Tuesday, July 24, 2012


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Mosques, Other Houses of Worship Asked to Pray for Rain
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/18/12) -- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called on mosques and other houses of worship across America to offer prayers for rain to help relieve the drought that is impacting more than half of the nation.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) urged American mosques to offer the prayers, called "Salatul Istisqa" (sal-AT-al-istis-KA), during this week's Friday congregational services and for people of other faiths to offer prayers for rain according to their own religious traditions. Islam's Prophet Muhammad offered similar prayers during times of drought. Friday is expected to be the first day of fasting for the month of Ramadan.
CAIR-FL: Muslims Prepare to Observe Ramadan (Tampa Bay Times)
In Salatul Istisqa, the Prophet would offer supplications such as: "O God, give us rain that will replenish us, abundant, fertilizing and profitable, not injurious. Grant it now without delay ... Send down rain upon us and make it a source of strength and satisfaction ... O God, give us a saving rain, good and productive, general and heavy, now and not later, beneficial and not harmful."
The Quran, Islam's revealed text, states: "O my people! Seek forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him in repentance. He will send you from the sky abundant rain." (Quran, 11:52)
"We believe in the power of prayer, through which Americans of all faiths can provide a spiritual component to help relieve the nation from this crippling drought," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
Awad said CAIR issued its call for multi-faith prayers in response to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicating that 55 percent of the contiguous United States is under moderate to extreme drought -- the largest area to be affected by drought since 1956.
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail:ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR 'Grateful' Constitution Limits Michele Bachmann's McCarthyism
Muslim civil rights group challenges congresswoman's anti-Muslim fear mongering
(WASHINGTON, DC, 7/19/2012) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR) today sent a letter to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) in response to her recent calls for investigations of American Muslims who are participating in the democratic process.
In the letter, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in part:
"We remain eternally grateful that, like Sen. Joseph McCarthy before you, your power is limited, enumerated and constrained by our nation's constitution."
Awad also wrote:
"Your letters challenging the loyalty of patriotic American Muslims based on discredited anti-Muslim conspiracy theories can only be described as devoid of a sense of decency. These are American citizens asking what they can do for their nation.
"Among those you accuse, Mrs. Huma Abedin helps the Secretary of State represent the best interests of our nation overseas. The Society of Former Special Agents last year honored Mohamed Elibiary for his 'extraordinary contributions to specific cases in support of the FBI's counterterrorism mission.' Dalia Mogahed was appointed to the president's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has advised the Department of Homeland Security. Imam Mohamed Magid enjoys widespread interfaith respect and has also advised the Department of Homeland Security.
"The honorable public service of these individuals deserves better treatment than political theatrics characterized by half-truths, overblown accusations and guilt by association."
The Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization's letter also condemned Bachmann's rhetorical attacks on the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), theMuslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and Muslim Advocates.
CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor had previously told ABC News: "America wants a serious national security conversation. Michelle Bachmann is giving us a six degrees of separation drinking game."
Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said of Bachmann's efforts to target Muslims, "These attacks have no logic, no basis, and no merit and they need to stop. They need to stop now."
Similarly, Edward Rollins, who was Bachmann's campaign chief during her recent presidential run, said: "Having worked for Congressman Bachman's campaign for president, I am fully aware that she sometimes has difficulty with her facts, but this is downright vicious and reaches the late Senator Joe McCarthy level."
When asked about the controversy, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said today, "From everything that I do know of [Abedin], she has a sterling character and I think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous."
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, E-Mail:csaylor@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR Asks Pentagon to Drop Another Anti-Islam Trainer
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/23/2012) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the Department of Defense (DoD) to drop ananti-Islam lecturer at theJoint Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA) in Elkridge, Md., who wrote on an Islamophobic hate site that he "renounced Islam and began the quest to find the real God." (Reza Kahlili: "Why I Renounce Islam and Choose Christ," WND, 8/24/11)
That lecturer, "Reza Kahlili," a pseudonym for a man who says he is a former CIA operative in Iran, also claims that Iranian agents are "coordinating operations out of [American] mosques and Islamic centers," that Iran already has nuclear weapons, and that Iranian agents have infiltrated the United States through the "Muslim Brotherhood's Muslim Students Association." (Daily Caller, 7/22/12; Washington Times, 10/27/11, Los Angeles Times, 7/6/12, American Thinker, 2/23/12)
A program coordinator for Iran instruction at JCITA confirmed to the Los Angeles Timesthat Kahlili is a paid lecturer for the DoD-chartered academy. His lectures are audio-only, allegedly to protect his identity. The newspaper called Kahlili "one of the most influential and outspoken voices in the U.S. advocating the overthrow of the Iranian government."
