The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called for the restoration of a Muslim activist’s position on the state Department of Education’s Holocaust and Genocide working group.
On March 28, Muslim activist Asma Nizami was reportedly accepted to the Education on the Holocaust, Genocide of Indigenous Peoples and Other Genocides Working Group of the Minnesota Department of Education. On April 15, two weeks after her acceptance, she was reportedly informed that she had been dropped from the working group. Nizami was the only Muslim on the group and had received hateful messages on social media due to her pro-Palestinian activism. The Department of Education said her acceptance was a “clerical error.”
SEE: Muslim Organizer Asma Nizami Rejected by Genocide Group
“The circumstances under which Ms. Nizami was dropped from this working group are suspicious to say the least, especially considering her Muslim identity and her vocal opposition to the genocide in Gaza,” said CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein. “We urge the Minnesota Department of Education to restore her position and conduct a swift, transparent investigation into why she was removed in the first place.”
He noted that a number of supporters of Palestinian human rights nationwide have been targeted by advocates of the Israeli genocide in Gaza when they were placed in a position to speak out against Israel’s human rights abuses.
SEE: USC’s cancellation of valedictorian’s speech ’empowers hate’ – The New Arab
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CONTACT: CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein, 612-406-0070, jhussein@cair.com CAIR-MN Director of Advocacy Osman Ahmed, (612) 459-0334, o-ahmed@cair.com CAIR-MN Deputy Executive Director Suleiman Adan, (612) 408-7183, sadan@cair.com