On Thursday, December 8, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), along with other civil rights and interfaith groups, will hold a press conference calling on Congress and President Obama to reject the U.S. Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1867).

Join us this Saturday in celebrating another year of progress and accomplishment at the Council on Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago’s annual CommUnity Dinner.

“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.”

This Sunday join thousands in downtown Chicago to rally in support of the Syrian people’s struggle for democracy and freedom.

Since demonstrations in Syria began in March, it is estimated that nearly 1,500 people have been killed, 2,000 wounded, 20,000 imprisoned, and close to 1,000 forced disappearances.

At the press conference, the speakers echoed President Obama’s assertion that Osama Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, and in fact was a mass-murderer of Muslims. CAIR-Chicago’s Communication Coordinator, Amina Sharif, stated “Bin Laden never represented Islam and was never seen as a Muslim leader, but unfortunately many people’s understanding of Islam was distorted by the actions of Bin Laden.”

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.

“We are relieved that justice has not been denied even if it has been delayed,” said Ahmed Rehab. “This goes to show that the way to fight terror is through good intelligence operations, and not military surges abroad, or the choking of civil liberties at home.”

On April 23rd, Staff Attorney Kevin Vodak, and Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif participated in a summit about the zoning process for mosques in Illinois.

Join CIOGC, ISPU, Muslim Bar Association and CAIR-Chicago on Saturday, April 23 for the first of its kind — Zoning Summit — to hear from experts who will share with us all in one forum strategies on how to successfully manage opposition to masjid applications

“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.