(CLEVELAND, OH, 9/21/23) – On Monday, September 11th, the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) joined Global Cleveland and other local faith leaders for the United Church of Christ’s virtual interfaith service for Global Cleveland’s Welcoming Week 2023.

This virtual interfaith service was one of the many events of Global Cleveland’s Welcoming Week 2023, where the aim was to celebrate and acknowledge international individuals who reside within Cleveland and to celebrate the diversity within our communities. The leaders present represented many faiths ranging from Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.

Faith leaders at the service were Dr. Karen Thompson, the General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ; Rabbi Scott Roland, on the Cleveland Board of Rabbis; and Faten Odeh, the Interim Executive Director of CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland.

During the meeting, Dr.Thompson stated,” I am thankful that Cleveland has been a place where people can find a new home… this is a community who understands what it means to love and care.”

Interim Executive Director of CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland, Faten Odeh brought her Muslim voice. She mentioned her own struggles from being a well-liked student who sang the national anthem at the school talent show to being viewed as an “other” for her faith.

“Being the only Muslim in my school during this time was a challenge and it placed a heavy burden on me at such a young age to have to be the one to explain and defend the faith of Islam,” Odeh said.

She continued to say that Global Cleveland’s Welcoming Week and the interfaith service reminded her of the verse from the Quran from Surat al-Hujurat,” O humanity, Indeed We created you from a male and a female and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may get to know one another.”

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CONTACT: CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland & Northern Ohio Interim Executive Director Faten Odeh, 216.830.2247, fodeh@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202.744.7726, ihooper@cair.com