On behalf of the Board and Staff at CAIR-Ohio, we wish you and your family all the rewards of Ramadan and a Blessed Eid to come, inshaAllah.
Please view our brief video message to you and your family.
To support the pursuit of peace and justice, please donate here.
(CLEVELAND, OH – 10/30/18) – The Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) is engaging Muslim voters in Ohio through a get-out-the vote campaign in the run-up to the mid-term elections.
The campaign entitled, You Can’t Ban the Vote, involves a get-out-the vote telethon, public service announcement videos and postcard reminders aimed at getting out the Muslim vote in Ohio.
“The purpose of this campaign is to remind Muslims in Ohio about the importance of getting out to vote especially in this year’s crucial mid-term elections,” said CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson.
Click & Watch PSA Video Clips Below:
Let’s Put Our Faith into Action and Get Out the Vote!
Don’t Let Voter Suppression Get You Down. Get Out to Vote!
Keep the Faith and Keep the Vote Alive!
The Mid-Term Elections Counts, So Let’s Make Our Vote Count!
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson, 216.830.2247, jshearson@cair.com; CAIR-Cleveland Co-Founder M. Isam Zaiem, 216.337.7928, isamz@sbcglobal.net.
On April 28, CAIR-Cleveland’s Executive Director joined some 30 national leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, in attending the inauguration of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.
The facility is “the nation’s first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people, people terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence.”
SEE: This New Lynching Memorial Rewrites American History (CNN)
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice
“It is critically important that American Muslim leaders and activists learn about the legacy of those who suffered under brutal slavery and segregation for hundreds of years, who fought for basic dignity and human rights, and made the civil rights movement a reality,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who attended the memorial’s inauguration.
CAIR national and chapter leaders also visited Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham as part of a three-day civil rights educational tour.
The Washington-based civil rights organization said it has witnessed an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.
Community members are being urged to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR’s National Civil Rights Department at 202.742.6420 or by filing a report at: http://www.cair.com/report. Complaints can also be made to the local Cleveland Chapter by calling 216.830.2247.
CAIR launched an app to share critical “know your rights” information and to simplify the process to report hate crimes and bias incidents. CAIR is urging American Muslims and members of other minority groups to download the app and utilize this resource to stay informed and empowered.
For a quick download of CAIR’s civil rights app, click here: http://www.cair.com/app
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
Please donate to CAIR-Cleveland this Ramadan. Donations will help CAIR-Cleveland to better serve the community.
Your donation will directly sustain our pro bono legal services, vital education programs, media and interfaith work, and community service activities. All donations are tax-deductible and zakat eligible. Our federal tax ID number is 31-1602287.
You may also send your gift in the mail:
CAIR-Cleveland
2999 Payne Ave, Suite 220
Cleveland, OH 44114
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/10/18) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported today that some 400 delegates from 28 states met on Monday and Tuesday with more than 250 elected officials and congressional staffers during the record-breaking fourth annual “National Muslim Advocacy Day” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said Muslim delegates participating in this year’s advocacy day event met with a third of the House of Representatives and almost half of the Senate.
[NOTE: Last year, delegates met with some 230 congressional offices.]
“It was amazing to see the spirit and enthusiasm of all those who traveled from across our nation to meet with their elected officials to make the voice of the American Muslim community heard on Capitol Hill,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
The lobbying effort, the largest congressional Muslim advocacy event, was sponsored by the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a coalition of leading national and local American Muslim organizations.*
TWO FAITHS: ONE SPIRIT
March 14 – 18, 2018
From the Sarajevo Haggadah to the Courageous Librarians of Timbuktu
A richly illuminated Jewish holy book known as the Sarajevo Haggadah is saved from the Nazis during WWII by an Imam who recognizes its historical, cultural and spiritual value and hides it under the mosque floor allowing it to be preserved to this day. A group of courageous librarians risk their lives to save Muslim manuscripts and literary treasures housed in Timbuktu from destruction by violent extremists with the help of Harvard Professor, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, a Christian from West Virginia whose African roots lead him to help save the rich historical legacy of his ancestral land.
These two parallel stories of religiously significant documents saved with the help of people of different beliefs shows the indomitable nature of the human spirit and our instinct to work together preserve what is beautiful and good in the world.
For more info:
citymusiccleveland.org
Avner Dorman conductor | Merima Ključo accordion
BARDANASHVILI Elegy for Strings
KLJUČO Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book – World Premiere
RANJBARAN Seven Passages COHEN Warzazat
Wednesday, March 14, 7:30PM
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Boulevard, Beachwood
Thursday, March 15, 7:30PM
St. Jerome Church, 15000 Lake Shore Boulevard, Collinwood
Friday, March 16, 11AM
Cuyahoga County Library Auditorium, 2121 Snow Road, Parma
Friday, March 16, 7:30PM
Lakewood Congregational Church, 1375 West Clifton, Lakewood
Saturday, March 17, 8PM
St. Stanislaus Church, 3649 East 65th Street, Cleveland
Sunday, March 18, 4PM
St. Mary Parish, 320 Middle Avenue, Elyria
Supporters to Rally for Youngstown Business Owner on Hunger Strike, Detained By ICE
(CLEVELAND, OH, 1/20/18) – On Sunday, January 21, family, friends and supporters of Youngstown-area businessman Amer Othman Adi will rally to protest his detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Adi, who is being held at Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, is currently on a hunger strike to protest his detention.
