(COLUMBUS, OHIO 9/12/2020) On Saturday, September 5, 2020, the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) held a youth talk titled “Courageous Conversations” at the Islamic Center of Centerville located in Washington Township, a suburb of Dayton.
(COLUMBUS, OH – 9/9/2020) – The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) seeks an apology from Monroe City Councilman Tom Callahan for his Islamophobic and inflammatory remarks that he made on July 14, 2020 at the Monroe City Council meeting.
(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 07/24/2020) – On Tuesday, July 22, the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) testified against Senate Bill 317, a bill that would drastically reduce the safety training requirements for teachers carrying guns in Ohio elementary, middle and high schools. In the absence of statewide training and oversight, Ohio schools could choose to send their teachers and staff to dangerous private training programs that promote anti-Muslim bigotry and stereotyping.
(COLUMBUS, OH – 7/20/2020) – The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) today urged the Ohio Senate to reject Senate Bill 317, a bill that would drastically reduce the safety training requirements for teachers carrying guns in Ohio elementary, middle and high schools.
(CINCINNATI, OH, 7/9/2020) – The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) called today for an independent investigation of allegations made against West Chester Township Police Chief Joel Herzog who allegedly made racist and sexist remarks targeting Muslims, Indians, African-Americans, Latinos, and women.
Herzog has been accused by his two captains of retaliation, racism, sexism, mishandling of public records and failure to address sexual harassment. The West Chester Township trustees hired a private law firm to conduct an investigation into these allegations.
(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 07/03/2020) – On both Saturday, June 13th and 20th, the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) held Black Lives Matter solidarity rallies in downtown Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati.
The events featured diverse local Muslim community members from various mosques and local racial justice activists. The purpose of these events was to continue raising awareness around the issue of racism and to illustrate that the Muslim community stands with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Serving as Executive Director of Muslim Family Services – Ohio (MFS-Ohio), Nicol Ghazi leads an organization that is committed to empowering families to lead self-sufficient lives. The comprehensive services include providing resettlement support, jobs and skills training, advocacy, access to a food pantry, and government assistance. Nicol is charged with overseeing the organization’s educational services, coordinating the food pantry, managing client support with caseworkers, and more.
Mariam Elgafy, a graduate student at the University of Cincinnati and the force behind Dayton Muslims for Humanity (DMH), launched the DMH mask initiative, in collaboration with the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton. After realizing the lack of available face masks in her community, Mariam and a group of volunteers work to assemble and distribute face masks to essential workers and those in need.
Meet Sister Jackie Othman, the case coordinator at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati (ICGC). She has been coordinating the weekly food pantry for her community for the last two years through ICGC’s Social Services. This includes handling logistics, picking up available food items from grocers, and repackaging the items for the pantry’s clients.
(COLUMBUS, OH, 1/3/20) – The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called today for the arrest and prosecution of a man who allegedly
(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/13/19) The Columbus Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) today launched a petition urging Ohioans to call on their representatives in Congress to support the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 and to pressure China to close its concentration camps where up to 3 million Uyghur Muslims are being held arbitrarily.
CAIR-Columbus announced today the release of its 2019 Primary Election Voting Guide. The guide contains important dates for registering to vote, the primaries and identification requirements. The guide can be viewed here
(COLUMBUS, OH, 4/12/19) – The Columbus, Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today that it has successfully resolved another green card delay lawsuit.
The suit, filed in Federal court for the Southern District of Ohio, was on behalf of a local Muslim man, Mr. Marwan Alobaidi, whose green card application had been pending for almost 18 months without adjudication. He had no criminal history and had met all the requirements for adjusting his status to that of a lawful permanent resident. Mr. Alobaidi and his family had to flee their native home in Iraq. Upon arrival to the U.S. they were granted refugee status.
Mr. Alobaidi sent numerous inquiries to USCIS regarding the status of his application but was repeatedly told that his case was in “administrative processing” or that the application was “under review by an officer.” When it was clear that his issue was not being resolved, he contacted the Columbus chapter of CAIR-Ohio for help in getting his green card.
“We are pleased to announce that since the filing of our lawsuit in March, we were able to successfully resolve the delay in adjudication, and our client, Mr. Marwan Alobaidi, has received his green card,” said CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal.
Ohio Muslims who are facing similar delays are encouraged to contact CAIR-Columbus for assistance by filing an incident report
(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 3/28/19) – The Columbus chapter of the Council on American-Relations announced today the filing of an employment discrimination charge on behalf of a Muslim-Somali man for wrongful termination against his previous employer.
The Muslim man began his employment at the local company in 2008. He was promoted several times throughout his time at the company, and around 2014 he became a production supervisor overseeing nearly seventy employees. Performing his supervisory responsibilities competently and with merit, he did not receive any disciplinary warnings or negative performance reviews while serving as a production supervisor.
Around 2018, the Muslim employee was confronted by Human Resources about false and malicious complaints submitted by some of his Caucasian female subordinates. The complaints were racially charged and littered with xenophobic rhetoric relating to his country of origin. Protesting these allegations, the Muslim employee informed Human Resources that his subordinates continuously discriminated against him and even ridiculed him by warning him not to leave the United States because “Trump has banned [his] country.”
Shortly thereafter, Human Resources terminated the Muslim employee without providing any reason in the termination letter. Prior to these events, no issues of his work performance were ever raised. As such, the Muslim employee strongly believes he was wrongfully terminated because he complained about the discriminatory treatment and that the termination itself was based on his race, religion, and national origin.
Seeking legal guidance on the matter, the Muslim employee turned to CAIR-Columbus. Together, they filed a charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and are awaiting the company’s response.
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. The CAIR-Ohio Affiliate has three chapters – Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
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CONTACT: CAIR-Ohio, Columbus Chapter Legal Director Romin Iqbal, 614-451-3232, riqbal@cair.com