Author: CAIR-Ohio

CAIR-Columbus, interfaith partners and local mosques held a press conference following the terror attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during prayers on Friday March 15, 2019.  See the full press conference video here. 

CAIR-Columbus is urging mosques and other Islamic institutions to take measures outlined in its “Best Practices for Mosque and Community Safety” booklet. The advice in CAIR’s security publication is applicable to all institutions, regardless of organizational mission.

The booklet may be viewed at: https://tinyurl.com/BestSafetyPractices

In a statement, CAIR-Columbus Executive Director Romin Iqbal said:

“We mourn the heartbreaking killings of men, women and children gathered for prayer in their houses of worship in an attack that was motivated by anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant hate. In the wake of this tragedy, we urge mosques, Islamic schools and other community institutions in Central Ohio to take stepped-up security precautions, particularly during times of communal prayer. We also urge local police departments to provide additional security and increased patrolling of local mosques and Muslim institutions in Central Ohio”

“Instead of spreading the hate-filled message of terrorists, we should share messages of love and solidarity with the loved ones of those killed or injured in the attacks,” said Iqbal.

Channel 10 Coverage

 

Channel 6 Coverage

Channel 4 Coverage

 

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. CAIR-Ohio has three affiliates in Ohio in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland.

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-Columbus Executive Director, Romin Iqbal, 614.783.7953, riqbal@cair.com; CAIR-Columbus Government Affairs Coordinator, Usjid Hameed, 410.805.4215, uhameed@cair.com

Survey shows 95 percent of eligible Muslim voters turned out at the polls, favored Democrats over Republicans by 78% to 17%

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/7/18) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today released the results of its “American Muslim Voters and the 2018 Midterm Election” exit poll indicating that 95 percent of eligible Muslim voters turned out at the polls. Seventy-eight percent of Muslim voters cast ballots for Democratic Party candidates and 17 percent for Republican Party candidates.

READ THE ENTIRE REPORT: American Muslim Voters and the 2018 Midterm Election

[NOTE: CAIR also released a preliminary list of 55 Muslims elected to public office in 2018. GO TO:https://tinyurl.com/MuslimsElectedin2018 ]

“The high turn out of Muslim voters and the election of Muslims and members of other minority communities nationwide are an affirmation of the strength and diversity of our political system and a rebuke to the Trump administration’s divisive and fear-based policies,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “It was obvious that many young people who voted Tuesday were concerned about the direction of our nation and wished to make their voices heard in their local community and in Washington, D.C.”

SEE: CAIR-SFBA Celebrates Election of Five American Muslims to Local Office

CAIR-NJ Recognizes Historic Night of NJ Muslim Election Victories Statewide

CAIR’s survey results were drawn from a random sample telephone survey of 1,027 American Muslim registered voters conducted by an independent polling firm. Survey participants were drawn from a database of more than 250,000 Muslim voter households. Calls were conducted on the evening of November 6. Respondents included 650 men and 377 women from across the nation. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 3.1%, with a confidence level of +/- 95%.

Highlights of CAIR Exit Poll Findings:

• 95% of registered Muslim voters cast ballots in this year’s midterm election.
• 78% of Muslim voters primarily voted for the Democratic Party candidates and 17% for Republican Party candidates.
• 46% of Muslim voters consider themselves liberal on social issues, while 35% consider themselves conservative.
• 43% of Muslim voters consider themselves fiscally conservative, while 40% consider themselves liberal.
• 26% of Muslim voters who primarily voted for Democratic candidates perceived themselves as being conservative on social issues. Moreover, 36% perceived themselves as being fiscally conservative.
• 68% of Muslim voters thought Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. increased while 17% thought it decreased in the past year.
• 78% of registered Muslim voters who primarily voted for Democratic Party candidates thought Islamophobia has increased in the past year. Conversely, only 33% of registered Muslim voters who primarily voted for Republican Party candidates thought Islamophobia has increased in the past year.
• 53% of Muslim voters became more interested in politics since the 2016 Presidential election, while 34% maintained the same level of interest in politics and 13% became less interested in politics.
• 55% of Muslim voters have become more actively involved in politics and/or civically engaged since the 2016 Presidential election, while 45% have not.
• Out of those Muslim voters who have become more actively involved in politics and/or civically engaged since 2016 Presidential election:
  • 20% have donated to a political or social campaign.
  • 25% have donated their time by volunteering with a local charity or civic-minded or religious organization.
  • 18% have donated their expertise by using their skills and/or network to advance social/political engagement.
  • 37% have primarily been involved in another way.
• Muslim voters who primarily voted for Republican Party candidates were more likely to contribute money as their primary form of involvement, while Muslim voters who primarily voted for Democratic Party candidates were more likely to volunteer with a local charity or civically minded or religious organization.
• 15% of Muslim voters are very involved in activities at their mosque or Islamic Center, while 26% are somewhat involved, 27% are not very involved, 28% are not at all involved, and 4% refused to answer.
• 49% of Muslim voters who primarily voted for Republican Party candidates were more likely to not at all be involved in activities at the mosque or Islamic Center in comparison to their Democratic Party supporting counterparts (23%).
• 63% of survey respondents identified as male and 37% as female.
• Muslim women are more likely to support Democratic Party candidates and less likely to support Republican Party candidates than their male counterparts.