WHAT: Rally and Vigil in support of hunger striking Palestinian Arab businessman and his US citizen family.
WHEN: Sunday, January 21, 2-4 p.m.
WHERE: Northeast Ohio Correctional Center 2240 Hubbard Road, Youngstown Ohio 44505
CONTACT: Julia A. Shearson, CAIR-Cleveland executive director, 216.440.2247 or jshearson@cair.com
“No one in America should be forced to go through the bureaucratic nightmare that has ensnared this family. Mr. Adi has never had a proper review of his case. If he had, he would have been a citizen a long time ago,” said CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia A. Shearson, who attended a rally today at an Adi family business in downtown Youngstown.
Adi, who was prepared to voluntarily leave the country with his wife, presented himself at what was to be a routine check-in meeting with ICE on January 16. However, Adi, who was in the company of Congressman Tim Ryan and his immigration attorney David Leopold, was inexplicably detained by ICE officials. Fidaa, his American wife of 30 years, was left in tears without her husband. Such heart-wrenching separations are increasingly being inflicted on American families due to the broken immigration system.
Adi, who has owned and operated more than a half-dozen businesses in the Youngstown area, is credited with helping to revitalize the downtown area after opening Downtown Circle Convenience which served as an anchor business. The family-run business provides a grocery store in the front and a popular restaurant and hookah and sports bar in the back. Adi’s wife and four adult daughters are all US citizens. His congressman, state senators, local clergy and people of all walks of life have rallied to support the popular businessman in an effort to get a stay of deportation so that his case could get a full review.
SEE: ICE moves businessman to prison because of hunger strike
LISTEN: In a Week of Twists, Congress Steps Into the Deportation Case of Amer Adi
http://wksu.org/post/week-twists-congress-steps-deportation-case-amer-adi#stream/0
SEE: Youngstown man, spared deportation recently, arrested pending deportation (photos)
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/01/youngstown_man_spared_deportat.html
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, fomentar el diálogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprensión mutua.
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CONTACT: Julia A. Shearson, CAIR-Cleveland executive director, 216.440.2247 or jshearson@cair.com, Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR National Communications Director, 202.744.7726, ihooper@cair.com
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/8/17) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today went to court to challenge President Trump’s Muslim ban. #NoMuslimBanEver.
This morning, the entire Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on whether to uphold the Maryland district court’s decision to partially block the latest version of the ban. The Trump administration argued that the president’s anti-Muslim comments and tweets are irrelevant.
The government continued to urge the court that once President Trump uses the words “national security” the court must accept that conclusion. On that point, Judge Pamela Harris commented that even with giving President Trump deference and construing his statements “in a light more favorable to the president, it’s a little tricky to find the national security rationale.”
SEE: Fourth Circuit Struggles with Trump’s Tweets in Weighing Travel Ban
CAIR and others argued that the Muslim ban is discriminatory and that the president is acting to disfavor Islam in violation of the First Amendment. “Muslim Ban 3.0” seeks to re-write immigration laws in an attempt to block more than 150 million Muslims from even considering entering America.
Today’s arguments follow the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case challenging a Hawaii District Court order that also blocked Muslim Ban 3.0. The Fourth Circuit is expected to issue a decision quickly.
“CAIR continues to stand for freedom, equality and religious tolerance. We will not rest while President Trump’s Islamophobic prejudice unfairly separates American Muslims from their loved ones,” said CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri.
Earlier this week, CAIR expressed deep concern over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow President Trump’s “Muslim Ban” to be implemented until the court makes a final decision about the executive action’s constitutionality.
CAIR and the Brennan Center for Justice filed suit against President Trump’s Muslim Ban on behalf of six American Muslims impacted by the immigration restrictions. Civil rights attorneys, including CAIR National attorney Gadeir Abbas, delivered oral arguments against the ban in mid-October.
On appeal, this case, Zakzok v. Trump, was consolidated with two others and are jointly pending before the Fourth Circuit.
Video: CAIR, Other Civil Rights Groups Hold Presser After Md. Court Arguments on Trump’s Muslim Ban
In a broad ruling on October 18th, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang granted CAIR and other groups’ request for a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from implementing its latest attempt to exclude Muslims from the United States.
Judge Chuang ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to ultimately succeed in proving that anti-Muslim animus motivated the travel ban in violation of the Establishment Clause. He also noted that the ban violates federal law, which forbids the government from discriminating against visa applicants based on their nationality.
SEE: Second Judge Rules Against Latest Travel Ban, Saying Trump’s Own Words Show It Was Aimed at Muslims
CAIR welcomed a decision by another federal judge in Hawaii to block the Trump administration from implementing the ban. The judge’s decision only blocks the ban for 14 days.
