Check out our Civil Rights Digest and see how CAIR-Chicago works to help people in the Muslim community.

Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director, appeared as a live guest today on Fox Chicago’s morning show, Good Day Chicago. Abraham spoke with hosts Anna Davlantes and Corey McPherrin regarding the controversy over political analyst Juan Williams’ Islamophobic statements on Fox News.

October 16th marked Immigration Democracy Day for voters and volunteers. Asian, Latino, Polish, Muslim residents and their supporters learned about political participation, heard from their future leaders, and finally, put knowledge into action by early voting.

Ahmed Rehab challenges Bill O’Reilly’s notion that there is a “Muslim Problem” in the world, and that mainstream Muslims are not doing enough to fight extremism.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab discusses the Juan Williams/NPR controversy on CNN’s The Situation with Wolf Blitzer. Rehab debates conservative pundit Cliff May, of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, on the irrationality of William’s comment.

Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, discusses the Juan Williams controversy with conservative political commentator Michael Medved.

“I thought that NPR did the right thing,” Ahmed Rehab said. “They have a reputation to protect, and clearly his unobjective and sensational characterizations were not a good fit for their objective standards of journalism.”

Rehab says comments like those made by Williams encourage the stereotypes that generate fear of Muslims.

“There seems to be a refusal and willful ignorance when it comes to the simple notion that Muslims are not one in the same with terrorists,” he said.

“American Muslims are not a threat to this nation,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “The threat to this nation is those who would divide us based on race, faith or ethnicity because those are the ones who undermine our values.”

“Alsherbini claims that the targeting practice began after Jan. 2009 when Randy Keller became mayor of the village. On Aug. 27, 2009, under the orders of Keller, Alsherbini was served with a notice to appear for proceedings to revoke his business license, according to the suit.”

Christina Abraham discusses the lawsuit CAIR-Chicago filed for businessman Ala Alsherbini, against the village of Worth.

On Sunday, October 24, join CAIR-Chicago at the CIOGC-MPAC Conference.

CAIR-Chicago filed a discrimination complaint in federal court against the Southwest Suburban Village of Worth on behalf of Ala Alsherbini, a local Muslim business owner.

While Obama’s rhetoric has been encouraging, Muslims want to see more done, Amina Sharif, communications coordinator of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Thursday.

“Words are nice but action would be better,” she said.

There has been too little progress on a resolution between Israel and Palestine and Muslims are concerned about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sharif said.

The Anti-Defamation League, which describes itself as the premier civil rights organization fighting anti-Semitism, recently published list of the “top ten most influential anti-Israel groups in America.” Ahmed Rehab discusses what this move says about the real mission of the organization. “The ADL is slowly but surely shifting its focus from fighting real bigotry to doing public relations work for the government of Israel, including shilling for its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories,” says Rehab.
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A Muslim family was wrongly denied access to an aquatic center in Lyons last summer when employees told them their clothing violated the facility’s rules, state officials said Friday. “This incident is a blatant example of anti-Muslim discrimination,” Christina Abraham, civil rights director for the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Everyone is entitled to the equal enjoyment of public places.”

CAIR-Chicago received a favorable ruling today from the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) regarding a discrimination complaint filed against a Cook County recreational pool on behalf of a Muslim family.