Recent Community Events – The Right to Vote

On Friday August 24, CAIR-Philadelphia -- together with two other American Muslim organizations: Emgage Pennsylvania and MPower Change -- organized a voter registration drive as part of National Muslim Registration Day (#NMVRD #mymuslimvote). The drive took place at Islamic Society of Chester County in West Chester, and CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director Jacob Bender and Outreach and Education Director Ahmet Tekelioglu spent the afternoon registering many new Pennsylvania voters arriving for Jumma (Friday afternoon prayers).

CAIR-Philadelphia Condemns KKK Leaflet Campaign in Pennsylvania and Maryland

The Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist organization, and its leafleting of moviegoers attending screenings of “BlacKkKlansman,” director Spike Lee’s new feature film. The offending leaflets, rife with crude anti-Semitic anti-Black, sexist, and anti-immigrant stereotypes, were left on cars in the parking lots of movie theaters in York, PA, and in several locations in Maryland.

CAIR Action Alert: Muslims Urged to Meet with Members of Congress During August Recess

CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

CAIR is urging American Muslims to take advantage of the upcoming August recess -- during which members of Congress return home to spend time with their constituents -- by requesting meetings to advocate on state and national issues of importance, including: dismantling President Trump's "Muslim Ban" executive order; opposing limits on campus free speech and boycotts; protecting immigrant communities by supporting Dreamers, TPS holders and opposing new restrictions; and, recognizing the accomplishments of U.S. Muslims.

Data show cases of anti-Muslim bullying in schools on the rise

CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

Officials at CAIR-Philadelphia said these acts represent a pattern of anti-Muslim bullying in schools that has been on the rise since 2014.

Since August, the organization has received more than a dozen complaints of anti-Muslim bullying targeted at 15 to 20 students in 13 schools and colleges in the region, said Timothy Welbeck, the civil rights attorney for CAIR-Philadelphia. By comparison, there was one complaint of bullying for 2014, two for 2015, and nine for 2016.

CAIR-Philadelphia Questions SCOTUS Nominee Kavanaugh’s Record on Civil Rights and Presidential Powers, Demands He Recuse Himself from Cases Involving Trump Personally if Confirmed

CAIR-Philadelphia Collage

The Philadelphia Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Philadelphia) demands a comprehensive inquiry into Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s record on civil rights, religious freedom, the rights of immigrants, and the limitations on presidential powers prior to his confirmation.

Response to SCOTUS Ruling on “Muslim Travel Ban”

The Supreme Court of the United States finally announced its ruling in the long-awaited decision in the case of “Trump v Hawaii,” better known as the “Muslim Travel Ban” case. By a narrow vote of 5-4, the Court in essence supported the bigoted efforts of the Trump administration to view Muslims as a separate class of persons before the law, thus turning back the clock of history to other such nefarious Supreme Court decisions as the Fugitive Slave Law (1850), the Dred Scott case (1857), the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. CAIR and its many supporters believe the Supreme Court decision in “Trump v Hawaii” is both legally and ethically wrong.