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ICNA Participates in Muslim Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill

Representing 28 States, more than 330 activists joined on Capitol Hill to connect national, regional and state Muslim organizations, community members and activists with their elected representatives. The number has gone up from last year when around 280 Muslims showed up. USCMO hopes that the numbers will keep increasing in the following years until thousands of Muslims are able to attend. ICNA CSJ invited 10 members from ICNA’s various departments to come as representatives for this cause. More than 40 ICNA members from varying regions and departments showed up enthusiastically for the event. Read more

Thanks But No Thanks: Ted Cruz, Staff Refuse to Meet With Muslim Voters

Republican US presidential candidate Ted Cruz, calling for security patrols of “Muslim neighborhoods,” has refused, along with his staff, to meet with those constituents he intends to police. On Monday, during National Muslim Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, his Muslim constituents requested a meeting with the Senator and were refused. For weeks, Muslims, traveling from Texas, attempted to set up a meeting with the presidential hopeful, but he turned them down. Read more

RFPUSA Podcast: A Conversation With ICNA CSJ Activist Rameez Abid

Religions for Peace USA has a conversation with Rameez Abid on his work for the Islamic Circle of North America - Council for Social Justice. Read more

Target increases minimum wage to $10 an hour

Discount retailer Target Corp has started raising employee wages to a minimum of $10 an hour, its second hike in a year, pressured by a competitive job market and labor groups calling for higher wages at retail chains, sources said. Target management has informed store managers, who in turn have started informing employees about the wage hike and most employees who earn less than $10 per hour should see their base pay go up in May, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters. Read more

Southwest Airlines claims to operate on the principle of #SouthwestHeart, but when it comes to Muslim and Arab customers, it seems to be #SouthwestHeartless.

On April 6th, the airline kicked 26 year old Khairuldeen Makhzoomi off a flight after a customer overheard him speaking Arabic on his phone. The airline called the authorities and Makhzoomi was subjected to an FBI interrogation—simply for making a phone call to his uncle.

On April 13th, a Southwest flight attendant removed Hakima Abdulle, a woman of Somali descent wearing a hijab, from a flight after she tried to switch seats with fellow passengers.

In both cases, Southwest Airlines has yet to apologize. No one should be made to feel unsafe on a flight or denied service because of their race, religion, or the language they speak.

People shouldn't be barred from air travel just for speaking Arabic, being Muslim, or wearing a hijab.

It's clear that Southwest needs to make some changes in how it treats its customers.

We're calling on them to publicly apologize for discrimination, review their policies, and implement anti-bias training for flight crews.