"This is yet another unfortunate example of our nation's military and counterterrorism personnel being trained by individuals who weaken America's security by promoting their own religious and political agendas," wrote CAIR national Executive Director Nihad Awad in a letter sent to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
CAIR chapters in Florida recently held news conferences in Tampa and Pembroke Pines to ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to stop using a notorious anti-Muslim bigot as a counterterrorism trainer.
Last month, CAIR welcomed a decision by the U.S. military to stop using a target depicting a Muslim woman wearing a religious head scarf (hijab) and verses from the Quran to train Navy SEALs at the new close quarters combat range at Joint Base Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va.
CAIR also recently called on the Department of Defense to dismiss an instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., who taught fellow officers that only a "total war" on Islam would protect America, that they should use "Hiroshima" tactics, target civilian populations, and abandon the Geneva Conventions. The instructor of that course was later relieved of his teaching duties.
The Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization has also called on the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to provide oversight for apparently widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement, security and military personnel nationwide.
An 80-page report by Political Research Associates (PRA), titled "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants, & the Threat to Rights and Security," details a systemic failure to regulate content in counterterrorism training.
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com

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  • CAIR-LA 'Summer Night for Civil Rights' a Success
    Some 500 people turned out on Saturday for an evening of comedy, hip-hop and spoken word at "A Summer Night for Civil Rights," hosted by [CAIR-LA] to celebrate civil liberties achievements and to inspire and uplift the Southern California Muslim community.
  • Report: Language Matters When Talking About Islam, Muslims
    [T]he American public discourse with respect to Islam and Muslims has taken an increasingly negative turn. At the same time, however, the seeds of the corrosive public discourse that eventually produced the paranoid hysteria about Islam on the right were already being sown via a systematic campaign based on lies, misinformation, half-truths, and gross caricatures of medieval Islamic teachings, many of which do not reflect modern Muslim beliefs or practices.
    • The American Mosque: Behind the Controversy 
      Many myths have emerged regarding mosques in the United States, including that they are sources of radicalization among American Muslims, that they are led by extremist clergy, and that they host practices that border on the occult. None of this could be further from the truth.
  • Audio: Gen. Boykin Claims Dearborn Governed by Sharia
    This prompted one of the co-hosts to ask Lieutenant General Boykin about Dearborn, Michigan which he claimed was "almost one hundred percent Muslim and operating under Sharia law now." Lieutenant General Boykin agreed: "If you walk down the streets, you would think you were in Beirut or Damascus."
    • Rush Limbaugh: Hillary Clinton Tied to 'Muslim Sisterhood'
    • Fox News Contributor: 'The Real Problem is the Quran'
      Fox News contributor Steven Crowder continued Fox News' pattern of inciting intolerance against Islam, accusing a "high percentage" of Muslims of "hat[ing] Christians and Jews" and saying that "the real problem is the Quran."
    • FBI Training on Arabs, Muslims Promotes Stereotypes
      Get ready for FBI training in dealing with Arab and Muslim populations. Take note that "Western cultural values" include "rational, straight line thinking" and a tendency to "identify problems and solve them through logical decision-making process" -- while "Arab cultural values" are "emotional based" and "facts are colored by emotion and subjectivity."
  • Latino, Former Altar Boy Now Houston Imam (Chronicle)
    With family roots in El Salvador, Parada is part of a growing number of Hispanic converts to Islam in Houston and the United States.


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CAIR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR Asks Pentagon Not to Use Target of Muslim Woman, Quran in SEAL Training
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/29/12) -- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called on Pentagon officials not to use a target depicting a Muslim woman wearing a religious head scarf (hijab) and verses from the Quran in combat scenarios for training Navy SEALs at the new close quarters combat range at Joint Base Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said that military facility, referred to as a "kill house," features a number of combat scenarios, including a mosque and a movable target of a Muslim woman wearing hijab and aiming a handgun. Verses from the Quran, Islam's revealed text, are also displayed behind the target.
"Using a Muslim woman wearing a religious head scarf with [verses from the] Quran behind her as a target for our nation's military personnel is offensive and sends a negative and counterproductive message to trainees and to the Muslim-majority nations to which they may be deployed," wrote CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad in a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. "This is yet another example of why the Department of Defense needs to fix what appears to be an ongoing problem by consulting credible scholars and experts to review all training and training materials related to Islam or Muslims."
Awad noted that CAIR recently called on the Department of Defense to dismiss an instructor at the nearby Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., who taught fellow officers that only a "total war" on Islam would protect America, that they should use "Hiroshima" tactics, target civilian populations, and abandon the Geneva Conventions.
The instructor of that course was later relieved of his teaching duties.
CAIR last year welcomed a White House-ordered comprehensive review of government counterterrorism training materials to weed out Islamophobic content.
