Some - perhaps many of you believe CAIR is a repectable organization that only doe the good work of promoting civil liberties...NOT! From Daniel Pipes' Weblog, Visit http://www.danielpipes.org : Dark Days for North American Islamist Organizations? The Islamist establishment in the United States and Canada must be wishing that September 2003 never happened. Evan McCormick shows in "A Bad Day for CAIR" how on a single day, http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=9981 Sept. 10, the Council on American-Islamic Relations took three blows: "It ran away from testifying before an influential Senate panel that heard a barrage of incriminating evidence about the group and its connections. It saw one of its former officials plead guilty to terrorist-related crimes in Federal Court. And, it was stood up by two Department of Justice officials at an immigration symposium in Florida." [excerpts from the criminal affidavit follow] [snip!] CAIR and the IAP [Islamic Association for Palestine]. For anyone who doubts the tight connection between the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Association for Palestine, go to http://iap.org and note what turns up: a blank page with the title "CAIR List Server." But go there quickly, as IAP will no doubt eliminate this page shortly. Then, to find out what the IAP is, go to http://www.iap.org (September 26, 2003) ------------------------ [From the first piece linked above] "Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who has been steadfast in his efforts to uncover the nexus of Hamas front groups in the U.S., was ruthless in his portrayal of CAIR as part of an international terror network._ In his opening remarks, Senator Schumer stated that prominent members of CAIR—referring specifically to Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmed [the U.S._ CAIR Executive Director and Chairman respectively] —have 'intimate links with Hamas.'_ Later, he remarked that 'we know [CAIR] has ties to terrorism.' "Even Senator Richard Durbin, who has made common cause with some of America’s Wahhabi-backed groups, came down hard on CAIR._ In his final comments he conceded that CAIR is 'unusual in its extreme rhetoric and its associations with groups that are suspect,' and requested that the committee seek the testimony of mainstream Muslim groups in its place in the future._ "CAIR’s affinity for terrorist causes is well documented in the press._ At a 1994 meeting at Barry University, Nihad Awad stated succinctly, 'I am a supporter of the Hamas movement.'_ Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper has defended Saudi Arabia’s financial aid to families of Palestinian suicide bombers._ In recent months, three CAIR officials were indicted on terrorism-related charges. [snip!] "[F]ormer CAIR official Bassem K. Khafagi had pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud in federal court in Detroit._ The charges were brought against Khafagi for his role with the Islamic Assembly of North America, a group that has advocated violence against the United States and is believed to have funneled money to organizations with terrorist connections._ At the time of his arrest, Khafagi was Community Affairs director with CAIR._ "Khafagi is one of several IANA officials indicted on terrorism-related charges after Federal agents raided the group’s Ypsilanti, Michigan offices in February._ Another arrested IANA official, Saudi-born Sami al-Hussayen ran a series of IANA websites that propagated the teachings of radical Islamist clerics closely linked with Osama bin Laden._ He also ran the University of Idaho Muslim Students Association." _
This is a little disturbing, and I hope that any CAIR leaders with terrorist connections are rooted out. That said, I doubt that the woman who heads up CAIR-Canada has any ties to Hamas, nor has there been any evidence against the vast majority of CAIR officials. You're going to find a few extremists in any group like this. Chuck Schumer's opinion means a great deal to me, but Daniel Pipes has an obvious conflict of interest: CAIR, like most groups interested in the rights of Arabs and Muslims, opposed his nomination to head up the Institute of Peace. (So did I, for that matter; nominating Pipes to head up a peace commission focused on the Arab world is like nominating Michael Savage to head up a gay rights commission.) I will investigate Schumer's original quote to determine whether he was referring to CAIR in general or to specific CAIR officials. If I can find anything out, I'll post a link to it here. news.google.com seems suspiciously silent; the only articles besides McCormick's mentioning both Schumer and CAIR have CAIR criticizing Schumer rather than vice versa. Cheers,
