Dina Rehab, Outreach Coordinator at CAIR-Chicago, met with both the principals of Islamic Foundation School and the College Preparatory School of America on September 29th, 2005. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of providing students the opportunity to intern at CAIR-Chicago, while receiving school credit.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator, Christina Abraham, accompanied a Muslim man to an interview with the EEOC. The man filed a charge with the EEOC for discrimination based on national origin, religion and retaliation.

For many years now, the Presbyterian Women of the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Joliet have kept a hearty tradition they call the “Bread & Soup Supper.” In each of these gatherings, which are part of their uniform circle meetings, a different member is delegated the task of making the soup and baking the bread. This time it was Marlene Jones.

CAIR-Chicago sponsored an informational session on “The Right to Travel After 9/11” on Saturday evening, September 22, 2005 at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, IL. Speakers presented on the different experiences and issues that have arisen for Muslim travelers after 9/11, and the rights of passengers when traveling.

It is no secret that your civil rights are facing certain unsavory erosions in a post 9/11 Islamophobic climate, but how you react to that is the only challenge you need worry about. Don’t give in to bigotry and scapegoating, don’t cower silently into a dark corner, and don’t let hatred breed hatred.

CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator, Christina Abraham, spoke at a vigil held to honor the memory of Hassiba Belbachir, the 27 year-old Algerian woman mysteriously found dead in an immigration detention facility in Illinois in March of this year.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Yaser Tabbara, along with a number of Muslim community leaders, met Tuesday, September 13, 2005 with representatives from the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and local FBI and DHS officials.

CAIR-Chicago Director of Communicaitons, Ahmed Rehab, joined a group of Chicago community leaders for a closed meeting with the Editorial Board of the Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, to discuss the paper's coverage of Islam and Muslims.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Yaser Tabbara and Director of Communications Ahmed Rehab met with US Congressman Danny K. Davis to discuss issues relevant to his Muslim constituency. Dr. Danny Davis, representative for the 7th US congressional district, listened attentively as Tabbara & Rehab discussed the work of CAIR-Chicago.

CAIR-Chicago’s Civil Rights Coordinator met with the principal of a Chicago Public High School to discuss conducting sensitivity training sessions for faculty and educational seminars for students. The meeting was a result of an anti-Muslim website that was being used as a resource in a World Studies class taught at the local area high school.

Yaser Tabbara met with a number of faith-based leaders and members of the Chicago Police department including Chicago Police Superintendent Philip Cline, members of the local FBI office and the US and State Attorney offices. Among the Chicago faith-based community representatives, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Chairman of the CIOGC, Imam Gha-Is Aski of Imam WD Mohammed Ministry, Rev. Paul H. Rutgers, Executive Director, Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago and Minister Shiva Singh Khalsa of the Sikh Dharma where all present.

Yaser Tabbara participated in a briefing by the ICIRR on the status of their on-going projects and future strategic plan. A number of Muslim and immigrant leaders of ICIRR member organizations were present.

CAIR-Chicago participated in both the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and The Mosque Cares Conventions over labor day weekend, Sep 2-5, 2005.

This weekend, September 2-5, ISNA will be holding its 42nd Annual Convention at The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center - 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont , Illinois 60018. The convention features lectures, workshops, seminars, a grand shopping bazaar, and lots of networking opportunities. 50,000 people are expected.

CAIR-Chicago met with the Arab American Action Network at the CAIR-Chicago office to develop strategies for the next phase of the Citizenship Delay Project. The next phase of the project will include a political/media campaign to raise awareness and garner public support, legal remedies for the dozens of cases that have been reported to both organizations on the issue, outreaching to the Muslim community to spread awareness on the issue, and a publication that will detail the course of the project and the findings of research and investigation on the issue.

CAIR-Chicago participated in a bus tour, organized by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute from the School of Continuing Studies at Northwestern University. The tour explores Chicago’s Arab Muslim and Christian Communities.

CAIR-Chicago met with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU-Illinois), the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC), and the Muslim Bar Association (MBA) to discuss an ACLU class action law suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for their inadequate policies concerning the reentry of Muslim U.S. citizens from abroad into the U.S., when those citizens have names similar to someone else on a government watch list.

(CHICAGO, IL, 7/29/05) – A number of leading Chicago Muslim organizations today publicly endorsed the fatwa (Islamic religious ruling) against terrorism and extremism during a news conference held this morning at the Downtown Islamic Center. The fatwa, recently issued by the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), is endorsed by more than 150 U.S. Muslim groups, leaders and institutions.

On July 28, 2005, CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Director Fadi Farhan took part in the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) meeting of faith-based leaders called, “Strengthening Relations Between Police and Chicago’s Diverse Communities”. The meeting is a regular forum in which scores of prominent representatives and leaders of Chicago’s faith-based community come together to discuss problems that each community sees on its streets and the manner in which the CPD can help to solve those problems.

On July 26, 2005, CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Director Fadi Farhan and Civil Rights Coordinator Christina Abraham met with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Deputy Superintendent Ellen Scrivner and Dr. Lorie Fridell to discuss issues of racial profiling in light of a new report issued by the CPD. CAIR-Chicago expressed the need for a separate category for Middle Easterners/North Africans/South Asians in order to more accurately determine the profiling of Muslims by police departments.