Category: recent news

(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/27/19) – On Thursday, June 27, CAIR-Columbus visited the central Ohio offices of multiple members of Congress to deliver 950+ letters urging the legislative body to pressure the Chinese government to end its Uyghur concentration camps where up to 3 million people are being held arbitrarily.

Detainees are separated from their families, forced to eat pork, drink alcohol, and tortured until they renounce their faith. According to some reports, Uyghurs have also been victims of organ harvesting and must endure a homestay program, a policy which involves Chinese Communist Party members living in Uyghur households.

(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/26/19) – On Wednesday, June 19, CAIR-Columbus was in Washington, D.C. for the Capitol Hill Advocacy Day to urge Congress to take action against the oppression of the Uyghurs, the Rohingya, and other minorities. Government Affairs and Development Coordinator Usjid Hameed represented CAIR-Columbus in four congressional meetings.

The event, which was organized by Burma Task Force and the Faith Coalition to Stop Genocide in Burma, drew attendees from around the country.

(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.

TAKE ACTION HERE!

Continue reading “Urge Congress to Pressure China to End Uyghur Concentration Camps”

(COLUMBUS, OH 05/23/19) – On Saturday May 18^th, CAIR-Columbus held its 23^rd Annual “Sharing Ramadan” Iftar. During this sold-out event Muslims shared breaking their fast with interfaith guests. Ramadan is the Islamic month during which Muslims abstain from food and drink from before dawn to after sunset. During this month, Muslims are encouraged to focus on spiritual renewal, God-consciousness, empathizing with others and shaping community relationships.

(COLUMBUS, OH, 05/03/19) – On Sunday, April 28 and Monday, April 29, CAIR-Columbus organized three active shooter mosque trainings. The trainings, which were attended by 150 people over the two-day period, were conducted by Nezar Hamze, a Deputy Sheriff in Broward County, Florida and former Operations Director for CAIR-Florida.

Hamze covered a wide array of topics including how to use self-defense weapons, such as pepper spray, and what steps mosques can take to deter active shooters. Hamze also conducted individual security assessments of various mosques in central Ohio.

(COLUMBUS, OH, 4/18/19) – On Tuesday, April 16^th, CAIR-Columbus hosted an Interfaith Prayer and Religious Liberty Luncheon event at the Ohio Statehouse.

The purpose of the event was to educate attendees about issues related to religious practice, accommodation, discrimination, and more. View the Facebook livestream of the event here.

The event featured a variety of speakers including –

• Usjid Hameed, Government Affairs and Development Coordinator for CAIR-Columbus, who opened the event;
• Rev. Deborah Lindsay, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and staunch advocate for interfaith harmony, who spoke about the importance of religious liberty; and
• Noorgul Dada, an American-Muslim community leader and former Chairman of Noor Islamic Cultural Center, who led the interfaith prayer.

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, 4/3/2019) – On Monday April 1, 2019, CAIR-Columbus staff took a delegation of central Ohio community members to Washington, D.C. for the fifth annual National Muslim Advocacy Day” on Capitol Hill. More than 500 delegates from 25 states met with over 250 elected officials and congressional staffers during the course of two days, to lobby on issues impacting American-Muslims.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Muslim delegates urged their members of Congress to co-sponsor and support Rep. Judy Chu’s House Resolution 276, a “Resolution Recognizing the History of American Muslims and Their Contributions to Our Nation.”

VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE ADVOCACY DAYS HERE.

(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

(COLUMBUS, OH, 3/18/19) – On Monday, March 19th, CAIR-Columbus Government Affairs and Development Coordinator, Usjid Hameed, spoke about Islam and allyship to undergraduate students in a social work class at the Ohio State University.

Hameed discussed the vast diversity of beliefs in Islam, dispelled myths about Muslims, spoke about how people who are not Muslim can support their Muslim neighbors, advised students on how to be culturally competent when working with Muslims, and much more. He also fielded questions from the class.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. The CAIR-Ohio affiliate has three chapters in Ohio – Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Their 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.

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

(COLUMBUS, OH, 3/6/19) – The Columbus chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Columbus) today announced the filing of a federal lawsuit in Southern District of Ohio against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Attorney General of the United States, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the FBI on behalf of an Iraqi refugee whose green card application has been pending for almost 18 months without adjudication.

The plaintiff in this case has no criminal history and has met all requirements for adjusting his status to that of a lawful permanent resident. He was granted refugee status in America because of the threats he received for working with the United States armed forces in Iraq.

Plaintiff was repeatedly told by USCIS that his case remains in “administrative processing” or that the application is “under review by an officer.” As plaintiff continued to receive this same proforma response to the numerous inquiries he sent to USCIS regarding the status of his application, he contacted the Columbus chapter of CAIR-Ohio for its help in resolving this matter.

(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 03/05/2019) – On February 28, 2019, CAIR-Columbus hosted a candlelight vigil in memory of Mustafa Ayoubi, an Indiana Muslim shot and killed allegedly by a man reportedly hurling Islamophobic slurs.

Mustafa was 32 years old and was described as incredibly funny, intelligent, and kind. His family called for vigils to be held in cities nationwide using #Justice4Mustafa. To honor that request, CAIR-Columbus called upon the Muslim community and its allies to stand in solidarity.

The vigil was intended to demonstrate the community’s sadness and grief, a cry for justice, and an opportunity to bring awareness to the fact that bigotry and hatred continue to threaten our communities.