CAIR: D.C., National Muslim Leaders to Watch President's ISIS Speech, Offer Reaction

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This evening, leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the local and national Muslim community will take part in a Capitol Hill viewing of President Obama's address to the nation on the threat posed by the terrorist group ISIS. Following the viewing, the Muslim community leaders will offer their reaction to the address.

SEE: President Obama's Address to the Nation
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/president-obama-addresses-nation-isil  

WHAT: Muslim Leaders to Watch President's ISIS Address, Offer Reaction
WHEN: Wednesday, September 10, 9 p.m. (EDT)
WHERE: CAIR Capitol Hill Headquarters, 453 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC
CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]

"American Muslims will evaluate the president's strategy based on his willingness to reject ISIS's misappropriation of Islamic terms and concepts, his clear support for the mainstream opposition to Syria's murderous regime, his insistence on a non-sectarian government in Iraq, and his recognition that ISIS was created and is fueled by the lack of freedom and justice in the region," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

TIME magazine recently published a commentary by Awad in which he called ISIS "anti-Islamic," and wrote:

"If we want to stop ISIS, we must deny it any claim to represent Islam and starve it of the fuel of injustice. It is up to our political leaders to take the lead through a comprehensive international strategy, not in the number of bombs that can be dropped, but in the establishment of the freedom and justice that will spell the end for ISIS and its ilk."

CAIR: ISIS Is Not Just Un-Islamic, It Is Anti-Islamic (Time)
http://time.com/3273873/stop-isis-islam/  

In an Associated Press article on the president's Mideast policies, CAIR said the rise of ISIS could have been avoided if the United States had insisted on a nonsectarian Iraqi government and if mainstream opposition to Syria's brutal regime had received adequate support.

CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper told the Associated Press: "Our counterproductive policies have created a political vacuum in which ISIS can flourish. Without massive injustices in the region, they would not exist."

SEE: No end in Sight for America's Mideast War Duties (AP)
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/no-end-in-sight-for-america-s-mideast-war-duties-1.302277  

CAIR has repeatedly condemned the "un-Islamic and morally repugnant" violence and religious extremism of ISIS.

SEE: CAIR Condemns Killing of Journalist Steven Sotloff by 'Anti-Islamic' Terror Group ISIS
http://cair.com/press-center/press-releases/12637-cair-condemns-killing-of-journalist-steven-sotloff-by-terrorist-isis.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.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR Communications Manager Amina Rubin, 202-341-4171, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations