Daniel Pipes: Is CAIR a Terror Group?

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission.

Is CAIR a Terror Group?

by Daniel Pipes
National Review Online
November 28, 2014

http://www.danielpipes.org/15220/cair-terror-group

We who follow the Islamist movement fell off our collective chair on Nov. 15 when the news came that the United Arab Emirates' ministerial cabinet had listed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as one of 83 proscribed terrorist organizations, up there with the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS.

This came as a surprise because the UAE authorities themselves have a record of promoting Islamism; because CAIR has a history of raising funds in the UAE; and because the UAE embassy in Washington had previously praised CAIR.

On reflection, however, the listing makes sense for, in recent years, the Islamist movement has gravely fractured.

CAIR Leader Zead Ramadan Running For New York City Council

The following by David J. Rusin is reposted here with permission:

CAIR Leader Runs for New York City Council

by David J. Rusin
FrontPage Magazine
February 1, 2013

http://www.islamist-watch.org/12244/cair-leader-runs-for-new-york-city-council

Zead Ramadan, board president of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), is eyeing a bigger platform from which to promote his Islamist agenda: a seat on the New York City Council. If he prevails, the city that endured 9/11 will count among its lawmakers a senior official in an organization linked to the financing of terrorists and intent on frustrating law enforcement efforts to foil the next jihad plot.

Islamist Gangs Enforcing Sharia in Great Britain -- and More

The following by David J. Rusin is reposted here with permission of Islamist Watch:

IW News Brief: is
Muslim Patrol, Halal Housing, and More

by David J. Rusin  •  Jan 28, 2013 at 10:46 am

http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2013/01/iw-news-brief-muslim-patrol-halal-housing-and-more

Islamist Watch (IW) maintains an extensive archive of news items on nonviolent Islamism in the Western world. The complete collection can be found here; lists organized by topic are accessible on the right side of the IW homepage.

The following are some of the recent developments covered in the IW database:

Islamist gang enforces Shari'a on London streets

CAIR Supports Terrorist Group Hamas -- and Chuck Hagel For Secretary of Defense

The following by Marc J. Fink is reposted here with permission:

Hagel The Horrible
Hamas-Supporting, Islamist Group CAIR Praises and Endorses Obama Defense Candidate Chuck Hagel

by Marc J. Fink  •  Dec 16, 2012 at 7:22 pm
Islamist Watch

Leading Obama Secretary of Defense candidate Chuck Hagel (center), advocating for
closer U.S.-Saudi Arabia ties at a 2009 New America Foundation conference on
 U.S.-Saudi ties. The New America Foundation is known as a  far-left, anti-Israel
organization funded by George Soros.

It's not in America's national security interest to have a Defense Secretary who regularly receives praise from an organization named an unindicted co-conspirator to fund the terrorist group Hamas in America's largestterrorism financing case; an organization officially banned from cooperation with the FBI and cited as an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.

CAIR: The Human Rights Organization That Can Expel You "For Any Reason"

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted with permission:

CAIR Can Expel You "For Any Reason"

by Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com
October 1, 2012

http://www.danielpipes.org/11993/cair-can-expel-you-for-any-reason

This past Saturday, folks, was a big day for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Its "Leadership Conference & 18th Annual Banquet" at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Va. lasted from 9 am until past 10 pm.

Sadly, I missed the event. Not that I wouldn't eagerly have plunked down my $199.00 for a ticket to hear Linda Sarsour, Nihad Awad, Siraj Wahhaj, Al Sharpton, and Dennis Kucinich. Even better, I could have learned CAIR's "Strategies for Challenging Anti-Islam Legislation and Campaigns" from the horse's mouth. However, this little clause stopped me short:

CAIR Leadership Conference & 18th Annual Banquet is/are private CAIR event(s) and CAIR reserves the right to refuse admittance to anyone for any reason. CAIR also reserves the right to eject anyone from the private event(s) for any reason. Rejected guests will not receive a refund for their tickets or be compensated in any way for their loss.

CAIR Suffering Some Well-Deserved Setbacks

Investor's Business Daily recounts CAIR's recent problems:

In the latest setback, a "Dear Colleague" letter sent out to every House member warns lawmakers and their staffs to "think twice" about meeting with CAIR officials.
"The FBI has cut ties with them," the letter says. "There are indications" CAIR has links to Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group.

The letter, signed by five Republicans, including the head of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus, is attached to an article by a homeland-security news service. It reports that the FBI has been canceling outreach events across the country with CAIR, following a recent directive from headquarters to cut ties with the group.