CAIR chapters nationwide have filed 87 separate public records requests about possible Islamophobic training of local, state and national law enforcement personnel.
The Muslim civil liberties organization has also called on the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and Congress to provide oversight for apparently widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement, security and military personnel nationwide.
CAIR noted the release of an 80-page report by Political Research Associates (PRA), titled "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants, & the Threat to Rights and Security," which details a systemic failure to regulate content in counterterrorism training.
Washington Monthly magazine also published a major investigative article showing similar anti-Islam attitudes by private trainers of law enforcement agencies.
A number of recent reports have documented the growth and promotion of Islamophobia nationwide.
CAIR: Same Hate, New Target
Center for American Progress: Fear, Inc. 
Southern Poverty Law Center: Jihad Against Islam 
People for the American Way: The Right-Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail:ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
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CAIR
CAIR GOOD NEWS ALERT:
CAIR Welcomes Navy Decision to Remove Target of Muslim Woman, Quran
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/30/12) –- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcome a decision by the U.S. military to stop using a target depicting a Muslim woman wearing a religious head scarf (hijab) and verses from the Quran to train Navy SEALs at the new close quarters combat range at Joint Base Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va.
The Navy made that announcement after the Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Friday asking that the target and the religious text be removed from the training facility, referred to as a "kill house."
Lt. David Lloyd, a spokesman for Naval Special Warfare Group 2, told the Virginian-Pilot: "We have removed this particular target and Arabic writing in question from the range in the near term, and will explore other options for future training."
"We welcome the Navy's prompt action to address community concerns and hope this incident serves as a reminder that credible scholars and experts need to be consulted when designing training materials relating to Islam and Muslims for our nation's military personnel," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "This is a welcome first step, but a serious and comprehensive review is needed to deal with the issue of Islamophobia in military training."
Awad noted that CAIR recently called on the Department of Defense to dismiss an instructor at the nearby Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., who taught fellow officers that only a "total war" on Islam would protect America, that they should use "Hiroshima" tactics, target civilian populations, and abandon the Geneva Conventions.
The instructor of that course was later relieved of his teaching duties.
CAIR last year welcomed a White House-ordered comprehensive review of government counterterrorism training materials to weed out Islamophobic content.
CAIR chapters nationwide have filed 87 separate public records requests about possible Islamophobic training of local, state and national law enforcement personnel.
The Muslim civil liberties organization has also called on the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and Congress to provide oversight for apparently widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement, security and military personnel nationwide.
CAIR noted the release of an 80-page report by Political Research Associates (PRA), titled "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants, & the Threat to Rights and Security," which details a systemic failure to regulate content in counterterrorism training.
SEE: Manufacturing the Muslim Menace
Washington Monthly magazine also published a major investigative article showing similar anti-Islam attitudes by private trainers of law enforcement agencies.
A number of recent reports have documented the growth and promotion of Islamophobia nationwide.
CAIR: Same Hate, New Target
Center for American Progress: Fear, Inc.
Southern Poverty Law Center: Jihad Against Islam
People for the American Way: The Right-Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coalition Asks Apple to Train Sales Staff on Export Rules 
Request follows reports of Iranian-Americans being denied service
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/26/12) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today joined a coalition of Iranian-American and civil liberties organizations* calling on Apple to train its entire sales staff on the proper application of U.S. sanctions laws targeting Iran.
In a joint letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, drafted following reports of Farsi-speaking American customers being denied service at company stores, the coalition states in part:
"Through this letter, we would like to bring to your attention the practical nationwide application of Apple's policies reflecting U.S. embargo laws with the expectation of minimizing any future incidents involving misinterpretation of U.S. law and/or potential discriminatory practices by Apple employees.
"We understand that Apple's official company policy at issue in the abovementioned incidents is almost verbatim taken from the Iranian Transaction Regulations ('ITR'), specifically 31 C.F.R. § 560.204, and is in line with U.S. economic sanctions targeting Iran. However, at issue here is the correct application of that policy by Apple's employees. ...
"If the Apple employees' conduct was based upon the mere fact that the individuals mentioned above were speaking the Farsi/Persian language and Apple's policy is to deny sales to customers merely based on a foreign language being spoken, this would be at best a gross misinterpretation of the sanctions targeting Iran and a violation of federal law at worst. ...
"Of additional concern is the inconsistent manner in which Apple is attempting to enforce the embargo law. Is Apple asking all customers about the ultimate destination of its products? Is Apple relying on customers volunteering that information? Is Apple's policy that customers may purchase whatever items they like as long as they do not mention or imply the destination of the items? That is, is Apple training its retail employees to enforce a policy that inherently requires its employees to determine the nationality of a client in a manner that violates federal civil rights laws? To ensure consistency in enforcement, we ask that Apple adopt standardized practices that would apply to every customer at the time of purchase. ...