SEE: CAIR Welcomes Federal Judge’s Decision to Block Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban 3.0’
In September, CAIR — with the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Profeta & Eisenstein — filed an amicus brief with U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of seven American Muslims.
READ Amicus Brief
These groups also filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit in August.
Read CAIR’s Amicus Brief
In January, just days after Trump signed the first Muslim ban executive order, CAIR filed suit.
SEE: CAIR Files Federal Suit Challenging Constitutionality of Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’ Executive Order
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, fomentar el diálogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprensión mutua.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri, 248-390-9784, lmasri@cair.com; CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, gabbas@cair.com
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/4/17) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed deep concern over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow President Trump’s “Muslim Ban” to be implemented until the court makes a final decision about the executive action’s constitutionality.
Earlier today, the court issued two orders staying the Hawaii and Maryland federal courts’ injunctions that had, until today, largely prevented the Trump administration from implementing Muslim Ban 3.0’s visa restrictions.
Although this decision allows Muslim Ban 3.0 to go into effect now, the court could still find it unconstitutional at a later date.
“This decision ignores the very real human consequences to American citizens and their families abroad imposed by President Trump’s Muslim Ban 3.0,” said CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri.
“The Supreme Court’s actions today are a good reminder that we can’t simply rely on the courts to address the Trump administration’s efforts to marginalize Muslims and other minorities,” said CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas. “We must all do everything we can to oppose Muslim Ban 3.0.”
CAIR and the Brennan Center for Justice filed suit against President Trump’s Muslim Ban on behalf of six American Muslims impacted by the immigration restrictions. Civil rights attorneys, including CAIR National attorney Gadeir Abbas, delivered oral arguments against the ban in mid-October.
On appeal, this case, Zakzok v. Trump, was consolidated with two others and are jointly pending before the Fourth Circuit. Oral argument in the Fourth Circuit is set for this Friday, December 8th, in Richmond, Va.
Video: CAIR, Other Civil Rights Groups Hold Presser After Md. Court Arguments on Trump’s Muslim Ban
In a broad ruling on October 18th, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang granted CAIR and other groups’ request for a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from implementing its latest attempt to exclude Muslims from the United States.
Judge Chuang ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to ultimately succeed in proving that anti-Muslim animus motivated the travel ban in violation of the Establishment Clause. He also noted that the ban violates federal law, which forbids the government from discriminating against visa applicants based on their nationality.
SEE: Second Judge Rules Against Latest Travel Ban, Saying Trump’s Own Words Show It Was Aimed at Muslims
Yesterday, CAIR welcomed a decision by another federal judge in Hawaii to block the Trump administration from implementing the ban. The judge’s decision only blocks the ban for 14 days.
SEE: CAIR Welcomes Federal Judge’s Decision to Block Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban 3.0’
Today, CAIR will join a coalition of national and local American Muslim and civil rights organizations at the #NoMuslimBanEver rally and march outside the White House in Washington, D.C.
In September, CAIR — with the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Profeta & Eisenstein — filed an amicus brief with U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of seven American Muslims.
READ Amicus Brief
These groups also filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit in August.
Read CAIR’s Amicus Brief
In January, just days after Trump signed the first Muslim ban executive order, CAIR filed suit.
SEE: CAIR Files Federal Suit Challenging Constitutionality of Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’ Executive Order
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, fomentar el diálogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprensión mutua.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri, 248-390-9784, lmasri@cair.com ; CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, gabbas@cair.com
(CLEVELAND, OH, 11/27/17) – Representatives of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) recently presented on civil rights issues facing the Muslim community in America at the Dean’s Forum at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
The forum, which was moderated by The Rev. Dr. Paul L. Gaston III, Interim Dean of the Cathedral, was a part of a series of Sunday dialogues called “The Dean’s Forum Podcast.”
It covered issues such as the gap between the faith of Islam and its peaceful practitioners and the negative perception of Muslims in America due to the scourge of terrorism.
The forum also included information on Islamophobia and those who promote anti-Muslim bigotry, including right-wing think-tanks, religious figures, public officials, and commentators.
Forum participants touched on the rise in hate crimes and anti-Muslim discrimination, and provided information on dispelling stereotypes and how members of interfaith communities can take practical steps to help stem the tide of anti-Muslim bigotry through concrete action at the local level.
To listen to the Dean’s Forum Podcast, go to:
https://trinitycleveland.org/the-deans-forum-podcasts/
“Understanding and empathy are key to activating the wider public to stand up against scapegoating and bigotry that are increasingly being deployed for political gain in our country,” said CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson. “The forum provided a chance for congregants to hear first-hand about how the rise of anti-Muslim racism and hate crimes are directly impacting the American Muslim community and what interfaith allies can do to help stop the hate.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, fomentar el diálogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprensión mutua.
CONTACT: Julia A. Shearson, CAIR-Cleveland executive director, 216.440.2247 or jshearson@cair.com, Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR National Communications Director, 202.744.7726, ihooper@cair.com