This seems to follow on the heels of other recent problems and revelations of CAIR's dealings:

The marginalization of CAIR, which has enjoyed astonishing access to official Washington, comes after the successful prosecution of leaders of a U.S. Muslim charity that funneled millions to Hamas terrorists. CAIR and its co-founder Omar Ahmed were named unindicted co-conspirators in that Holy Land Foundation case.
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, moreover, was caught on tape participating in a meeting with Hamas leaders to disguise payments as charity. During the trial, the FBI described CAIR as a front group for Islamic extremists.

It just gets worse for CAIR. Former clients of the group are suing it for fraud. The Muslims say CAIR, which claims to be an advocate for Muslim rights, extorted thousands of dollars from them in a scam in which CAIR said it would help them get U.S. citizenship.

According to the federal lawsuit, CAIR directed an unlicensed lawyer to handle their immigration cases. The phony lawyer shook them down for their life savings and bungled their paperwork. When the victims said they would go to the media, the suit charges, CAIR's board threatened to sue them and forced them to sign releases.

Read the whole thing.

If moderate Muslims are going to gain a voice in the US, the first step has to be to identify correctly the radical groups and deal with them accordingly--especially when they break the law, as is clearly the case with CAIR.

In no way can we afford to allow such radical groups to silence moderate Muslims.

Technorati Tag: CAIR and Moderate Muslims.

Is The Noose Finally Tightening Around CAIR?

CAIR certainly has been given enough slack, especially by its friends: From Investor's Business Daily:

These cheerleaders, who include a handful of Republicans (see box), also know by now that CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror-fundraising case last year. And that FBI wiretaps revealed that CAIR's founder, Omar Ahmad, and executive director, Nihad Awad, last decade attended a secret meeting in Philadelphia with Hamas leaders and other terrorist sympathizers.

In fact, Ahmad himself was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror case, which counts a CAIR founding director among its criminal defendants.

But now, in a separate case involving a senior CAIR official who trained to kill American soldiers in jihad, prosecutors are tying CAIR even closer to terror. In court papers filed in December, federal prosecutors described CAIR as not just an apologist or sympathizer, but a supporter of terrorists.

"From its founding by Muslim Brotherhood leaders," the filing states, "CAIR conspired with other affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists." The government also cited evidence "the conspirators used deception to conceal from the American public their connections to terrorists." [emphasis added]

Here is the IBD list:

What will it take to really bring CAIR down?

See also, The Investigative Project on Terrorism -- For the Record: Government Reminds Court of CAIR/MAS Ties to Terrorists

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

My Dog And The CAIR Boycott

When I was a kid, my parents were getting me a puppy at the same time that the girl next door was getting one too--from the same litter. There we sat, with the puppies we wanted, arguing over which puppy was better.

The puppy I wanted was pretty unremarkable, but I noticed that he was tired and every time I stood him up he would lie down--parking his backside down and then sprawling out.

So I bragged to my neighbor that my puppy was so smart that he had already learned to follow the command to sit and lie down--and for the next minute or two, I proudly stood the poor puppy up and calling out 'sit!" and "lie down!", as the tired puppy did exactly that, over and over. I just took credit for what the puppy was doing anyway. The girl was totally fooled.

Not so clear is whether CAIR is fooling people about their boycott getting companies to remove ads from the Mike Savage Show--companies that weren't actually having their ads carried on the show to begin with.

Pretty clever--but I thought of the idea first.

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

Islamophobia Just Isn't As Popular As CAIR Would Like

Investor's Business Daily features a piece on the extent of the Islamophobia CAIR keeps warning us about.

Not only are anti-Islamic hate crimes way down, but they're a fraction of overall religious hate crimes. The overwhelming majority of such crimes target Jews, something CAIR and other Muslim groups don't seem all that concerned about.

In 2006, a whopping 66% of religiously motivated attacks were on Jews, while just 11% targeted Muslims, even though the Jewish and Muslim populations are similar in size. Catholics and Protestants, who together account for 9% of victims, are subject to almost as much abuse as Muslims in this country.

Last year's anti-Islamic hate crimes totaled 156. While just one hate crime is one too many, that's a 68% drop from 2001.

The IBD chart is clear



CAIR's 2006 report expresses the hope that

the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and Congress will come to understand the full scope of anti-Muslim discrimination and rising Islamophobia in our nation today.

This of course is nonsense--it is also nothing new. In a previous post a year ago I wrote:

An investigation by Daniel Pipes of the anti-Islamic bias attacks reported by CAIR in 2004 showed "sloppiness, exaggeration, and distortion." Two of the claims were actually cases of arson by Moslem store owners themselves, using the story of anti-Islamic bias to cover what they had done. The American Thinker describes a third such case. Other reported attacks lacked evidence or were actually reported by CAIR twice. Further incidences of falsified accounts of Muslim hate crimes going back to 2003 can be found on Michelle Malkin's blog: Myth of the Muslim hate crime epidemic and More Muslim hate crime myths. A report on NPR investigating the reporting of bias crimes in general noted that

any bias incident, from a Muslim being yelled at from a passing car, to a Muslim being profiled on a plane, can wind up in CAIR's report

When CAIR exaggerates claims of Islamophobia, it is just up to its old tricks.

