Arabs and Muslims condemn racist anti-Arab anti-Muslim comments of State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz

Feigenholtz has a long history of making racial and discriminatory comments against Arabs and Muslims and has acted with impunity in the face of demands for apologies and resignation. Her colleagues including Gov. J.B. Pritzker condemn anti-Semitism but are often silent on calls to condemn anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia

On Friday, November 1, 2024, CAIR-Chicago, the Chicago chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, will host a press conference with Jewish, Muslim, and community leaders, alongside elected officials, calling for IL Senator Sara Feigenholtz to resign from office and her immediate removal from legislative committees leadership, following social media posts promoting hatred of Muslims and anti-Arab rhetoric, some of which has since been deleted from X (formerly known as Twitter).

WHAT: Press Conference Demanding removal of IL Senator Feigenholtz from Committee leadership

WHEN: Friday, November 1, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. (CST)

WHERE: CAIR-Chicago’s Azima Center, 17 North State Street, Suite 1500, Chicago, IL 60602

racist anti-Muslim State Senator Sara Feigenholtz

WHO:

• CAIR-Chicago, CIOGC, Muslim Civic Coalition

• Jewish Voices For Peace (JVP)

• Hindus For Human Rights

• Robert Dixon, Illinois’ 6th Senate District Constituent

• Elected Officials

In a statement, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said:

“In 20 years of this work, the statements shared by Senator Fiegenholtz stand out as among the most extreme I have seen from a public official. It is beyond shocking to see an elected official so blatantly promote hatred of Muslims and Arabs, particularly during an active genocide.

Racist comments of State Senator Sara Feigenholtz

“Her comments cross major red lines and act to both justify the mass murder, as well as potentially incite hate crimes locally. Rhetoric like this contributed to the murder of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadee Al Fayoumi here in Illinois last year. Her comments and sentiments call into question her ability to fairly represent Muslim and Arab constituents and families in Illinois’ 6th Senate District. Worse yet is using her public access to undermine their safety. We call on her to apologize and resign from office.

“We call on IL Senate President Don Harmon to immediately relieve her of committee leadership positions. Anything less suggests that the promotion of hatred against Muslims is accepted and rewarded by our state senate.”

In a public statement shared Thursday, the Jewish Council of Urban Affairs stated:

“JCUA is troubled to learn of a deeply offensive social media post by Illinois State Senator Sara Feigenholtz. In a since-deleted tweet, Sen. Feigenholtz amplified blatantly Islamophobic, bigoted rhetoric that denigrates and dehumanizes Muslims. This hateful speech has no place in our public discourse — let alone shared by our elected officials.”

CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote understanding

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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