• Wednesday 7th
  • A follow up meeting to the Hate Crime Forum took place at 7pm at the Groton Public Library. About 20 people attended the meeting. Br. Mongi gave a short presentation about CAIR and the different areas that we would like to work on with this group. A representative from the Justice Department was also at hand and he spoke at length about the various programs that they offer to the community. After the meeting, the perresentative fron the Justice Dept. indicated to Br. Mongi that CAIR-CT can play a major role in putting a team of Muslims from across CT that would be involved in the MAS (Muslims, Arabs, and Sikh) program. This program is designed by the justice department to educate law enforcement and, government agencies about Islam and Muslims, Arabs, and Sikh. He asked if CAIR-CT could attend one of the meetings in Mass of a similar group that he works with. Hopefully CAIR-CT could capitalize on this opportunity. Also Br. Sami had a conversation with Ivy Williams, one of the panelists from last week, about different ways CAIR-CT can work with her in coordinating some workshops for students at various schools in the region.
• Friday 9th
  • Due to bad directions and stormy weather Br. Mongi missed the Jumua Prayers at the Bosnian Islamic center in North Haven.
• Saturday 10th
  • Br Mongi attended the MCCT Annual banquet. He made several contacts with different community leaders Muslims and non Muslims especially from the Hartford Area. The program was held in honor of Ibrahim Abu Rabia who is leaving The Hartford Seminary for a new Position in Canada . The grand Mufti of Syria was one of several speakers.
• Sunday 11th
  • “Know Your Rights” session was held at Hungerford Masjid in Hartford. The event was delivered by Br. Ebad using a power point presentation. About 25- 30 people were present. Br. Ebad was very engaging and several brothers and sisters asked questions and were very pleased to see a Muslim organization like CAIR speak on heir behalf. Great job Br. Ebad and special thanks to Imam Kashif who once again demonstrated his hospitality and kindness to us.

• Wednesday Apr 30th
  • Hate Crime Forum took place at 7pm. Overall it was a successful event. The turnout especially from the local Muslim community not the high number we had hoped for. In future events we have to find ways to involve the community specially the leaders of ICNL (notable exception of Br. Kadri) who were the biggest disappointment. However we have to note that other Muslims who do not usually participate in regular community events did show up and were very appreciative of the effort that CAIR-CT put in this event. Special thanks to Dr. Jones who left a good impression on everybody who attended the forum and thanks to Br. Ebad for taking the time and showing his support.
• Friday May 2nd
  • Prayed Jumua locally at ICNL. Spoke with Br. Mahmud and Abu Omar about having them speak on the issue of Palestine or finding the right speakers on this issue from an Islamic perspective.
  • Called the national office on the issue of prison chaplains.
  • Spoke with Br. Mohammed Bouauina, an active board member, on hosting activities with CAIR-CT in West haven masjid. He mentioned that Sis. Khataba started a media project with the youth group there but more follow up is needed.
• Saturday 3rd
  • I attended the follow up meeting on the formation of the “Endorsing and Advisory Agency for Islamic Leadership and Muslim Chaplains.” The meeting focused this session on consolidating the lists of masajids and Islamic center in CT. 38 names were on the final list that the group could verify the names, addresses and phone numbers. The group started mapping the location of these masjids on a CT map so the five regions could be drawn during the next meeting. From each of those regions a representative will be chosen to be on the board of the agency.
  • The leadership meeting took place at 1:30pm. A representative from ICNA attended the meeting and gave a short presentation on the upcoming ICNA/MAS convention during the Fourth of July weekend. He asked for support from the local masajids in promoting this event. He mentioned that ICNA is offering a $25 to the local masjid for each registration that it receives through that masjid. The interfaith dinner that ICNA hosts every year was also discussed. Up to 100 people from various religious communities will be invited. This year ICNA also will host a lunch on Sunday July 6th for all Muslim leaders in CT. Other issues discussed included the creation of a website to host a master calendar for all CT Muslim community activities. Next meeting will be hosted by CAIR-CT and ICNL in New London on June 7th, 2008 starting at 11am.
• Sunday 5th
  • Attended a meeting of a group of community and religious leaders about the “Beloved Community Project.” in New London. Four churches, one synagogue, Uconn and Conn college representatives were among the group who attended the meeting. The discussion focused on join efforts on the issues of civil rights, discrimination, economic justice, and mutual understanding. Next meeting will take place Tue May 20th at 7pm in New London.