Last night, CAIR welcomed the victories of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. Ilhan Omar won in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District and Rashida Tlaib won in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. In Indiana, Rep. André Carson (D) also won his re-election bid for the 7th District.

SEE: CAIR Welcomes Historic Night of American Muslim Election Victories as 2 Muslim Women Elected to Congress

CAIR and its chapters nationwide have mobilized community members to vote during the primary and general elections.

CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

COLUMBUS–During a telephonic town hall meeting on Tuesday, representatives from All Voting is Local, CAIR-Columbus, CRIS as well as Ann Fisher from All Sides educated new citizens about the electoral process to empower Ohio voters who speak Arabic, Chinese, Nepalese, Somali and Spanish.

Advocates notified by phone or text, an estimated 30,000 new American voters to participate in the telephone town hall. The call offered an opportunity for voters to ask questions about the voting process and to learn about the coalition’s effort to recruit multilingual poll workers to staff polling places on Nov. 6.

All Voting is Local and CAIR have worked to recruit poll workers throughout Ohio, part of a campaign to tackle the nationwide shortage of poll workers. The campaign, “Be the Difference, Be a Poll Worker” has used billboards, print, digital and radio ads in various languages to ensure polling places throughout Ohio are staffed with enough trained workers. Since August, organizers have recruited over 35 poll workers in 4 languages.

To learn more about where multilingual poll workers will be placed on election day, please visit, http://bit.ly/NewAmericanVote.

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 10/3/2018) — The Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today that it has successfully resolved another citizenship delay lawsuit.

The suit, filed in federal court for the Southern District of Ohio, was on behalf of a local Muslim man, Mr. Mohamed Djebbari, who had been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since 2010.

Mr. Djebbari works as a religious teacher in a local Columbus mosque. Even though Mr. Djebbari had no criminal record and had met all requirements of eligibility for receiving his citizenship, his application for citizenship was not adjudicated by USCIS for nearly three years.

Mr. Djebbari made numerous inquiries with USCIS to check on the status of his application. When his issue did not get resolved, he also contacted the office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown to seek his help in resolving this matter. USCIS informed the office of Senator Brown that they were monitoring the progress of Mr. Djebbari’s case and did not provide any other information.

After waiting for close to three years, Mr. Djebbari contacted the CAIR-Columbus legal department to seek their help in getting his application adjudicated.

“We are pleased to announce that since the filing of our lawsuit, we were able to successfully resolve the delay in adjudication, and our client was officially sworn in as a United States citizen last week,” said CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal, one of the attorneys who filed the case. “Applicants from Muslim-majority countries are often subjected to lengthy delays in all types of immigration applications because they are viewed with suspicion by USCIS due to their country of origin, travel or other subjective criteria that does not actually bar them from qualifying for the immigration benefit they seek.”

CAIR-Columbus has reported an increase in immigration delays of all types and has filed immigration-related lawsuits for over 43 plaintiffs just since the beginning of 2017. The majority of those cases have already been successfully resolved in favor of plaintiffs.

Ohio Muslims who are facing similar delays are being urged to contact CAIR-Columbus for assistance by filing an incident report online at: https://www.cair-ohio.com

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.

