The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the release of its 2024 August Recess Toolkit. CAIR’s comprehensive toolkit is a resource to empower American Muslims and allies to engage their members of Congress during the congressional recess while members are in their home districts.
The Toolkit goes over how to schedule meetings with your congressional representatives to counter efforts in our nation’s capital to investigate and silence Muslim and student activism against the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, as well as Israel’s ongoing occupation, apartheid, and murder of 500 civilians in the West Bank.
Every year, Congress takes a summer break in August and resumes the week after Labor Day. This year, the recess begins on August 5th and will continue until September 8th.
Join us for an Urgent CAIR Webinar & Training on Preparing for the August Recess:
Engaging Members of Congress, Protecting Muslim Houses of Worship & Nonprofits, Advocating for Palestinian Human Rights
Date/Time: Thursday, July 11th at 8:30 PM EST
Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard! During the webinar, CAIR will discuss how community members can successfully connect with their members of Congress to join us in advocating against the current challenges Muslims face in Congress, including:
McCarthyism 2.0: The Republican-led House Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Education and Workforce are investigating over 20 Muslim, Palestinian, and Jewish nonprofit advocacy organizations. These investigations are based on accusations from far-right, pro-Israel conspiracy theorists and have been criticized as “McCarthyism 2.0.” The targets are Americans advocating for Palestinian human rights.
Legislative Threats: Congress has attempted to pass legislation to reclassify First Amendment-protected speech and protests as hate speech or material support for terrorism.
- H.R. 6408 / S. 4136: This bill allows the President to strip nonprofit organizations, including mosques, of their tax-exempt status based on claims of supporting terrorism. It has been adopted by the House.
- Antisemitism Awareness Act (H.R. 6090 / S. 4127): This act conflates criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism, using the IHRA’s definition. It could silence student protests and has been adopted by the House.
- Countering Antisemitism Act (H.R. 7921 / S. 4091): This act proposes a task force to combat antisemitism, potentially targeting Arab Americans and pro-Palestine activists using the IHRA’s definition.
Register for our webinar and join us to learn more about how these legislative efforts threaten free speech and the rights of Muslims and those advocating for Palestinian human rights.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com