CAIR-Philadelphia

20 Bullets: On the Death of Stephon Alonzo Clark

Clark, who converted to Islam several years ago, died in a hail of bullets on Sunday March 18th when two officers fired a total of 20 shots at him. As Dallas-based Imam Omar Suleiman, said last week, “Stephon Clark was massacred. His body was in such bad shape that we couldn’t do the ritual washing (ghusl). The brothers did a substitute ritual (tayammum) and are horrified by the sight. We cannot allow this to keep happening.” At Clark’s funeral, Imam Suleiman further observed that Clark, whom Sacramento police shot at 20 times, “had almost as many bullets put into him as the years he’s been on this earth.” This is a grave injustice.

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Philly hoops player benched over hijab

“It’s my understanding that Ms. Thompson-King was able to compete in at least 24 games regionally and nationally prior to this game, and never once was she asked to remove her hijab,” said Timothy Welbeck, a civil rights attorney with the Philadelphia branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). “In this particular instance, she was. I don’t know why this enforcement was so sudden and so stark, but we know it happened, it was public, humiliating and discriminatory.”

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CAIR-Philadelphia, Public Officials, Activists to Call on Athletic Association to Drop Hijab Waiver Rule

On Friday, February 23, the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Philadelphia) will join elected officials, community leaders, and civil rights activists at a news conference to support the religious rights of a Muslim student athlete who was recently barred from playing basketball because of her Islamic head scarf, or hijab.

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Important Community Events and Updates

Dr. Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, Education and Outreach Director at CAIR-Philadelphia and CAIR-PA Advisory Board Members were invited to join the “Equity and Inclusion Committee” at Pennsylvania Department of Education. Tekelioglu and Noor participated in a committee meeting in Harrisburg on February 8th at which Tekelioglu presented CAIR-Philadelphia’s “Anti-Bullying Workshop.” The Committee’s members include representatives from multiple NGOs and agencies that work to ensure a safe and welcoming educational environment in the State’s schools.

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Panel discussion held on immigration in Indian Valley area

Timothy Welbeck, a civil rights attorney for the Philadelphia chapter of CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations, spoke about the impact of current policies on American Muslim communities. “I can almost without even watching my television know when the president says something inflammatory because I’ll get a significant wave of calls within a couple days,” he said. The Muslim travel ban, he said, is “codified bigotry.”

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CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

From Jerusalem to Newark, building understanding can lead to peace

Jacob Bender of the Council on American and Islamic Relations, who is Jewish but works for a Muslim organization, was scathing in his criticism of the Israeli occupation of West Bank. He argued that the settlements project had left no land to make the two state solution a reality. He also was critical of Dr. Hoffman for arguing for a no preconditions approach to negotiations while simultaneously insisting that Jerusalem was not on the table. 

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