Latest news with #CAIR-Florida
Miami Herald
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Islamophobia is surging in Florida — and it must be addressed
Florida is facing an alarming rise in Islamophobia — one that is reaching unprecedented levels nationwide, according to the findings of the 2025 CAIR Civil Rights Report: Unconstitutional Crackdowns. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, which has a strong presence in Florida, reports it received 8,658 civil rights complaints in 2024 — the highest number ever recorded since it began reporting in 1996. That marks a 7.4% increase from the previous year. Here in Florida, the numbers are even more troubling. Civil rights complaints have risen by 22%, nearly three times the national rate. Even more disturbing: for the first time in CAIR-Florida's 24-year history, the leading cause of complaints is viewpoint discrimination. Many of these complaints, which spiked following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel's subsequent bombing of Gaza, reflect a dangerous trend: individuals who criticize Israeli government policies, express solidarity with Palestinians or condemn alleged war crimes in Gaza are being accused of antisemitism or even terrorism. These accusations are not only defamatory — they're dangerous. In Florida, the consequences have been severe. Peaceful student protesters have faced disciplinary action. Dozens of physicians have lost their jobs. Attorneys have been dismissed from law firms. Others have been doxxed — had their private information maliciously shared online to intimidate or silence them. We must recognize the human toll. Like many Israeli-American families who split time between homes in the U.S. and Israel, hundreds of Palestinian-American families in Florida live between here and Palestine. The ongoing war in Gaza has left many of them grieving the loss of fathers, mothers, siblings, nephews and nieces. Others have watched loved ones maimed. But in today's climate of censorship and retaliation, their grief is often unheard. Many fear for their safety, livelihoods and businesses if they speak out. This is not a Muslim issue. It is a civil rights issue. And it affects peace advocates and civil liberties organizations of all backgrounds. I, Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, write this not only as a Muslim civil rights leader, but also as a proud U.S. military veteran. I served in the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps and later in the Chaplain Corps. There, I wore the same uniform as Christian priests, Jewish rabbis, Muslim imams and others who served our diverse military community. We stood together to defend the U.S. Constitution — all of it. We believe that criticism of a government's policies — including those of the state of Israel — is not antisemitism. Conflating the two does a disservice to the Jewish community, whose legitimate experiences with antisemitism risk being diluted when political critique is mislabeled as hate. Then, on Feb. 15, our community was shaken when an Israeli man allegedly opened fire on a father and son on Miami Beach simply because he believed them to be Palestinian, police said. Mordechai Brafman, 27, was charged with attempted murder and faces hate crime charges punishable by life in prison. To this day, there has been no public statement from Miami Beach or state leaders reassuring Palestinian or Arab residents of their safety. It's as if simply uttering the words 'Palestinian' or 'Arab' has become taboo. Every year, we honor the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We commemorate the very rights now under attack — the right to protest, to oppose war, to call for peace, to boycott and to dissent. These are constitutional rights. Sacred rights. And they will not be silenced easily. Despite the current challenges, there is hope. Across Florida and beyond, people of all backgrounds are rising in solidarity. They are standing tall — peacefully and unapologetically — to defend justice and civil liberties for all. They know that silence is not an option. Wilfredo Amr Ruiz is CAIR-Florida's communications director. Samir Kakli is the director of the South Florida Muslim Federation.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Source: JFRD district fire chief accused of coercing firefighter to break Ramadan fast
A Jacksonville fire district chief is under investigation and has been reassigned to desk duty after allegedly forcing a Muslim firefighter to break his Ramadan fast. For most Muslims, Ramadan began on the evening of Feb. 28, 2025 and was observed through March. Sources tell Action News Jax this incident happened at Fire Station 28 on Hogan Road in Southside Estates. Action News Jax learned that the district chief yelled at this firefighter - who we are not naming. He asked him why he was not eating with his team, and then threatened to cut his hours and his pay if he didn't comply. Omar Saleh – the Managing Attorney for CAIR-Florida - the 'Council on Islamic Relations' - believes the JFRD district fire chief's alleged actions went too far. 'This is a case of religious coercion. We usually hear about cases of denial of accommodation, for somebody to pray, for example, or to have some time off, for prayer, but never something like this, forcing someone to abandon their religious practice,' said Saleh. Read: ICE is reversing the termination of legal status for international students around the US Hafez Assali, who is the chairman of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida, weighed in. 'It is important to build solidarity, and I support the chief in him maintaining family, and maintaining unity. At the same time, if there's a member or two that they have their own condition, their own religious values that, you know, at stake here, that need to be communicating between the two. And I believe, you know, they can reach an easy solution,' said Assali. Here's what sources told Action News Jax: In March, a firefighter observing Ramadan was pressured by District Fire Chief Bryon Iveson to break his fast during a station dinner at Station 28. The district chief allegedly threatened to change the firefighter's schedule if he didn't eat. As a result, the firefighter broke his fast. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The district chief was later reassigned to desk duties, according to JFRD, but would not confirm why. JFRD would only say there's an active investigation. Imam Bilal Malik, with the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida, said fasting is central to Ramadan. 'Fasting in Ramadan is mandatory, is an obligation upon each and every Muslim, male and female, those who are adult. Unless they are sick, not able to fast, they are traveling, or they are like old, they cannot, or very young, otherwise all Muslims they fast in Ramadan. For 30 days, we observe the fasting from dawn till dusk. No eating, no drinking, and we control our sight, our hearing, our tongue, even our temperament. So fasting is abstaining from all negativities and even eating, drinking, completely avoiding. So it is mandatory,' said Malik. Read: Jacksonville University Board Members openly support President amid faculty cuts, other cost-cutting While Attorney Saleh couldn't comment on the specifics, since this is not his case, he maintains the district chief's alleged actions could be a violation of the law. 'Termination is something we've sought in the past for somebody who makes such a serious violation of the law. I mean, this is extremely offensive if you put it in any other religious context or category, preventing anyone - of any faith - to prevent or force them to do something, is unacceptable,' said Saleh. JFRD told Action News Jax it will provide a statement once the investigation is complete. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Washington Post
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Man charged in Florida shooting thought victims were Palestinians, police say
A man is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder over allegedly shooting two people he thought were Palestinian in Miami Beach this weekend. Mordechai Brafman, 27, a Florida plumber, fired 17 rounds toward a car about 9.30 p.m. on Saturday, police allege in his arrest report. The attack was 'unprovoked,' and Brafman did not know the people in the car, police say. Both victims were injured but survived, the arrest report says. One was shot in the shoulder and a bullet grazed the forearm of the other, it says. Brafman was arrested shortly after the alleged attack and police seized a semiautomatic handgun. Brafman told police that 'while he was driving his truck, he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both,' according to his arrest report. He was captured on surveillance footage making a U-turn toward the victims' vehicle, getting out and firing as it passed, police said. Brafman was ordered Monday to stay away from the victims, Ari Rabi and Yaron Rabi, footage from a Florida circuit court aired by local media shows. He was ordered Monday to remain behind bars awaiting trial and will face a pretrial detention hearing on Tuesday, court records show. A man named Ari Rabi identified himself and his father, who are Israeli, as the victims in social media posts. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Florida chapter called for Brafman to be additionally charged with committing hate crimes. 'It is the alleged shooter's reportedly bias-motivated actions, not the actual ethnicity of the victims, that should be the determining factor for charges in this disturbing case,' CAIR-Florida Communications Director Wilfredo Amr Ruiz said. Complaints of anti-Muslim bias rose by almost 70 percent in the period of January to June 2024, following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, compared to the same period the previous year, according to CAIR. It said it received more than 8,000 reports of discrimination against Muslims in 2023, the highest number in its 30-year history. A 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed to death near Chicago in October 2023; three Palestinian Americans were shot in Vermont the following month and survived; and a Texas woman is accused of attempting to drown a 3-year-old girl with a Palestinian background in a swimming pool in May. Antisemitic attitudes are also prevalent in the United States, Anti-Defamation League polling found in 2023, and the year the Gaza war broke out anti-Jewish hate crimes reached their highest number since data collection began in 1991, according to the FBI.
Muscat Daily
17-02-2025
- Muscat Daily
Gunman opens fire at Miami beach, claims he saw Palestinians
Suspect allegedly fires 17 rounds at victims' vehicle, later telling police he believed they were Palestinian Miami, Florida, US – A man who allegedly fired 17 rounds at a vehicle in Miami Beach on Saturday night told police he did so because he believed the occupants were Palestinian, according to arrest documents cited by US based local media agencies. Mordechai Brafman, 27, has been arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder following the shooting, which took place around 9:30 p.m. local time (02:30 GMT Sunday). Surveillance footage reportedly shows Brafman making a U-turn at 48th Street before stopping in front of the victims' vehicle and opening fire with a semi-automatic handgun. In a police interview, Brafman allegedly stated that while driving his truck, he 'saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both,' according to the arrest form. However, both victims survived, with one sustaining a gunshot wound to the shoulder and the other suffering a graze wound to the forearm. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the shooting is being treated as a hate crime. However, the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Florida) has called for federal hate crime charges, citing the suspect's reported motive. 'It is the alleged shooter's reportedly bias-motivated actions, not the actual ethnicity of the victims, that should be the determining factor for charges in this disturbing case,' said CAIR-Florida Communications Director Wilfredo Amr Ruiz. Brafman is currently being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Centre in Miami-Dade County, according to the Miami Herald. While authorities have not disclosed whether the victims are of Palestinian origin, reports suggest they were visiting from Israel. Agencies
