“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.