In the News Archive
2013
Boxer’s Israeli visa bill stirs backlash | May 13, 2013
Sen. Barbara Boxer's bill would exempt Israeli visitors from visa restrictions. more...
Community Groups Disturbed by Islamophobic MUNI Ads | Apr 12, 2013 by IndiaWest.com
The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California has joined community organizations and city officials in condemning what appear to be Islamophobic ads appearing on San Francisco MUNI buses. more...
Documents: Alleged San Jose Bomber Suffers From Mental Illness | Feb 08, 2013 by Lisa Fernandez, NBCBayArea.com
Court documents obtained by NBC Bay Area on Friday reveal the troubled past of the San Jose man charged with targeting an Oakland bank because he was waging a jihad on America: the one-time window washer suffered from bipolar disease and substance abuse, along with being paranoid that people were out to get him. more...
‘My Jihad’ Islamic education campaign kicks off on Muni buses | Jan 04, 2013 by Bay City News Service, MercuryNews.com
An educational campaign led by the Council on American-Islamic Relations has put up dozens of advertisements on San Francisco Municipal Railway buses this week to reclaim connotations of the word "jihad," according to campaign organizers. more...
#MyJihad Launches in San Francisco | Jan 03, 2013 by Davi Barker, Examiner.com
There is a public education campaign making some waves titled "#MyJihad." Their homepage proclaims their mission as “Taking back Islam from Muslim and anti-Muslim extremists alike.” It includes a pretty robust social media buzz on Twitter and Facebook, a series of speaking events around the country, and a national print ad campaign. more...
Muslim Civil Rights Group Reports Slight Increase in Bay Area Complaints | Jan 02, 2013 by Carolyn Schuk, SantaClaraWeekly.com
Last week the Santa Clara-based Council on American-Islamic Relations of the San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) published its annual report on the state of Muslim civil rights in the Bay Area. more...
2012
Controversial YouTube Clip Remains Viewable | Sep 12, 2012 by Jason Middleton, NBC Bay Area
Google restricts video that shows Islam prophet in a negative light in Libya, Egypt. more...
Calif. lawmakers denounce anti-Semitism in colleges | Aug 28, 2012 by Hannah Dreier, Associated Press
An Assembly resolution urging California colleges and universities to squelch nascent anti-Semitism also encouraged educators to crack down on demonstrations against Israel, angering advocates for Muslim students. more...
Our Political Leaders Deserve Some Blame for Sikh Shooting | Aug 19, 2012 by Nadia Hussain, www.hyphenmagazine.com
“Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America. They represent the worst of humankind. And they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior.” more...
CAIR-CA Welcomes Steps to Challenge Anti-Muslim Ads | Aug 17, 2012
Muni has taken the unprecedented step of condemning one of the paid advertisements on several of its buses. more...
Teens arrested for lobbing lemons at Hayward mosque during prayer time | Aug 08, 2012 by Natalie Neysa Alund, www.MercuryNews.com
Four teenagers who police say threw lemons at a local mosque and struck at least one person inside have been arrested on suspicion of vandalism that interferes with civil rights. more...
Bogus allegations of “anti-Semitism” create real climate of fear for Arab, Muslim students in US | Aug 08, 2012 by Nora Barrows-Friedman, http://electronicintifada.net
An attempt to portray Palestine solidarity campaigning on campus as “anti-Semitism” has failed — once again — at the University of California, Berkeley. more...
Organizations respond to university’s handling of Israel-Palestine issue | Jul 16, 2012 by Meg McCabe, DailyCal.org
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild have called on UC leaders to establish a more balanced approach concerning student activism around Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a letter published Tuesday. more...
The Civil Rights Lessons of Vincent Chin’s Murder | Jun 20, 2012 by Julianne Hing, ColorLines.com
Vincent Chin would have been 57 today. But the Michigan man never made it out of his 20s. Instead, 30 years ago this week Chin was brutally murdered when he was bludgeoned with a baseball bat wielded by two white, jobless auto workers who thought Chin, a Chinese-American man, was Japanese. “It’s because of you little [expletive] that we’re out of work,” witnesses said Ronald Ebens yelled at Chin before he and his stepson Michael Nitz trailed Chin and attacked him. more...
Denying cultural recognition does nothing to help Middle East issue | Jun 13, 2012 by OaklandTribune.com
It is no secret that Arab Americans and Muslim Americans face prejudice when asserting their basic civil rights. What happened recently at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors meeting makes this clear. more...
