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(CHICAGO, IL, 3/27/2026) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Chicago office (CAIR-Chicago), today expressed its strong support for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s position that all hate crimes must be addressed with equal urgency and seriousness, amid ongoing public debate following the resignation of Chicago Commission on Human Relations Commissioner Nancy Andrade.
Recent reporting has highlighted tensions surrounding a Human Relations Commission report initially focused on antisemitism, which was later broadened to address all forms of hate.
Some officials, including Alderwoman Debra Silverstein, have regularly pressed the commission to prioritize confronting anti-Jewish hate crimes, particularly following a reported rise in such incidents.
CAIR-Chicago unequivocally condemns anti-Jewish hatred and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community against hate, discrimination, and violence.
At the same time, we echo Mayor Johnson’s clear and principled stance that Chicago must reject any framework that treats one form of hate as more urgent than others. As Mayor Johnson stated, “when harm happens to one particular group, it happens to all of us.”
“We must not fall into the trap of selective outrage or a hierarchy of victimhood. Justice demands moral clarity, consistency, and courage,” CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab.
CAIR-Chicago also draws attention to the growing and deeply concerning rise in cases of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bullying, doxxing, harassment and hate crimes its offices have received—both locally and nationally – particularly at the heels of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran. The alarming level of anti-Muslim animus being promoted at the moment can no longer be met with muted responses at institutional levels locally and nationally.
Muslim communities in Chicago continue to face:
“The uncomfortable truth is that there is a clear double standard in how officials and institutions have responded to antisemitism versus Islamophobia in this country. At the university, stringent measures including freezing of federal funding, blocks on student registration, mandatory trainings and even withholding degrees have been taken place where antisemitism has been alleged, whereas complaints of anti-Muslim bias and erasure have been ignored or downplayed,” Rehab said.
“The level of hateful rhetoric at this level of government is unmatched but has been met with no official censure whereas congress’ only Palestinian-American representative was censured by 234 members of congress after she called for Palestinian freedom throughout the entire Holy Land.”
CAIR-Chicago commended Mayor Johnson for resisting political pressure to narrow the scope of the City’s response to hate crimes and for affirming that Chicago’s civil rights infrastructure must serve all communities equally.
“A community’s right to be respected and protected should not be proportional to its political capital and access. A just society does not rank suffering, nor does it politicize it. We cannot allow those who exhibit selective outrage to dictate our public policy here in Chicago or anywhere. We urge all elected officials, including Alderwoman Debra Silverstein, to work collaboratively toward policies that strengthen protections for every community facing hate and discrimination,” Rehab said.
“Our city’s moral clarity will be measured not by whom we prioritize, but by whether we stand for everyone – ‘ALL of Chicago’ as former commissioner Andrade emphasized in her outgoing statement.”
CAIR-Chicago remains committed to working with city leaders, interfaith partners, and community stakeholders to ensure that Chicago leads the nation in advancing a comprehensive, inclusive approach to combating hate in all its forms.
CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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