(ATLANTA, GA – 7/18/2021) – On Monday, July 19, the Georgia chapter and national office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, plan to hold a press conference in Atlanta to release a report documenting anti-Muslim bigotry in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) and formally designate the private training organization as an Islamophobic group.
WHAT: Press Conference to Release Report on Anti-Muslim Police Training Program
WHEN: July 19, 2021 @ 11 AM
WHERE: Outside of Atlanta City Hall
CONTACT: Murtaza Khwaja, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director, [email protected] or 404-432-8847; Kareem Elhosseiny, CAIR-Georgia Government Affairs Director, [email protected] or 614-209-3021; Edward Mitchell, CAIR Deputy Executive Director, [email protected] or 404-285-9530.
READ THE FULL REPORT: “Bigotry and Brutality in Foreign Police Training: A Comprehensive Report on the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange”
Founded in 1992, GILEE is a 501(c)(3) organization that has arranged for hundreds of Georgia police officials to engage in training with foreign governments noted for human rights abuses including China, Egypt, Hungary, and its primary partner, Israel. Under the guise of “public safety” and “counter-terrorism,” GILEE has promoted anti-Muslim bigotry and worked with anti-Muslim bigots and organizations.
CAIR-Georgia’s report documents numerous bigoted remarks that Dr. Robert Friedman, GILEE’s founding director, has made about Muslims and Arab-Americans on behalf of the training program. The report also reveals that GILEE maintains an official partnership with the International Counter-Terrorism Academic Community, which includes anti-Muslim activist Sebastian Gorka.
In a statement, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director Murtaza Khwaja said:
“By arranging for American police officials to train with foreign governments that engage in police brutality and gross human rights violations, GILEE endangers the people of our Georgia. GILEE’s promotion of anti-Muslim bigotry in law enforcement presents a threat to Muslim communities across Georgia and our nation.”
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“Based on the concrete evidence of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab bigotry and political extremism documented in this report, state and local law enforcement agencies should cut ties with GILEE, reject its anti-Muslim propaganda, and stop training with foreign governments that violate human rights. GILEE is part of the problem with policing in America, not the solution.”
During the 2017 mayoral campaign, Keisha Lance Bottoms and several other mayoral candidates agreed to freeze Atlanta’s participation in GILEE. In 2019, over 60 Georgia faith leaders, civil rights groups, human rights activists, and houses of worship sent a letter to Mayor Bottoms privately to call on her to fulfill that pledge.
SEE: CAIR-Georgia: Atlanta Town Hall Sheds Light on Georgia’s Islamophobic Police Exchange with Israel, China and Other Human Rights Violators
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected], CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw, 202-999-8292, [email protected], Executive Director CAIR-Georgia Murtaza Khwaja, 404-432-8847, [email protected]