Muslim-American Activism: CAIR Marks Decade of Dedication

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October 2004, page 76

Muslim-American Activism

CAIR Marks Decade of Dedication

IN OCTOBER the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will mark 10 years of service to the American-Muslim community—and to the entire country. In the past 12 months alone, its achievements include:

CAIR representatives conducted more than 5,000 print, television and radio interviews nationwide;
CAIR case workers dealt with more than 1,500 discrimination cases;
Nearly 50 op-eds and 30 letters to the editor written by CAIR representatives have appeared in major newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and the Miami Herald, allowing for alternative perspectives to be heard;
In 28 nationwide workshops, representatives from CAIR’s headquarters trained 580 activists in media relations skills;
In 39 “Know Your Rights” presentations, CAIR headquarters empowered and educated nearly 1,600 community members regarding their civil and religious rights; and
CAIR’s Library Project sent 7,400 public libraries material about Islam and Muslims, potentially reaching 90 million Americans.


Celebrating the June 2000 grand opening of CAIR new national headquarters building in Washington, DC are (l-r) CAIR national communication director Ibrahim Hooper and national executive director Nihad Awad; House Minority Whip Rep. David Bonior (D-MI), at podium; and CAIR chairman Omar Ahmad (photo courtesy CAIR).

Since its doors opened in 1994, CAIR has become the nation’s leading Muslim organization in the civil rights and advocacy arenas. Wherever a Muslim employee is discriminated against or whenever a public official attacks the image of Islam, CAIR is there. If an anti-Muslim statement appears in the media or an offensive product is found in the marketplace, CAIR is there.

CAIR and its 28 local chapters and offices also are hard at work educating the American public about Islam and Muslims, and mobilizing the community to work positively across the country.

Over the past decade, CAIR’s name and work have come to signify professionalism, credibility, and efficiency—even among its critics.

Consider what Congressman Pete King (R-NY) said on the “O’Reilly Factor” in March 2004 while referring to CAIR: “Yes, I’m getting literally thousands of e-mails, phone calls. There’s a pretty good Muslim leadership network. One of the groups is CAIR, Committee [sic] on American-Islamic Relations. And as soon as I say anything, I can assure you after this show tonight…my e-mail will be coming in. They just have a nationwide network that just plugs in.”


	(L-r) Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR national communication director, national executive director Nihad Awad, and director of research Mohammed Nimer (photo courtesy CAIR).

To celebrate CAIR’s ten years of service to the community, over 1,500 people are expected to attend CAIR’s Oct. 2 banquet in Washington, DC. A two-day conference following the banquet will bring together experts, activists, and leaders from the United States and abroad to discuss issues ranging from civil rights to the 2004 elections.

For more information about CAIR’s 10th Annual banquet, e-mail the author at <iabusway@cairnet.org> or call (202) 488-8787.]

—Ibrahim Abusway,
Community Affairs Coordinator of CAIR National

Illinois Muslims Help Navajo Indians

In December 2003, the Illinois-based Zakat Foundation, an Islamic charity organization, initiated a project to bring some measure of relief to the people of the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico. Although the Nation has built a modern economy based on traditional enterprises such as sheepherding, fiber production, weaving, jewelry making and art trading, 97 percent of its residents live below the poverty line, with the average per capita income of its 300,000 members less than $6,500. In addition, many Navajo people lack domestic and municipal water for everyday use, while most public roads are dirt tracks, with little or no gravel. In many reservation areas, electricity and telephone lines simply do not exist.


Khalil Damir visits Navajo families (photo courtesy Zakat Foundation).

The Zakat Foundation, a member of Chicago south suburbs’ “Coalition Against Homelessness,” has distributed $10,000 worth of food packages, toys and clothing to families on the reservation. In collaboration with the Navajo Outreach program, volunteers cleaned, packed and transported goods collected in Chicago to New Mexico. Over 500 families received the foundation’s contributions, which included funds to purchase food and personal hygiene items.

As a Kurd born and raised in Turkey, Khalil Demir, president and founder of the Zakat Foundation, has known poverty firsthand. Forbidden from freely speaking his own language in his native land, he believed that the United States was the only country in the world devoid of hunger and homelessness. In 1996, however, during a forum held by the U.N.’s “Nations Without States” umbrella organization, he learned about the plight of the Navajo people.

As a result of his efforts to alleviate the poverty of the Navajo Nation, Demir was invited in June to visit the reservation, which covers more than 17.5 million acres, spanning across northwest New Mexico, northeast Arizona, and southeast Utah. Members of the Navajo Nation welcomed Demir warmly, celebrating his visit with a feast and presenting him with an official Navajo name. “You have come among us an outsider,” a tribal elder told him, “but today you have become a brother.”

The Zakat Foundation plans to help other tribes with comparable hardships, according to Demir. “Perhaps in the near future,” he said, “we can help develop similar programs for more Native American nations such as the Lakota, bringing aid to those in need, trading on common ground.”

For more information on the Zakat Foundation and its programs visit <www.theZakat.org> or call 1-866-499-6151.

—Miriam Amer