CAIR-CA Rep. Says Troops Need to Come Home from Afghanistan | Mar 12, 2012
CAIR-CA Rep. responds to recent murders in Afghanistan. more...
Japanese Internment Lessons Forgotten Since 9/11 | Mar 01, 2012 by Zahra Billoo, San Jose Mercury News
Last month, thousands of people came together across the country to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Executive Order 9066. As an American Muslim, I was raised to love this country that my parents immigrated to in search of better opportunities. At the same time, I was raised to understand the very grave mistakes our nation has made. One of those mistakes, which remains a dark stain on our tradition of upholding civil liberties, is EO 9066. For those of us who weren't alive during World War II, it's impossible to fully understand what it meant to arrest and indefinitely imprison thousands of Japanese-Americans for no other reason than their ethnic background. more...
SFPD’s work with FBI unit may get more scrutiny | Jan 24, 2012 by Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco police who work with a federal counterterrorism unit would be subjected to increased civilian scrutiny to help avoid racial, ethnic and religious profiling under legislation proposed Tuesday by Supervisor Jane Kim. more...
2011
Pennsylvania Anti-Sharia Bill Causes Stir with Interfaith Leaders | Dec 12, 2011 by Randy LoBasso, PhiladelphiaWeekly.com
You knew this was coming. The Pennsylvania Legislature is currently considering an “Anti-Sharia Law” law that’d ban state courts from considering any “foreign legal code or system” that isn’t identical with the Constitution. According to an article on the bill at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the potential bill, likely aimed at those who fear Islam creeping onto their front lawn, is having the opposite effect and has decidedly offended, according to the Gazette, “some Jews.” more...
CAIR Rep. Discusses Lowe’s Issue on NBC Nightly News | Dec 12, 2011
ACTION REQUESTED more...
Local groups allege biased training colors FBI dealings with American Muslims | Oct 15, 2011 by Lisa Fernandez, San Jose Mercury News
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Bay Area Muslims have been unjustifiably visited by FBI agents over the past two years and some of those agents may have received biased, anti-Islamic training. more...
Video: CAIR-Sacramento Director Recalls 9/11 and Aftermath | Sep 11, 2011
Life became infinitely more complicated for CAIR-Sacramento Executive Director Basim Elkarra and his family when terrorists attacked America 10 years ago today. more...
The Unwritten Codes Muslims Live by After 9/11 | Sep 10, 2011 by Jamie Hansen and Georgia Wells, The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/13dUD)
For American Muslims, a new tradition has emerged: sipping tea and sharing stories about life after 9/11. Anecdotes about being detained at airports are among the most common. But where once there was bitterness, after 10 years, the tone is more like dark comedy. Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/13dUD) more...
September 11 Then and Now | Sep 08, 2011 by ApexExpress
This week on Apex Express, we reflect back on 9/11. As the nation remembers the victims in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on board the airplanes, Apex explores the aftermath and how OUR communities have been affected. more...
Video: Sept. 11 Changes Life for Muslim Americans | Sep 08, 2011
This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on America and on this anniversary the country is focusing on the victims and heroes of those horrific events. However, what is forgotten frequently is that life for the average Muslim American has changed forever... more...
CAIR Commends Whole Foods for Standing Up to Anti-Muslim Hate | Aug 11, 2011 by Kiet Do, CBS 5
CAIR's Zahra Billoo comments on Whole Foods' Ramadan campaign. more...
Bay Area Muslim Community Celebrates Ramadan, Holds Open Houses | Aug 10, 2011 by Rachel Dornhelm, Blogs.KQED.org
Muslims in the Bay Area and around the world are observing Ramadan August 1 to 30 this year. more...
UPDATED: S.F. court rules to remove anti-circumcision measure from ballot | Aug 04, 2011 by Jonah Lowenfeld, The Jewish Journal
Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR joins fellow Muslims and Jews to combat SF bill aimed to criminalize male circumcision, a religious practice of both groups. more...
Bay Area Muslims begin holy month of Ramadan | Aug 04, 2011 by Linda Goldston, San Jose Mercury News
Muslims at MCA and SBIA begin fasting this August 1st. more...
Man Secretly Tracked by FBI Shares His Story | Aug 04, 2011 by Brian Williams, MSNBC
Yasir Afifi was tracked by the FBI without a warrant. MSNBC looks into his situation in this web-only special. more...
