(Atlanta, GA, 4/1/2026) – The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia), the local chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group (CAIR), today denounced the decision of the event planners at Senator Cory Booker’s book event to refuse entry to Atlanta based Palestinian rights activist Jawahir Sharwany. Senator Raphael Warnock was also in attendance.
Ms. Sharwany was the only visibly Muslim and Palestinian woman waiting peacefully in line to enter the event, for which she had purchased a ticket. While she waited for her turn to enter the church, private security guards singled Ms. Sharwany out – they told her they would not allow her to enter the church. When Ms. Sharwany, who had been simply standing in line and talking to other attendees as they waited to enter the venue, refused to leave, the private security guards called 911 and reported her as a threat against the church.
Both the church and Senator Booker’s team have said that they were not in charge of admittance and security. Instead, the event was hosted and its security employed by Brave + Kind, a local bookstore, without the Senators’ offices allegedly knowing anything about the security procedures.
SEE: Woman in hijab alleges racial profiling at Sen. Cory Booker event | FOX 5 Atlanta
According to eyewitness reports, other attendees, who were not visibly Muslim or Palestinian, were allowed to enter the church. They then went on to “disrupt” the event.
In a statement, Azka Mahmood, CAIR-Georgia’s Executive Director, said, “We are appalled by this overt display of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination outside a house of worship, at an otherwise public event where senators who purport to represent all Americans, regardless of faith and ethnicity, were the central speakers. Regardless of who was ultimately responsible for event security, singling out and calling the police on a Muslim Palestinian woman for simply standing in line to hear her representatives speak is reprehensible. We call on everyone involved, including Senators Booker and Warnock’s offices, to issue a public apology to Ms. Sharwany for subjecting her to such humiliation.”
CAIR-Georgia has submitted an open records request to the Decatur Police Department to obtain a transcript of the 911 call identifying Ms. Sharwany as a threat and has requested a copy of any body camera footage the police department may have from the event.
CAIR-Georgia’s mission is to protect civil rights, promote justice, empower American Muslims, and enhance the understanding of Islam.
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CONTACT: Azka Mahmood, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director, [email protected], Nazia Khanzada, Communications Manager CAIR-Georgia, [email protected]