It took just two days for the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to gather over 10,000 letters in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Approximately 1500 of these letters came from the Chicago area. The initiative evidences CAIR's ability to mobilize large numbers across the nation in a targeted, affective action.

The United Nations' top humanitarian affairs official said in a press conference following a recent five-day visit to the region that Israel's eight-month blockade of Gaza has created "extremely severe and totally unacceptable" conditions, depriving Gazans of everyday needs and dignity.

CAIR-Chicago distributed letters at mosques and Islamic centers throughout the Loop, Frankfort, Bridgeview, Oak Park and Orland Park and mailed hundreds of letters calling for an immediate end to the illegal blockade in Gaza. The letters were mailed to local Illinois representatives Barack Obama, Dick Durbin and Daniel Lipinski.

"There was a huge outpouring of support," said Gerald Hankerson, CAIR-Chicago's Outreach Coordinator. "Here was a campaign that identified the individuals who could make a change. For me, it was satisfying that people got the hint, if we are isolated in our actions and our hearts, we'll see that nothing can come from silence."

The Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview alone provided over 800 individual responses. Some people even requested stacks of letters to take to their workplaces and other mosques.

To learn more about CAIR's nationwide initiative, visit CAIR's action alert urging congress to halt the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Copyright 2008 CAIR-Chicago