CAIR-Chicago and Jewish Council on Urban Affairs recently partnered to launch the Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative. The workshop, held at the Downtown Islamic Center, involved discussions on how the two communities can collaborate on issues of social justice.

CAIR-Chicago PILI fellow Elisa Jillson attended a status hearing for a Muslim man of Palestinian descent who was terminated from his job with the Chicago Police Department. The Muslim man had been experiencing harassment on the basis of his religion and ethnicity at work prior to being terminated.

CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney Tricia Kemling attended a status hearing on behalf of a Muslim man who filed a complaint of discrimination in federal district court.

A Muslim man received citizenship after a three year wait. After taking an interview and passing the exam in December 2005 he was told his application was pending a name check. After CAIR-Chicago represented him in his recent update interview, the man was granted citizenship.

CAIR-Chicago joined a hearing on racial discrimination in Chicago this May 23rd presided by the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on racism and related intolerance, Mr. Doudou Diene of Senegal.

CAIR-Chicago filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim man who applied for a position with the Chicago Police Department.

In a successful bid on behalf of a Muslim man, CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney Tricia Kemling secured a settlement through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

This April 29, Ahmed Rehab, the Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago was invited to lecture at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Cairo, Egypt. The Institute is a part of Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On May 6, 2008 CAIR-Chicago Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson participated in the last session of a three-part series of a trilateral interfaith dialogue sponsored by the Bernardin Center of the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park. The series featured a speaker from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, while inviting community clergy, leaders, and activists from various faith institutions and organizations.

On May 1, 2008 CAIR-Chicago Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson joined the “Imaginary Coordinates” Exhibition Opening Reception at Spertus Museum. The exhibiton featured the work of Irit Rogoff, a Professor of Visual Culture at the Department of Visual Cultures at the University of London.

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator, Reem Rahman, spoke about faith based activism at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 16 and 17, 2008. Rahman discussed the theological, historical, and the current narratives that inform and shape faith based activism by Muslims.

A federal district court approved the application of a Muslim man who had been waiting over seven years for a decision on his naturalization application.

CAIR-Chicago joined the Council on Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) in its first Prison Workers’ Summit this Saturday, April 19 at the Downtown Islamic Center.

CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney Tricia Kemling attended an update interview with a man who has been waiting for almost four years for citizenship.

150 religious leaders representing 5 faiths, including 35 Muslim leaders, met with Pope Benedict XVI during an interfaith dinner, which CAIR-Chicago hopes will mark improved bridge-building and tolerance between the world's two largest faith communities.

CAIR-Chicago Files Employment Discrimination on Behalf of Muslim Man

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, spoke last Thursday at the University of Arizona during Islamic Awareness Week organized by the local Muslim Student Association. Rehab addressed a packed auditorium of Muslims and non-Muslims about Islam and the media. While Rehab insisted that there is no media conspiracy against Islam, he warned that many reports tend to be selective and reductionist. He added that the main problem area was not the news reporting but the news commentary in which opinion gets mixed with the facts and bias can more easily take hold.

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Reem Rahman joined the Islamic Foundation School (IFS) Fundraising Banquet as a moderator this Saturday April 19, 2008 and congratulated the IFS on its continued commitment to quality education

CAIR-Chicago Government Affairs Coordinator, Shahzeen Karim and Sensitivity Training Coordinator Veronica Zapata, presented a lecture this April 10, 2008 to a group of undergraduate classmen at Loyola University regarding political activism of American Muslims and the impact Muslim organizations have had in the community

About 100 high school students from across the Chicagoland area attended the first official Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS) sponsored by CAIR-Chicago this April 5-6, 2008. During the two-day event, students attended workshops, presentations, and worked together to draft proposals for future projects they hope will bring about positive changes in their communities.