CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab discusses the controversy surrounding Khalil Gibran International Academy in New York as the first Arabic language public school in New York on the Santita Jackson Show on Chicago's WVON 1690 radio. Santita discusses the contributions that author Khalil Gibran made to American pop culture including the adage "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." The school was named after Gibran, who was a Christian, arabic-speaking author of "The Prophet," one of America's all-time best selling books.

"Pipes is wedded to his personal political agenda to such a point that it dominates his worldview invalidating his ability to act as a neutral scholar on Muslim-related topics. Concerned with the interests of Israel above all else, he consistently defines Muslim-Americans exclusively as a function of their position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Ahmed Rehab of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago discusses the removal of six Iraqi men from an American Airlines flight flying from San Diego to Chicago.

A woman who complained that some fellow passengers spoke Arabic and "had odd behavior" prevented a Chicago-bound American Airlines flight from departing San Diego, police said Wednesday.

Beefed-up airport screens target anyone with a head covering -- cowboy hats, turbans, hijabs and all. A Chicago-bound flight is grounded because six men speaking Arabic concerned a passenger.

Such realities confront more than 400,000 Muslim-Americans in the Chicago region alone who struggle to meld their faith and nationality. They are among more than 6 million and growing Muslims nationwide

-- Repeated complaints by a woman passenger concerned about six men speaking Arabic on a San Diego to Chicago American Airlines flight prevented take-off.

In many Western cities, plans to erect mosques often stir more passion than any other local issue—and politicians are leaping into the fray

It was an American airline’s flight from San Diego. Officials say a woman passenger complained to the crew that several men were speaking Arabic and she wanted off the plane. It was late at night. The plane returned to the gate and the men were questioned. Everything was okay but it was now past San Diego’s takeoff curfew, so everyone had to wait until yesterday afternoon to fly to Chicago.

When asked about the challenges of finding time at work to pray, Jamil Khourshad is dismissive of the difficulties created by the Muslim religion's daily prayer times.

Some newspaper editors think a satirical political cartoonist who often tackles taboo topics might have crossed a line when he incorporated a sexual innuendo into a comic strip about a character’s conversion to radical Islam. But it’s not the first strip by the artist to poke fun at religion.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab discusses the removal of six Iraqi-American men from an American Airlines flight from San Diego, California to Chicago, Illinois. The men had received certificates for a completed training mission for the U.S. Marines. Rehab says that “the larger concern is that suspicion is no longer based on what you do, but on a person’s language and race.”

"One of the most enduring qualities of America is its ability to bring together different cultures and allow them a space to settle into the fabric of this nation. It is the secret of our success as a nation, yet it is increasingly under attack from those who espouse a mono-cultural America. We need to take a shared responsibility and give voice to a consistent message, that hate speech and marginalization of any group must not be tolerated."

OMAHA, Neb. - Meatpacking plant officials accused of discriminating against dozens of Somali Muslim workers have offered to tweak break times to help accommodate the workers' prayer demands.

CAIR-Chicago board member Safaa Zarzour attended the Muslim Legal Fund of America Banquet and spoke out about smear tactics being used to lump Islamic charity groups as co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial underway in Dallas, Texas.

There's criticism today from an American-Islamic group of the way a couple of Illinois Democrats voted in Congress last week on President Bush's proposal to allow the federal government to more easily wiretap phone calls and e-mails without a judge's warrant.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab discusses religious accommodations for Muslims in the workplace.

Alan talks with Rima Kapitan, an attorney who is advocating for Somali Muslim workers that were fired for praying on the job.

Writer Ahmed Rehab contemplates his role as a Muslim leader.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Supervisors at a meatpacking plant have fired or harassed dozens of Somali Muslim employees for trying to pray at sunset, violating civil rights laws, the workers and their advocates say.

Yong Zhang woke up Wednesday to her last day as a Chinese citizen. She joined 144 other immigrants for an oath ceremony at noon and surrendered her green card for a glossy certificate officially deeming her an American.