Hani Khan Says She Was Fired by Abercrombie & Fitch Over Hijab | Jun 28, 2011 by Sarah Anne Hughes, Washington Post
Hani Khan worked as a stockroom employee at teen clothing retailer, Hollister, until she was fired, she says, for refusing to remove her hijab. She’s now suing the store’s parent company, Abercrombie & Fitch. more...
Muslim Woman Sues Abercrombie for Discrimination | Jun 27, 2011 by Hadley Robinson, The Bay Citizen
College student was fired after refusing to remove headscarf; suit is second in Bay Area for the company more...
Woman Fired Over Headscarf to Continue Lawsuit | Jun 27, 2011 by Heather Ishimaru , ABC Bay Area
A Peninsula college student is suing Abercrombie & Fitch, claiming her civil rights were violated when she was fired for refusing to remove her headscarf. more...
Releasing the Death Photos of Osama Bin Laden | May 03, 2011
MSNBC's the Ed Schultz Show more...
Bay Area Muslim Leaders Express Relief Over Bin Laden’s Death | May 02, 2011 by Matt O'Brien, Contra Costa Times
Bay Area Muslims joined others in hailing the death of Osama bin Laden and also expressed hope that the defeat of the 9/11 mastermind will lessen anti-Muslim sentiment in the country. more...
Student Files Lawsuit Over FBI’s GPS Tracking | Mar 02, 2011 by Associated Press
A community college student who says he's never done anything that should attract the interest of federal law enforcement officials filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the FBI for secretly putting a GPS tracking device on his car. more...
In Bay Area, ‘extremely proud of the Egyptian people’ | Feb 11, 2011 by Lisa Fernandez, San Jose Mercury News
Glued to their televisions, computers, smartphones or tablets for 18 days, Egyptian Americans in the Bay Area expressed the same triumph and excitement as the jubilant crowd in Tahrir Square. more...
Facing down Islamophobia: interview with Zahra Billoo | Feb 08, 2011 by Hana Baba, Crosscurrents from KALW News
The majority of the estimated 79 million Egyptians identify themselves as Muslim. Here in the U.S., Muslim population estimates vary from 2.5 to 7 million Muslims. American Muslims were just another ingredient in the melting pot ... until 9/11. After that day, suspicions of terrorism and radicalization grew, racial profiling increased, and hate crimes were on the rise. The media even coined a word to describe the trend of anti-Muslim rhetoric and behavior: Islamophobia more...
Detained American Says He Was Beaten in Kuwait | Jan 05, 2011 by Mark Mazzetti, NewYorkTimes.com
WASHINGTON — An American teenager detained in Kuwait two weeks ago and placed on an American no-fly list claims that he was severely beaten by his Kuwaiti captors during a weeklong interrogation about possible contacts with terrorism suspects in Yemen. more...
Muslim group urges rejection of anti-Sharia bill | Jan 04, 2011 by ChicagoTribune.com
INDIANAPOLIS — A leading Muslim advocacy group is calling on Indiana legislators to reject a proposal a bill that would deny recognition of the Islamic legal system Sharia in the state. more...
2010
Plan to Target American Muslims | Dec 17, 2010
CAIR-SFBA Exec. Dir. Discusses Plan to Target American Muslims on Keith Olbermann's 'Countdown' with Guest Host Chris Hayes more...
U.S. attorney general to speak to Bay Area Muslims amid distrust over surveillance | Dec 09, 2010 by Matt O'Brien, Contra Costa Times
Bay Area Muslims caught between a national concern that they cooperate with the government to root out terrorists and their own concerns about privacy and loss of freedom will hear from the nation's top law enforcer Friday evening. more...
Media Watch | Aug 30, 2010
Recent news CAIR-SFBA would like to call to your attention more...
Islamaphobes Target Fountain Valley Schools | Jul 23, 2010
Facing a crowd of about 100, the Fountain Valley School District Board of Trustees told anti-Islam activists to go pound sand more...
Groups denounce MSU suspension recommendation | Jul 23, 2010
They cite a 2006 incident where students were not reprimanded for heckling a speaker to the point he couldn't finish his speech. more...
ABC NEWS: Sunnyvale man says his beating was hate crime | Jun 16, 2010
Sunnyvale Muslim reportedly beaten after being call 'terrorist' more...