Technorati Tag: CAIR and Islamophobia.

The Sandal Is On The Other Foot: Michael Savage Sues CAIR

According to what Michael Savage has posted on his website:

6.

This lawsuit concerns the infringement of the copyright to the October 29, 2007 show wherein a dramatic, meaningful and powerful segment of the Savage Nation was and continues to be expropriated by defendant, CAIR (as identified herein).

7.

CAIR has been given written notice of its copyright infringement but has chosen to persist in using the copyright protected material.

8.

The segment misappropriated was in excess of four minutes. As set forth in more detail herein, the misappropriated segment was used by CAIR for fund-raising purposes and the segment was used in a manner designed to cause harm to the value of the copyright material in the long and short term.

He quotes the content of the material CAIR is using at point 20.

Personally, I can't see this going very far, but at the very least it will keep CAIR occupied. Savage seems to make reference to information about CAIR from Anti-CAIR, but also from what has been revealed about CAIR's ties to Hamas in the Holy Land trial in Texas.

At the very least, maybe this will increase discussion about CAIR, and why it was named an unindicted co-conspirator in that trial.

[Hat tip: Hot Air Headlines]

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

WOULD YOU WANT CAIR ON YOUR BOARD OF ED.?

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

WHAT DOES CONGRESS THINK OF CAIR? Scott Johnson of Powerline asked House chief deputy minority whip Eric Cantor about how CAIR is perceived in Congress:

He said that there was awareness in the Republican caucus that CAIR was a problematic group. In his mind, he said, there is no doubt that it was a front group for terrorists.

This is not exactly a ringing condemnation on behalf of Congress, but the fact that Cantor himself described CAIR in such strong terms is promising.

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

CAIR JUST CAN'T HELP ITSELF. Read this post by Powerline--it seems that CAIR outright lied in an amicus curiae brief (downloadable from LGF): requesting that CAIR's name (and others) be removed from the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial. Powerline quotes from the brief and concludes:

On the one hand, CAIR's brief in the Holy Land Foundation trial confirms Hudson's story. Indeed, it cites Hudson's story to support its argument. CAIR's brief also shows CAIR's contemporaneous statement disputing the accuracy of Hudson's story to be false. CAIR freely lies to suit its convenience.

On the other hand, however, CAIR's amicus brief lies when it suggests that Hudson's story supports its argument in the Holy Land Foundation case. The government named CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator of the Holy Land Foundation this year during the first week of June. Hudson's Washington Times story was based on data covering the period 2000-20006, before CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. CAIR's citation of Hudson's story in support of the argument made in its brief is another lie of convenience.

Read the entire post. This trial is getting interesting.
In spite of The New York Times.

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

A QUESTION WAITING FOR AN ANSWER. The Counterterrorism Blog has an update on the trial in Texas and the revelations about CAIR:

This latest document tying CAIR to HAMAS is just one more piece of the puzzle, and it raises serious questions about the organization’s political agenda in the United States. Should an organization listed on Muslim Brotherhood documents, with leaders directly tied to the movement, really escape scrutiny and be accepted as the “mainstream” voice of an entire community? Or should the American public and political establishment take another look?

If we are going to wait for the media to take the lead on this, it is going to be a long wait.

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

HOLY LAND FOUNDATION TRIAL: CAIR. Counterterrorism Blog covers the latest revelations about CAIR co-founders Omar Ahmed and Nihad Awad during the trial:

In testimony Tuesday, FBI Agent Lara Burns reported before the jury in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was listed as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, right alongside HLF, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR). Agent Burns further testified that CAIR received money from HLF - a claim that Nihad Awad blatantly denied in a congressional testimony in September of 2003.

[Here is an excerpt from that written testimony:

To prove that this is an outright lie, CAIR would be happy to provide a copy of the page in question from the 1996 CAIR civil rights report to any interested parties.

MYTH: In a recent congressional hearing, Mr. Emerson proclaimed that, “…[CAIR] received some of its initial seed money from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLFRD)…”70

FACT: This is an outright lie. Our organization did not receive any seed money from HLFRD. CAIR raises its own funds and we challenge Mr. Emerson to provide even a shred of evidence to support his ridiculous claim. In fact, it is known that our DC headquarters was funded largely by a loaned grant mortgage from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), a multinational financial institution similar in nature to the World Bank.
-----------------------

MYTH: “… [CAIR] has disseminated Hamas communiqués…”71
FACT: This may be one of the most ridiculous charges ever made by Emerson. This is a prima facie defamatory statement and since our incorporation in 1994, CAIR has never voiced support for Hamas, let alone “disseminate” its “communiqués.”]

