Washington, DC – As Congress comes back into session during a tumultuous era rift with division and white supremacist violence, Muslim Advocates this month announced eight efforts to combat the spread of hate and bigotry.

According to Scott Simpson, Public Advocacy Director of Muslim Advocates, “With Bannon and Gorka out of the White House, the Muslim ban tied up in the courts, and a historic pushback against efforts to deport Dreamers, momentum is clearly on our side and we cannot afford to cede an inch to racism. The white supremacists sorely underestimated the unifying power of an attack on shared values. Groups like Muslim Advocates are locking arms with people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and identities to counter hate and bigotry.”

• Travel advisory for American Muslims returning to the United States from Hajj.  While Saudi Arabia is not singled out under the Muslim ban executive order but American Muslims have reported profiling and searches when traveling.  The advisory was distributed to hundreds of Muslim organizations, mosques, and activists this morning and is being promoted through social media channels throughout the next week, when most travelers are expecting to return from the pilgrimage.  

 

 

• Digital ad campaign launched encouraging Americans to reject The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi and white supremacist website, and its propagated hate and to sign in agreement that “there should be no safe haven for Nazis.”

 

 

• A defamation lawsuit against The Daily Stormer and its founder Andrew Anglin, filed by Muslim Advocates on behalf of Dean Obeidallah, an American Muslim commentator. The lawsuit is in reaction to a defamatory post, published by The Daily Stormer, alleging that Dean Obeidallah was the “mastermind” behind the bombing of a concert in Manchester, UK this past spring. Read more about the lawsuit here.

 

• #EvictTheBigots, a digital campaign, launched to highlight the white supremacist spearheading the Trump administration’s radical, racist agenda and to pressure Trump to fire Stephen Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka. The campaign has had almost two millions impressions and grows out of long-term efforts to urge Bannon, Miller, and Gorka to step down and to encourage members of Trump’s business councils to resign. With two down and one to go and following last month’s dissolution of the Trump business councils, the #EvictTheBigots campaign will continue and expand until this is remedied.

 

 

• A coalition of over 200 local leaders, constituents, and civil rights organizations, organized by Center for New Community and Muslim Advocates, sent letters to nearly 60 mayors urging them to “unequivocally condemn white supremacist and anti-Muslim hatred and make it clear that bigotry and violence are not welcome” in their communities. The letter comes in advance of a series of September 9th rallies that were originally planned by the largest anti-Muslim hate group in the country, ACT for America, but amidst national outcry against bigoted and violent protests, ACT has been forced to withdraw from  the events.

 

• A petition to encourage media outlets to stop booking Trump’s racist surrogates, namely: Bannon, Miller, and Gorka, organized in alliance with CREDO Action, Win Without War, and Bend the Arc. The petition has already garnered nearly 95,000 signatures.

 

• A Netroots Nation panel to analyze the various successful campaigns to pressure Trump officials to step down, alongside National Employment Law Project, Color of Change, Bend the Arc Jewish Action, and Human Rights Campaign. These various wins confirm the power of the progressive movement’s grassroots advocacy. When we unite and organize, we win.

 

• After President Trump’s ill-advised decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Muslim Advocates joined the bipartisan chorus calling on Congress to pass a clean Dream Act.

---

 

Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.

###