San Francisco police chief apologizes for terrorism comments | Mar 27, 2010 by San Jose Mercury News
San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon today apologized for remarks he made Thursday on the threat of terrorism that drew criticism from members of the city's Middle Eastern community. more...
Fired from Hollister for wearing the hijab? | Mar 09, 2010 by Michael B. Farrell , The Christian Science Monitor
A Muslim college student claims she was fired from a Bay Area branch of the clothing chain Hollister because the hijab she wears to cover her head violated the store's 'look policy.' more...
Abercrombie & Fitch Draws EEOC Complaint for Banning Islamic Head Scarf | Mar 09, 2010 by Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal
Hani Khan was fired from Hollister for wearing Hijab more...
Bay Area retailer’s ‘diversity’ in question | Mar 03, 2010 by Matt O'Brien, Contra Costa County Times
SAN MATEO -- Hani Khan never set out to be the next lightning rod of the culture wars, testing the limits of religious acceptance in the Bay Area and the retail industry. more...
Struggle of a Veiled American Woman | Mar 03, 2010 by Rasha Mohammad, IslamOnline.net
"It's My Homeland Too!" more...
Fox & Friends: Calif. Muslim Fired Over Hijab | Feb 28, 2010
Muslim Woman fired over wearing a headscarf, Hani Khan and CAIR's Program and Outreach Director, Zahra Billoo appear on Fox and Friends to talk about Hollister co. firing Hani Khan for wearing a headscarf more...
Muslim goes to feds over head-scarf firing | Feb 26, 2010 by Henry Lee, San Francisco Chronicle
A Muslim woman has lodged a complaint with federal officials after she said she was fired from her job at a San Mateo clothing store. more...
Store Fires Woman for Wearing Muslim Head Scarf | Feb 26, 2010 by David Knowles, AOL News
A 19-year-old woman says she lost her job at a popular clothing store after refusing to remove her Muslim head scarf. more...
Woman says Abercrombie fired her over headscarf | Feb 25, 2010 by Associated Press
A Muslim employee of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. alleges she was fired for not removing her headscarf. more...
Store fired her for wearing Muslim scarf, woman says | Feb 24, 2010 by Matt O'Brien, Contra Costa Times
A Muslim college student who worked at a Hollister clothing store in the Hillsdale Shopping Center says she was fired from her job Monday. more...
ABC 7: Calif. Muslim Fired for Wearing Headscarf | Feb 24, 2010
ABC 7 news interview Hani Khan on being fired from Hollister co. for wearing a headscarf. more...
CBS 5: California Woman Says She Was Fired over Headscarf | Feb 24, 2010
CBS 5 Eyewitness News reports the firing of a Muslim girl from Hollister co. more...
Tight Airline Security Comes Under Scrutiny | Jan 12, 2010
CAIR's Program and Outreach Director Zahra Billoo was interviewed by ABC 7 News on the Christmas Bomber and Increased Security more...
2009
CAIR PRESS CONFERENCE: Anti-Muslim Incidents on the Rise | Dec 08, 2009
KCBS reports on CAIR's 14th annual US Muslim civil rights report press conference more...
CAIR PRESS CONFERENCE: Muslim civil rights report issued | Dec 08, 2009
Zahra Billoo, program and outreach director of CAIR-San Francisco Bay Area introducing CAIR's new report: "The Status of Muslim Civil Rights: 2009." more...
CAIR PRESS CONFERENCE: Reports Find Many Muslims Complain of Civil Rights Violation | Dec 08, 2009
KTVU interviewed Zahra Billoo at CAIR-SFBA's 14th Annual US Muslim Civil Rights Report Press Conference on December 3rd, 2009 (Video) more...
South Bay Muslims Promote Greater Understanding Of Islam On 9-11 Anniversary | Oct 06, 2009
CAIR -SFBA: Programs & Outreach Director, Zahra Billoo, is interviewed about recent hate crimes in the Bay Area. more...
Zahra Billoo interviewed at MCA on KALW | Sep 12, 2009
CAIR-SFBA Programs and Outreach Director Zahra Billoo was interviewed at the 09/12 MCA Open House for the radio program "Cross Currents" on KALW more...
9/11 Comes During Ramadan | Sep 11, 2009
CAIR members recognized September 11th in different ways. more...
CAIR SFBA Executive Committee member responds to President Obama’s Cairo speech | Aug 07, 2009
Razi Mohiuddin was interviewed on his response to President Obama's address to the Muslim World. more...
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