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

“I’m concerned about national security here, not civil liberties per se, and that’s why I oppose racial profiling. Because from a national security perspective it will not work neither logically nor scientifically. There is a study from the University of Texas that shows mathematically that racially profiling causes us to miss more opportunities than catch them,” says Ahmed Rehab.
“It gives her an opportunity to learn from her mistake,” said Christina Abraham of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “And we think this does send a message to the greater community that hate crimes are not going to be tolerated and that this sort of behavior is wrong.”
“The core of the problem is that Muslims are seen as a Monolith by the media and so when one Muslim commits and act of terror or error, all Muslims are brought to bear for that Act. And that kinda of mentality does not exist for other communities because of the nuanced understanding of other communities,” said Ahmed Rehab.
CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab talks to Shari Elliker about the failures of racial profiling and the outspokenness of American Muslims in condemning acts of terror. Rehab also addresses questions posed by callers to the show.
“There is no evidence to suggest that there is a link between religious Muslim behavior on a plane and terrorism. It is quite the opposite. All terrorists that we have come to know of, who have performed or attempted acts of terrorism on a plane, have actually not been engaged in outward Islamic behavior. And in every case where someone was involved in outwardly Islamic behavior, and were then seen as suspicious, were clearly absolved of being potential terrorists, including the 6 imams who won their case in court,” said Ahmed Rehab.
“Racial profiling doesn’t work,” exaplains Ahmed Rehab. “Richard Reid (the ‘Shoe Bomber’) didn’t have a Middle Eastern sounding name. Al-Qaeda is perfectly capable of recruiting individuals that pass through our racial profiling criteria.”
“To me, the lesson learned from the potential Christmas Day bombing is that we missed clear red flags and we can’t ignore that and start talking about new measures while the existing measures could have work had we actually implemented them,” said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago.
“I would love the opportunity to talk about my faith proactively when there isn’t something terrible happening. And everyday, good things are going on, but the one day that something bad happens, that’s when people become interested in our faith and that is troublesome,” said Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director.
Listen to CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights Director, Christina Abraham, on the Matt and Perri Show. Abraham discuss the discrimination complaint filed this week against Columbia College on behalf of a Muslim Instructor who was unjustly fired.
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