• Monday 21st
  • Attended the city of New London council meeting on the annual budget. I had a chance to speak with the chief of police for the city of New London and discussed with him the possibility of doing workshops for his department especially for the new police officers. I also used the example of the city of Las Vegas police department and CAIR-Nevada collaboration in creating a series of workshops that the new police officers have to attend to join the force. We agreed to follow up with a meeting to discuss this issue at length.
• Friday 25th
  • I visited masjid Madina for Friday prayer and as usual not much success with the leadership. I made some contact with some brothers from Madina masjid who want to hear our massage and some of them agreed to host lunch or dinner at their houses and invite friends to learn about CAIR and ask questions.
• Saturday 26th
  • I attended the follow up meeting about the formation of the “Endorsing and Advisory Agency for Islamic Leadership and Muslim Chaplains.” long discussion about the inclusion of “non masjid “organizations such as MCCT and CAIR-CT as supporting entities to give the agency more legitimacy. At the end and with the exception of Madina masjid everyone agreed on having these organizations mentioned on the document as supporters and backers of this agency.
  • I met with a leader of RI Muslim community and discussed with him the possibility of visiting RI and speaking about CAIR-CT. I was informed that RI chapter application was denied few years ago by the national office of CAIR. He indicated to me that there might be an interest in having an office in RI that works under CAIR-CT.

• Thursday 17th
  • Conn College professor invited a panel representing the three main active religious communities in the area. I represented CAIR-CT and I spoke about the various activities that the Muslim community participates in and the cooperation between the various religious groups. Many students during the question and answer session were Very engaging and wanted to know more about other issues like the way Muslims deal with some negative perception about Islam and how would the new generation of Muslims in America would deal with it. It was a great opportunity for CAIR-CT to establish some contacts with some active students who wanted to see us more involved in some college activities and events about race religion and cultural issues.
  • Attended the board of Ed meeting in New London.
• Friday 18th
  • The Youth group at ICNL that CAIR-CT has been working closely with raised funds this week after Jumua by offering lunch and dessert for a small fee. The money collected will be donated to Palestine. The same group along with some members of ICNL and CAIR-CT has been collecting donations for Habitat for Humanity by selling baseball tickets. Tickets are $8 each. Five Dollars of that will go directly into building a house for a family in New London.
  • I visited Hungerford Masjid and gave flyers about the Hate crime event that will take place in Groton on April 30th.
• Saturday 19th
  • I attended the leadership meeting at the Berlin Masjid. Several topics were discussed including the formation of an “Endorsing and Advisory Agency for Islamic Leadership and Muslim Chaplains.” A proposal was submitted and a follow up meeting will take place next Saturday. CAIR-CT presence at these meetings is extremely important.
  • Visited Madina masjid and left some flyers about the hate crime forum.
• Sunday 20th
  • Met with Stephen A. Hallquist and discussed with him the formation of a serious of workshops about effective letter writing and other media relations skills. Mr. Hallquist was the correspondence secretary for the Coalition to Save Fort Trumbull Neighborhood, the group that took the New London eminent domain case to the US Supreme Court in 2005.

EMPOWERING YOUNG AMERICANS

CAIR interns receive practical training in public and media relations, government relations, legal and civil rights, community outreach, research and leadership training. They work with skilled and dedicated mentors to gain first-hand experience in these fields.

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