CAIR-Philadelphia

CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

Panel: Avoid Obstacles in Career Transition

Amara Chaudhry at one time was with a law firm in Charleston, W.Va., and more recently the public defender’s office in Montgomery County prior to joining CAIR. Although only with the firm for a short time, she also made sure to take on a wide variety of pro bono matters in addition to her criminal defense work. And Chaudhry may be the exception to the rule of “networking” in that all of her jobs were obtained through cold resume sends. She also emphasized the point that you need to be willing to do the work for free before someone will pay you to do it.

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CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

Federal employee denied promotion because of “foreign influence”

Did you know that the United States Government has an official policy which indicates that federal employees can be denied promotions, and other opportunities for job advancement, simply because they have a friend, relative, or acquaintance in a Muslim-majority country? It’s true. For federal employees, promotions, and other opportunities for job advancement, are highly dependent upon the ability to obtain a requisite security clearance, and such clearances can be denied due to concerns over “foreign influence.”

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CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

In reality, no stereotype

"All-American Muslim is a much needed counter-narrative to negative images of Muslims that seem to saturate the news," says Rugiatu Conteh, outreach and communications director for the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

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CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

Among Libyans in Phila. area, a muted, though joyful response

"I have been monitoring and following Libya all my life," said Osama Al-Qasem, 56, who left the country as a child and lives in Holland, Bucks County. "My father was a lawyer. Life was very pleasant until Gadhafi came to power." Although Al-Qasem was just 12 when he left for boarding school in England, he recalls how the promise of the 1969 coup that began Gadhafi's reign quickly soured.

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