CAIR-Chicago will be running Annual Banquet ads with our partners at WCPT all this month. Listen for it at 820 AM, or 92.5 FM in the west suburbs, 92.7 FM in the north, and 99.9 FM in the south.

or hear it HERE

“He is a man of great integrity…He’s looking to truly serve his country and his community. Muslims who serve every day in the Illinois State Police deserve a chaplain of their own faith,” said Ahmed Rehab, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

“Our concern is that the Illinois State Police is kowtowing to articles online published by notorious anti-Muslims who have been in the business of smearing Muslim activists leaders and Imams for the longest time,” said Rehab

“It is essentially guilt by association,” said Christina Abraham.

Amina Sharif writes, “The conflict in Israel and Palestine is political, not religious. It is not between Jews and Muslims; it is between the government of Israel and the people of Palestine (who are Muslim and Christian).

“In reality, many Jews — even in Israel — sympathize with the Palestinians and criticize their own government’s policies toward Gaza and the West Bank.”

“Critics argue when you think about it, for the most part, all of the people who try to blow airliners out of the sky look alike,” Doocy said.

“False,” replied Ahmed Rehab. “False information. Not true. I mean, we don’t have to go far. The last guy that tried to take down a plane was a young African. And in the past, prior to that incident, we were looking for Middle eastern-looking men. Next time it could be an Asian guy. So no, they don’t always look alike.”

Singling people out because of their ethnicity or religion is wrong. Racial profiling contradicts our Constitutional values and has been proven ineffective as research shows it hasn’t kept Americans any safer.

In his op-ed Nasatir highlights the amazing efforts by Jews in America and Israel in the humanitarian crisis in Haiti and for this, I truly commend them. But what about the humanitarian crisis in Palestine? Israeli checkpoints violate Palestinians’ basic human rights by denying medical vehicles and services. This contrasts sharply with Israel generously building a hospital in Haiti.

“If you enter any Islamic mosque or center and talk to Muslims there, almost every single one has been a victim of discrimination or harassment of some kind,” Sharif said.

A Gallup Poll released last week showed that 53 percent of Americans view Islam negatively and more than four out of 10 admit to being at least a little prejudiced against Muslims.

“In the interest of national security I don’t mind [being searched]. American Muslims are also concerned about remaining safe. But we should not be singled out because of our religious beliefs,” said Amina Sharif, CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator.

“The real question is not whether we should use the term “war” or not, but who is this war against. And that is what Obama and others have been struggling to articulate…. In the past we’ve heard that we are at war with “Radical Islam”, but “Radical Islam” is a concept, and you cannot go to war with a concept. You can go to war against a people or an entity and that is where Al-Qaeda comes in. President Obama was correct in stating that we are at war with Al Qaeda,” said Ahmed Rehab.

“If you add up hate mail, hateful phone calls and e-mails, racial slurs being yelled at people and verbal or physical altercations, it’s dozens of incidents,” said Amina Sharif.

“Hate is a self-addressed envelope and so the person who bears this hate is the victim of his own hatred before I am. And I can only pray for that person to find peace and to rid himself of that hatred,” said Ahmed Rehab.