.”

As crowds of protesters in Egypt erupted in anger, Egyptians in the Chicago area were glued to their televisions and computers as they grappled with what they called shocking news: The president of Egypt was not stepping down, despite weeks of protests and hints that he would do so.

“I think in order to have a true democracy, all segments of society, including the Muslim Brotherhood, including the left-wing socialists, including Copts [Egyptian Christians] who have been traditionally marginalized in national politics, need to be represented. We need to believe that democracy allows everybody to have a voice,” said Ahmed Rehab regarding how the future Egyptian political system should function.

Several hundred people rallied Friday to support the ongoing anti-Mubarak government protests in Egypt.
Friday’s rally began about 5 p.m. on Illinois Street just west of Michigan Avenue, near the Egyptian consulate, where another local rally was held Jan. 29.

“What I can tell you is that one of the demands of this revolution was change. People want democracy. They want freedom. They want human rights,” said Ahmed Rehab.

“They want transparency in government. And they want an end to the politically corrupt atmosphere that really permeates many levels of government. Not just at the very top, but through all levels.”

Mubarak forces in plain clothes and with horses and camels cracked down on protestors. Today’s guests discuss what’s happening and what may come next:
Cherif Bassiouni is President Emeritus of DePaul University’s International Human Rights Institute.

Ahmed Rehab is Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago. He’s participated in the Cairo protests and blogs about his experiences at Mindful of Dreams.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Egypt today in the largest demonstrations yet. Ahmed Rehab spent the day in Tahrir Square in Cairo, site of one of the largest gatherings. He tells us about the peaceful day of celebration. LISTEN HERE

Ahmed Rehab gives NPR updates from the ground. He’s the executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He flew to Cairo to participate in the protests.

An uprising in Egypt intensifies as protesters risk their lives to demand that embattled president Hosni Mubarak step down.

“A Chicagoan is in the thick of the protests. Ahmed Rehab is the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago. He says Egyptians are demanding change after generations of stagnation.”

The Egyptian government may have engineered a blackout on Internet and cell phones to keep protestors from communicating, but one call from a Chicagoan in Cairo got through. CBS 2′s Mike Parker spoke with Ahmed Rehab, of the local Council on Islamic American Relations.

“I planned it to be here so that I could participate heart and soul, body and mind with the people during these times,” Ahmed Rehab said in a phone call.

Egyptians who have long voiced discontent with their government are now taking to the streets in unprecedented numbers demanding change. If Egypt succeeds, analysts agree that a domino effect is likely.

While people continue to protest in the streets of Egypt, hundreds of Chicagoans were rallying outside of the Egyptian consulate in Chicago Saturday afternoon. The pro-democracy rally was one of several protests that took place across the country on Saturday.

Ahmed Rehab has been hit 24 times with an acrid cloud of tear gas — stopped in his tracks as he and thousands of other protesters march for democracy in Egypt. Unlike other American travelers, the Chicago-based civil rights activist, who heads CAIR-Chicago, went to Egypt in anticipation of the simmering revolution.

Ahmed Rehab of the Council on American Islamic Relations said the atmosphere was tense.
“It seems that every major square and every small street in Cairo was basically taken over by communities … people are parading the streets, walking around with baseball bats and knives,” he said from Cairo. “We didn’t get any sleep all night.”

Ahmed Rehab of CAIR-Chicago shares updates from the heart of Cairo where he is taking part in the pro-democracy revolution.

Dubbed “Rage Friday,” Egyptians took to the streets in massive numbers all over Cairo, Alexandria, and several other cities around the country directly calling for a regime change. Until recently, while the government tolerated a certain degree of freedom of speech, criticism of Egypt’s 30-year despot Mubarak was unimaginable; those who tried faced swift retribution by the government in one form or another.

Worldview’s Jerome McDonnell talks to Ahmed Rehab from Cairo. Rehab flew to Cairo to participate in the protests and has been blogging about his experiences on his blog, Mindful of Dreams. LISTEN HERE

“How many mosques constitute an oversaturation in unincorporated DuPage County, according to the Zoning Board of Appeals?” asked Ahmed Rehab, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, at a news conference. “The answer would be one. One would be one too many apparently, and that’s very disconcerting to us.”

In tough economic times most neighborhoods would welcome development. But in suburban Willowbrook, they’re waving it off for an unusual reason: religious oversaturation.

The zoning panel voted 6-1 last month to recommend denial of the conditional use permit needed for a worship center.
All seven members of the ZBA, along with 10 County Board members and former chairman Bob Schillerstrom, are named in a pending federal complaint [made by CAIR-Chicago] alleging they erred a year ago when they turned down an Islamic school and worship center.

“Islamophobia is the last form of racism that is tolerated in mainstream America,” said Amina Sharif, CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator. “You won’t see Fox News go out of its way to defend anti-black or anti-Semitic comments but they went out of their way to defend an Islamophobic statement.”

Amina Sharif, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said she is concerned that officials are trying to limit religious institutions. In April, the group filed a lawsuit against the county alleging discrimination in rejecting a zoning proposal for an Islamic education center and place of worship near Naperville.

The DuPage County Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-2 to reject the petition by the Muslim Educational Cultural Center of America (MECCA).

Last year, CAIR-Chicago filed a federal lawsuit against the county, alleging discrimination in the rejection of a zoning proposal for an Islamic educational center and place of worship near Naperville.

Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, discusses the tragic bombing of a Coptic church in Egypt and the strong response of everyday Egyptians – Muslims and Copts.

CAIR-Chicago is advocating on behalf of Jacqueline Pasha, a Muslim woman who was not allowed to ride a Greyhound bus because of her face veil, or niqab. CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator discusses the case with NBC’s Natalie Martinez.

The Chicago Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) filed two complaints in Circuit Court on behalf of Mahmoud Yaqub, his wife, and two children. The Cook County Forest Preserve is being sued for religious discrimination because Yaqub and his family were denied admission to a swimming facility.

Complaints of discrimination were filed by a Muslim family against the Cook County Forest Preserve. The complaints claim that county employees at a public pool kicked a Muslim family out because of what they were wearing.

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed two complaints Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court claiming employees at a public pool discriminated against a Muslim family from Lyons based on their attire.

The parents were not planning to swim, only to supervise their children, the lawsuit said. They had previously been admitted when not wearing swimsuits.

“A week later, I sent my sister to go to the water park,” Yaqub told WLS-TV, Chicago. “My sister doesn’t wear the Muslim veil on her head. She went in a running suit, or pajama. She wasn’t wearing swimming trunks. The same lady that denied us entry let my sister in with no problem.”

A Brookfield man filed two lawsuits against the Forest Preserve District of Cook County alleging that his wife was denied access to the Cermak Family Aquatic Center because she was wearing traditional Muslim dress.

Mahmoud Yaqub went to the aquatic center, which has a wading area, fountains and sprinklers, with his wife and two children.

Two lawsuits were filed Wednesday on behalf of a Muslim family which was allegedly barred from entering a Cook County recreational pool last year because of their clothing.

Amina Sharif issued a statement today on behalf of CAIR-Chicago, condemning the FBI’s recent raids on the homes of local anti-war activists who have dedicated their lives towards peacefully organizing for justice at home and abroad.

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations yesterday filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court on behalf of 49 Muslims of Somali heritage who were fired from a meat packing plant in Nebraska.

“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.

“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

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

“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.”

“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.

“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.