CAIR: CT marks one year after Oct. 7 attack – Connecticut Public Radio
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement that it is “long past time” for President Joe Biden to use American leverage to “force the Israeli government to accept a comprehensive ceasefire deal that ends the genocide in Gaza, frees all captives and political prisoners, averts an all-out regional war and addresses the root cause of decades of recurring violence: the illegal occupation of Palestine.”
CAIR: Michigan community remembers American killed in Lebanon by Israeli strike – Al Jazeera
“Only politics and racism could explain the Biden administration’s disgusting pattern of indifference to Americans of color killed by the Israeli government,” said the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a statement on the death of Jawad.
CAIR: Harris skirts question on whether Israel’s Netanyahu is ‘close ally’ of US – Al Jazeera
“President Biden has spent a year enabling the Israeli government’s expanding war crimes, violating US laws that require an arms embargo on Israel, and ignoring the majority of Americans who oppose sending more weapons to Israel,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement on Sunday.
“Now the entire region is in chaos.”
Video: UMD Vigil: Students for Justice in Palestine Gather for Peaceful Remembrance
Video: CAIR-Cleveland Director Calls for Protection of Students on Anniversary of Oct. 7 Attacks
CAIR: One year later: Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate incidents spike since Oct. 7 attacks – USA Today
At the same time, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported that anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian complaints topped 8,000 in 2023, with nearly half of these complaints reported in the final three months of the year, as Israel carried out its war in Gaza. Within the first six months of 2024, nearly 5,000 complaints of discrimination were documented by the council.
Anadolu Agency: US applies ‘double standards’ to free speech when it comes to opposing war in Gaza: CAIR-NY director
“There seems to be an exception to people’s civil rights and to their ability to freely speak” on Palestine, Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Anadolu.
“If you want to say the exact same thing but in support of the Israeli regime and you just switch out the words ‘Palestine’ and ‘Israel,’ then you are safe and there is no issue.
“However, if you flip it and you start speaking on behalf of Muslims and Palestinians, then all of a sudden there is discrimination and repression. On top of that, you are accused of being anti-Semitic,” said Nasher.
CAIR: Protestors march down Front Street in Harrisburg to demand ceasefire, end to Pa. anti-BDS law – PennLive.com
The lack of concrete progress could be an electoral problem, said Basim Elkarra, director of CAIR Action, the campaign wing of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The group is pushing for progressive, pro-ceasefire candidates, Elkarra said. Many of these are Democrats, as are the vast majority of Muslim voters, he noted – some of whom are planning to vote third-party, or not cast a vote at all, at the top of the ticket.
“We’re keeping the pressure on the Democratic Party to make some changes before it’s too late,” Elkarra said. “A second Donald Trump presidency will be because of Democrats’ inaction. Netanyahu wants a second Trump presidency, and they fell into his trap.”
CAIR: FBI is allegedly investigating anti-Israel comments on social media – UPI
The agents told his daughter to tell him to report to a nearby embassy to talk to the legal attaché there. Instead, he reached out to CAIR for advice on what he should do.
On his behalf, CAIR sent a letter to the FBI declining their interrogation request. Neither CAIR nor Khan have heard anything further from the FBI. “We don’t know what’s going on at this point. But we’re just kind of just in limbo,” Khan said.
CAIR: Jill Stein sees ‘no lesser evil’ between Harris, Trump – Reuters
But Stein, who has been campaigning on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate U.S. arms embargo on Israel, won 40% of the Muslim vote in Michigan in an August poll by the Council on American Islamic Relations, that also put her ahead of Harris and Trump among Muslims in Arizona and Wisconsin.
CAIR: The Democratic shift rightward – PSU Vanguard
CAIR: ‘41,000 Ahmeds’: Gaza’s death toll ripples through the Pittsburgh region – Triblive.com
CAIR-WA: In Seattle area, Oct. 7 anniversary marks year of devastation, anxiety – Seattle Times
A recent survey from the Washington branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations found more than 8 in 10 Muslims in Washington had experienced Islamophobic discrimination or bias in the past year, with nearly 40% saying it has worsened since the war in Gaza began.
CAIR-LA: Southern California Jews, Muslims solemnly remember Oct. 7 on anniversary of attack – Orange County Register
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the L.A. chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), also condemned the ongoing injustice, calling for peace and an end to genocide and rising Islamophobia. The organization saw 8,061 reports of anti-Muslim hate across the U.S. in 2023, a 56% increase from 2022, and connected it to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Ayloush noted that the Palestinian struggle did not begin in the last year, and is “an ongoing 76-year-long dispossession of the Palestinian people.”
“It’s not enough to mourn innocent people who have lost their lives over the past year, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians,” he said. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘What has our country’s role been in this ongoing tragedy?’”
Ayloush said that many mosques in Orange County and Los Angeles have held prayer sessions for both Israeli and Palestinian lives lost.
“The goal is to renew our commitment to ending this occupation in order for the people of that region — Israelis and Palestinians alike — and their neighbors, to live in peace,” he said.
CAIR: One year into Israel-Hamas war, Tarrant Jewish, Muslim communities reflect on its toll – Fort Worth Report
Anti-Muslim incidents also hit a record high in 2023, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR: US Senate candidates Hogan, Alsobrooks navigate complex Middle East policy – Baltimore Banner
“What we’d like to see from our representatives is to move our country in a direction that is on the side of justice and peace, rather than war and oppression,” said Sharif Silmi, president of the advisory board for CAIR Action Maryland, the political arm of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading Muslim advocacy group.
CAIR-NJ: United for Palestine rally in Paterson marks one year of war – northjersey.com
Selaedin Maksut of the Council on American-Islamic Relations NJ speaks during the United for Palestine Rally & March in Paterson Sunday, October 6, 2024.
CAIR-Ohio: Organization calls for protection of students as anniversary of October 7th attacks nears – Spectrum News
CAIR: Colleges brace for Oct. 7 anniversary – The Hill
“It’s going to be a very somber occasion, regardless of, obviously, where you stand on the political spectrum, because this is a year that has been a very difficult year in more ways than one,” said Zainab Chaudry, director of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Maryland.
CAIR-CA: Southern California events mark the 1-year anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel and war in Gaza – Los Angeles Daily News
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, California, was planning a news conference to address the ongoing conflict.
“We hope to do something that takes us into recognizing the root cause of the issue we’re dealing with, so we’re not just mourning one event after the other,” Enjy El-Kadi of the Council’s California chapter said. “We’re tired, we’re emotionally tired, and enough is enough.”
CAIR: Emergency training for houses of worship is needed to potentially save lives – Chicago Sun-Times
CAIR-Chicago: Jews, Muslims in Chicago endure a wave of hate after Oct. 7 – Chicago Sun-Times
CAIR: The ‘Day of Jihad’ That Never Came – Reason
The Council on American-Islamic Relations received 1,283 bias incident reports in the month after October 7.
CAIR: Repression and resistance: How Germany is stifling pro-Palestinian voices – TRT World
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) offers a similar viewpoint on the German government’s controversial decision.
“It is unfortunate to see Germany taking it to the extreme in terms of the interpretation of a historical phrase that Palestinians adopted for generations to express their dreams to return to their stolen lands,” says Nihad Awad, CAIR’s executive director.
“Who could oppose this dream except colonial powers and settler regimes that dehumanise people outside their own ethnicity?” Awad tells TRT World.