“There may be differences in political viewpoint and cultural viewpoint, but there’s often far more similarities,” said Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson. “We really cultivate the idea that we should be proactive based on our faith traditions to make a better society here in Chicago.”

"What are we Muslims to do about this? Rather than concern ourselves too much with the actions of others, let’s put our own values to action. If someone wishes to offend, let them knock themselves out trying. Let us instead take the higher ground and appreciate the mercy, love, and other teachings our prophet brought us by making a prayer for him on a day when others go out of their way to ridicule him," writes Ahmed Rehab.

"What are we Muslims to do about this? Rather than concern ourselves too much with the actions of others, let’s put our own values to action. If someone wishes to offend, let them knock themselves out trying. Let us instead take the higher ground and appreciate the mercy, love, and other teachings our prophet brought us by making a prayer for him on a day when others go out of their way to ridicule him," writes Ahmed Rehab.

Why must a Muslim person’s faith come up the moment that person breaks through the mainstream in any conceivable way - regardless of relevance or context? And why does it invariably end up linking that person through multiple degrees of separation to terrorism?

The fact that even a Miss USA could not be spared this exercise in futility puts away any remaining doubt that there is a segment of America that is suffering from a bizarre and unhealthy obsession with Islam.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director discusses our news media's double standards when it comes to covering different acts of terrorism. Rehab compares the media's response to the May 10th bombing of a Florida mosque, an act of domestic terrorism, and the attempted bombing in Times Square.

The exhibit addressed racial profiling and the rise of violence and hate directed at Muslims in the post-9/11 era, according to a release from Chicago's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The installation features a wall filled with lines from actual hate crimes against people perceived as Muslim or Arab.

The artist is a Muslim graduate student at the School of the Art Institute. Anida Yoeu Ali said she was shocked to find someone painted caricatures and the words "kill all Arabs" on her work at 33 S. State St. "I feel that this act of violence is a way to try to silence me, to silence my work, to silence the people of whom I'm speaking for," Ali said.

The Council on American Islamic Relations calls the vandalism a hate crime.

The art work by graduate student, Anida Yoeu Ali, is just one part of a series of work at the school entitled, "1700% Project." That series displays responses to hate crimes in the form of artistic expression.

The work, titled "1700 Percent: Otherance," features racist statements written across a white wall. Ali said the piece seeks to bring attention to hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. As part of the evolving display, Ali and other artists have read aloud the words and also stained them with a mixture of tea, coffee and ink, Ali said.

"Acts like these promote censorship and are an attack on anyone who believes in freedom of expression and freedom of speech," Civil Rights Director at the Chicago chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations, Christina Abraham said.

"This is not just an assault on me as an artist, this is an attack on multiple communities to which the work speaks for," Ali said in a statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The exhibit by Muslim graduate student Anida Yoeu Ali is part of a larger series of work at the school titled ""1700% Project,"" which uses art as a form of response to hate crimes, the statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. The school said in a statement: "We are saddened by this incident and we are empathetic to Anida's situation. …Vandalism is never an appropriate response to a work of art."

Ironically, the piece by Anida Yeou Ali is about hate crimes against Muslims. She took excerpts from FBI files on hate crimes against people perceived to be Arab or Muslim. ALI: There were three large caricature figures drawn on the wall which the installation occupies, and then there was a word bubble coming out of the caricature around where the text reads "kill all Arabs."

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham discusses recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on Khatib v. County of Orange. Abraham argues that the court of appeals decision violates free exercise rights.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham discusses recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on Khatib v. County of Orange. Abraham argues that the court of appeals decision violates free exercise rights.

CAIR-Chicago's Ahmed Rehab and Yaser Tabbara talk to Worldview's Jerome McDonnell as part of NPR's week-long series "Islamic Reform: Towards a Global Reformation Movement" The two discuss what Islamic Reform means to them, and how CAIR draws on lessons learned from the Civil Rights Movement.

Listen HERE

CAIR-Chicago's Ahmed Rehab and Yaser Tabbara talk to Worldview's Jerome McDonnell as part of NPR's week-long series "Islamic Reform: Towards a Global Reformation Movement" The two discuss what Islamic Reform means to them, and how CAIR draws on lessons learned from the Civil Rights Movement.

Listen HERE

In light of the recent, renewed controversy surrounding cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, the Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn recalls his great 2006 debate on the subject with CAIR-Chicago's Ahmed Rehab.

"The bench should be representative of American society, and if you look at American society there are people of different religions, races, and genders," says Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director.

Ahmed Rehab discusses the recent Muhammad cartoon controversy, this time sparked by Comedy Central's "South Park", and provides some context to the various reactions it has garnered - context missing from most media coverage.