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CONTACT: CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal, 614-451-3232, riqbal@cair.com

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 10/3/2018) — The Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today that it has successfully resolved another citizenship delay lawsuit.

The suit, filed in federal court for the Southern District of Ohio, was on behalf of a local Muslim physician, Dr. Aasim Rehman, who had been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since 2014.

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 9/19/2018) — The Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today that it has successfully resolved another citizenship delay lawsuit.

The suit, filed in federal court for the Southern District of Ohio, was on behalf of Mounir Sanhaji, a Muslim doctor of Moroccan origin, who has been living in Central Ohio for over 15 years. Mr. Sanjahi was a legal permanent resident of the United States. He has been working as a doctor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the last 13 years.

CAIR-Columbus announced today the filing of a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Ohio against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Attorney General of the United States, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on behalf of a Muslim legal permanent resident from Uzbekistan whose citizenship application has been pending for an unreasonable amount of time – well over seventeen months without an interview.

On Sunday, March 11, more than 400 people turned out for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Columbus chapter’s (CAIR-Columbus) 21st Annual Banquet to support the advocacy organization’s civil rights work.

Guest speakers included Dr. Altaf Hussain, Imam Suhaib Webb, and comedian Jeremy McClellan.

CAIR-Columbus received documents of recognition from Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, Columbus City Council, Columbus City Mayor Andrew Ginther, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, and Ohio State Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko.

Senator Brown also recorded a message for the occasion:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To view the banquet photos click here

From Thursday, November 30 through Saturday, December 2, the Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) organized two crisis response trainings and three women’s self-defense trainings. The trainings, which were attended by 200 people over the three-day period, were conducted by Nezar Hamze, the Deputy Director of CAIR-Florida.

Hamze covered a wide array of topics including how to use self-defense weapons, such as pepper spray, and during the women’s self-defense trainings, taught participants hand-to-hand self-defense tactics.

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 12/13/17) – Today, CAIR-Columbus’ Feeding Families Project volunteers distributed holiday gift cards to the residents and staff at the YWCA Family Shelter. The Feeding Families Project volunteers have been providing meals at the shelter on the second Friday of each month since the shelter opened in 2005.

For the past few years, CAIR-Columbus volunteers have also sought donations for gift cards around the holidays in an effort to bring some extra cheer to the families at the shelter.

“This year, especially with all the negativity in the media, we really wanted to make an effort to show the positive side of the Muslim community, the importance of charity in our religion, and to emphasize that we care about everyone in need regardless of religion or background,” said CAIR-Columbus Executive Director Jennifer Nimer. “We truly hope this small act of kindness will not only help these families through the holidays, but also let them know that their Muslim neighbors and friends care about them. We also included the staff because we see how hard they work and how much they truly care about the residents at the shelter.”

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 11/21/2017) — The Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today it has successfully resolved another citizenship delay lawsuit.

The suit, filed in Federal court for the Southern District of Ohio, was on behalf of two Iraqi green card holders who had been waiting for decisions on their naturalization applications for over two and a half years.  The applicants, a husband and wife, had no criminal history and no reason was given by USCIS for the extreme delay in adjudication.  Until the lawsuit was filed, USCIS failed to even schedule interviews for the couple, despite their repeated inquiries into the nature of the delay.

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 12/13/2017) — The Columbus, Ohio, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) announced today that it has reached a settlement with a local company for wrongfully terminating a Muslim man.

The Muslim man was wrongfully terminated in May 2015 for asking for a prayer accommodation. He worked for the company for close to a decade. He was an excellent employee with no work performance issues. Every evening he would take a short break to perform his evening prayers. However, after a change in management, he was told that he could not take the short break to perform his prayers anymore. The taking of this break has not caused any problems for the company. When he insisted on his right to get a religious accommodation, he was terminated by the company.

CAIR Action Alert: Contact Your Elected Representatives About Jerusalem

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, as part of a wide coalition of Jewish, Christian and other American interfaith groups is calling on all Americans to urge their elected representatives in Congress to denounce President Trump’s plan to recognize, on behalf of the United States, Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

President Trump’s actions will alter previous decades of U.S. policy on the holy city by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that could harm America’s role the Mideast peace process. CAIR believes that the U.S. must strive to maintain a status of impartiality as it seeks to find a peaceful resolution between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their peoples.