"We therefore ask that you take the necessary steps to properly investigate the incidents reported and train your entire sales staff about the proper application of Apple's export compliance policy. We also ask that you issue a formal apology to any customers who may have been harmed by the application of your current policy referenced above for the harm caused to them by any Apple employees."
When this controversy first came to public attention, CAIR called on Apple to change its policy.
*Organizations sponsoring the joint letter to Apple include:
  • Iranian American Bar Association
  • American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Georgia
  • Asian Law Caucus
  • Council on American-Islamic Relations
  • National Iranian American Council
  • PARS Equality Center
  • Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com


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Wednesday, July 18, 2012


MEDIA ADVISORY
Fla. Coalition to Address Anti-Muslim Law Enforcement Training
Muslim civil rights group to hold news conferences in Tampa, Pembroke Pines
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/10/2012) -- On Wednesday, July 11, the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) will hold news conferences in Tampa and Pembroke Pines to release a letter from a coalition of Muslim organizations that asks the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to address its repeated use of a notorious anti-Muslim bigot as a counterterrorism trainer.
WHAT: CAIR-FL News Conferences on FDLE Use of Anti-Muslim Trainer
WHEN: Wednesday, July 11, 11 a.m.
WHERE: CAIR-Tampa Office, 8056 North 56th Street, Tampa, FL, 33617 || CAIR-South Florida Office, 1601 N. Palm Avenue, Suite 203, Pembroke Pines, FL 33026
CONTACT: CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Hassan Shibly, 813-541-4321, E-Mail:hshibly@cair.com; CAIR-South Florida Executive Director Nezar Hamze, 954-673-9459, E-Mail: nhamze@cair.com, CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, E-Mail: csaylor@cair.com
At the news conferences, CAIR-FL will release a letter sent to the FDLE requesting that the department no longer use Sam Kharoba of the Counter Terrorism Operations Center (CTOC) as a trainer on issues related to Islam and Muslims.
The coalition's letter asserts that Kharoba's training materials on Islam are riddled with inaccuracies, sweeping generalizations and stereotypes, that he is unqualified as a subject matter expert on either Islam or countering violent extremism and that his training has elicited disturbingly prejudiced responses from trainees.
That letter also asks that officers who received Kharoba's biased training be given accurate and unbiased retraining by credible experts and that the FDLE adopt a policy ensuring that those offering counterterrorism training be vetted for their academic credentials, operational experience and accuracy of course content.
Documents obtained by CAIR-FL reveal at least 21 separate trainings conducted by Kharoba in Florida from 2005-2012. In many cases, these trainings were sanctioned by the FDLE.
The documents were obtained through a nationwide effort in which CAIR chapters filed 87 separate public records requests about possible Islamophobic training of local, state and national law enforcement personnel.
Kharoba's main training manual, "A Law Enforcement Guide to Understanding Islamist Terrorism," combines vile accusations against Islam, sweeping generalizations targeting all Muslims and factual inaccuracies.
About the manual, the coalition letter states: "Objective readers of this material will walk away with a clear impression that Al-Qaeda and its ideological allies are representative of mainstream Islam and that all Muslims lie as a matter of routine."
The first chapter of Kharoba's training manual attacks the entire religion of Islam and attempts to prove, through selective evidence, that it is inherently violent. He writes: "Most of us have heard statements similar to 'Islam is a religion of peace' and that 'Muslim radicals hijacked, twisted and altered Islam to justify their Jihad against non-Muslims.' This book will provide definitive proof contradicting these statements and allegations."
In its 2011 investigative report, "How We Train Our Cops to Fear Islam," Washington Monthly quoted Kharoba: "'When I look at the life of Muhammad, I get a very nasty image,' said Kharoba ... 'And that is just to start off with. Anyone who says that Islam is a religion of peace,' he continued, 'is either ignorant or flat out lying.'"
CAIR also recently called on the Department of Defense to dismiss an instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., who taught fellow officers that only a "total war" on Islam would protect America, that they should use "Hiroshima" tactics, target civilian populations, and abandon the Geneva Conventions. The instructor of that course was later relieved of his teaching duties.
The Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization has also called on the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to provide oversight for apparently widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement, security and military personnel nationwide.
An 80-page report by Political Research Associates (PRA), titled "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants, & the Threat to Rights and Security," details a systemic failure to regulate content in counterterrorism training.
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.
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CONTACT: CAIR-South Florida Executive Director Nezar Hamze, 954-673-9459, E-Mail: nhamze@cair.com; CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Hassan Shibly, 813-541-4321, E-Mail: hshibly@cair.com; CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, E-Mail: csaylor@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail:ihooper@cair.com


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