• NY Times Interviews CAIR Board Chair Roula Allouch About 'Flying While Muslim'
  
  Roula Allouch, 36, is a Cincinnati lawyer and the chairwoman of the national board of directors of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the nation's largest civil rights and advocacy groups for the American Muslim community.
  
  Raised in Kentucky, she is a member of the American Bar Association's Rule of Law Initiative for the Middle East and North Africa. Ms. Allouch's parents emigrated to the United States from Syria in the 1970s. Following are edited excerpts from a conversation with Ms. Allouch.
  
  
• CAIR-MN: Somali Daycare in Shakopee Vandalized
  
  "We don't have all the facts, " said Jaylani Hussein Executive Director of CAIR Minnesota.
  
  "The community is always concerned especially after what happened in St. Cloud and the Lonsdale sign and may have also raised some tension and anxiety in the community so anytime there is vandalism in the Muslim community we are always worried this could be retaliation or a form of hate crime," said Hussein.
  
  
• CAIR-AZ: Debate Reaction From the Islamic Community Center of Tempe (Video)
  
  David Chami, board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, talks about the debate and how each candidate was received at the Islamic Community Center.
  
  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR-Missouri Urges GOP Leaders to Repudiate Anti-Muslim, Other Offensive Messages Re-Posted by Gubernatorial Candidate's Ad Narrator

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/28/16) -  The Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Missouri) is calling on Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens and other GOP leaders in that state to repudiate internet messages disparaging Muslims, alleging that President Obama is foreign-born and joking about rape re-posted by Robert Murphy, the narrator of a new ad campaign for the candidate.

Messages re-posted on Murphy's Facebook page include, "No to gun control, Yes to Muslim control," and references to Muslims as "some 7th Century Islamic goat humpers."

SEE: Spokesman in Greitens' New Ad Promoted Rape Joke, Anti-Muslim Screeds on Facebook

"Eric Greitens and other Missouri Republicans must repudiate these offensive messages and disassociate themselves from Mr. Murphy," said CAIR-Missouri Executive Director Faizan Syed.

Greitens is the same candidate who issued an 'ISIS Hunting Permit' as part of his campaign; a tactic that CAIR-Missouri said may endanger Missouri Muslims.

CAIR: Missouri Candidate's 'ISIS Hunting Permits' Concern Muslim Community

CAIR-Missouri recently called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for an apparent arson attack on a mosque under construction in that state.

SEE: CAIR Seeks Probe of Bias Motive for Arson Targeting Missouri Mosque

CAIR reported that 2016 is on track to be one of the worst years ever for anti-mosque incidents. The Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization CAIR attributes the rise in anti-mosque incidents and a spike in other anti-Muslim incidents at least in part to Islamophobic rhetoric used by public figures like Donald Trump and others.

CAIR Report: 2016 on Track to Be One of the Worst Years for Anti-Mosque Incidents

Members of the American Muslim community are being asked to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR's Civil Rights Department at 202-742-6420 or by filing a report at: http://www.cair.com/civil-rights/report-an-incident/view/form.html

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.

La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, fomentar el diálogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprensión mutua.     

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CONTACT: CAIR-Missouri Executive Director Faizan Syed, 636-207-8882, 314-330-2946, E-Mail: [email protected]; CAIR Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]