
COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS - CHICAGO | DEFENDING CIVIL RIGHTS. FIGHTING BIGOTRY. PROMOTING TOLERANCE

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.
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.
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.”
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.
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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