CAIR-Chicago’s Ahmed Rehab and Sabeel Ahmed from Gain Peace discuss battling anti-Muslim rhetoric fueled by the presidential campaign by using tactics including a television ad campaign and public forums against bigotry.
“We’ve politicized 9/11, we’ve had costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with surges, military personnel, with trillions of dollars spent. And then at the end of the day it takes what we’ve been saying all along – good, hard intelligence and a committed group of surgical strikes,” says Ahmed Rehab.
“The American Muslim community was relieved, there’s a sense of vindication. This has been a long time coming,” said Rehab.
“Given the situation with ground zero (in New York), there’s a growing trend by various right-wing organizations to vilify Islamic organizations, and I don’t think we can take that away from what’s happening in DuPage County,” said Kevin Vodak, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
A critical mind is a terrible thing to waste according to CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab, who spoke at the American Islamic College on November 19. As a speaker for the event “Islamic Intellectualism: Promoting a Critical Mind,” he clarified to participants that Islam strongly encourages intellectual inquisitiveness and creative problem solving.
CAIR-Chicago has been a member organization of ICIRR since 2005, is widely respected for its work on civil rights, and is unequivocal in its condemnation of anti-Semitism and terrorist violence. The Illinois Republican Party statement preys upon anti-Muslim fears at a time when we are all grieving over the recent tragic events at Fort Hood, Texas.
Yesterday the Illinois GOP issued a press release baselessly accusing CAIR, a respected civil rights Islamic organization, of being anti-Semitic. The Illinois GOP’s open vilification of Muslims, and organizations that dare to have an independent opinion when it comes to Palestine and Israel, is frightening to say the least.
Exhortó al Partido Republicano a evitar caer en la generación de odios y miedos en contra de la comunidad musulmana, y colaborar con el CAIR denunciando odios antimusulmanes y antiinmigrantes. Pero principalmente a apoyar una reforma migratoria justa y humana.
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