On June 13th, CAIR-Chicago held a candlelight vigil in downtown Chicago to express solidarity and honor all those who have lost their lives or are suffering in Syria.

Reeling from one of the darkest tragedies in human history, an adage emerged after World War II: "Never Again!" And yet, only a few short decades later, and on the same continent that the Nazi Holocaust took place, Europe's only indigenous Muslim community was subjected to systematic genocide as the world sat by idly and watched.

In a December 2011 interview with Barbara Walters, Assad’s calm exterior reflected not his discomfort about the probing questions he was being asked, but that he is a very capable liar—or that he lives in his own fantasy world.

CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights director, Christina Abraham, traveled to South Africa last week in order to persuade the government to condemn president Bashar al-Assad’s military assault on Syrian anti-government protesters.

Christina Abraham, civil rights director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, added that these actions would speed up the process of overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad and would "lessen the human and economic costs of our struggle".

"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.

“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.”

“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.

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.