That latter statement by CAIR--both in terms of voicing support for Hamas and disseminating Hamas' views--seems seems questionable based on the continuation of the Counterterrorism Blog coverage of revelations at the trial:

Awad and Ahmed are further connected to the Palestine Committee based on their positions as president and public relations director of the IAP, a Hamas front group that was responsible for the dissemination of propaganda, and has since been closed down as a result of a multi-million dollar civil judgment in a trial involving the murder of an American teenager by HAMAS terrorists.

CAIR, which touts itself as America’s premier Muslim civil rights organization, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial. Burns’ testimony so far has placed both Ahmed and Awad at a 1993 Philadelphia meeting where the HAMAS members and supporters discussed a strategy to kill the Oslo Peace Accords, which threatened to marginalize HAMAS. The group also discussed ways to improve HAMAS fundraising in America. [emphasis added]

Looking forward to further revelations about CAIR. As Instapundit points out:

No wonder its membership is so minuscule

Technorati Tag: CAIR and Holy Land Foundation and Nihad Awad and Nihad Awad.

...EXCEPT THAT CAIR EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF TIES TO TERRORISTS. David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, responded to CAIR's accusation that the White House is Islamophobic:

Mr. Keene compared CAIR to the emergence of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League of the 1970s, which he said became "particularly upset whenever anyone mentioned the existence of the 'Mafia,' which they took as implying that Italian-Americans were all Mafioso or criminals.

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

CAIR: DO THEY CONDEMN TERROR? A fair question. Joel Mowbray writes in the Washington Times on CAIR's priorities in clearly condemning terrorism: against Muslims, but a curious reluctance and ambiguity when it comes to condemning terrorism by Islamists:

While the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been busy attacking syndicated columnist Cal Thomas recently for supposedly "Islamophobic" comments, the media-hungry group did not condemn the foiled terrorist plots in London or the successful one in Glasgow, Scotland.

Though CAIR's Web site has a video clip of the Chicago chapter director lamenting the events in Britain and the group helped coordinate a St. Louis press conference of Muslim doctors who spoke out against the terrorists, CAIR itself did not condemn the actions of the Islamic terrorists in Britain.

Given that CAIR played a role in promoting its Chicago director and the Muslim doctors, some might wish to give the benefit of the doubt. The organization's history, however, shows that this artful dodge is simply part of its modus operandi.

CAIR has mastered the art of appearing to oppose terrorism, while at the same time leading the charge against those who seek to thwart it.

[Hat tip: Powerline]

Technorati Tag: CAIR and Terrorism.

CAIR NAMED UNINDICTED CO-CONSPIRATOR...AGAIN. Third time's a charm.

First, Siraj Wahhaj--a member of CAIR's advisory board--was named in 1995 by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as a possible unindicted co-conspirator in connection with the plot to blow up New York City landmarks led by the blind sheikh, Omar Abdul Rahman.

Then, in 2004, CAIR was named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit in the name of John P. O'Neill, Sr., stemming from 9/11.

Now, from today's New York Sun:

Federal prosecutors have named three prominent Islamic organizations in America as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy to support a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.

Prosecutors applied the label of "unindicted co-conspirator" to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

While the foundation was charged in the case, which was filed in 2004, none of the other groups was. However, the co-conspirator designation could be a blow to the credibility of the national Islamic organizations, which often work hand-in-hand with government officials engaged in outreach to the Muslim community. [emphasis added]

And let's not forget:

CAIR, in particular, has faced persistent claims that it is soft on terrorism. Critics note that several former CAIR officials have been convicted or deported after being charged with fraud, embargo violations, or aiding terrorist training. Spokesmen for the group have also raised eyebrows for offering generic denunciations of terrorism but refusing to condemn by name specific Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah.

In addition, one of the Holy Land Foundation defendants, Ghassan Elashi, founded CAIR's Texas chapter. CAIR's Washington office was also set up in 1994 with $5,000 in seed money from the foundation, according to congressional testimony by a researcher into Islamic extremism, Steven Emerson.

Isn't it about time that someone began to notice this trend?
[Hat Tip: Andy McCarthy (The Corner)]

Technorati Tag: CAIR.

KEITH ELLISON INVITES JEWS TO DIALOGUE WITH CAIR: Ellison:

The first American Muslim in the U.S. Congress called on Jewish groups to engage with a controversial American Muslim body.

"If CAIR is willing to talk, talk to CAIR," Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said of the Council on American Islamic Relations in his address Tuesday to the Reform Movement's Consultation on Conscience conference in Washington. Ellison was answering a question; most of the speech focused on his positive impressions of Israel and the Palestinian areas during a recent tour.

"If CAIR is willing to talk"?--apparently Ellison has his doubts as well.

This might not be such a bad idea--as soon as CAIR condemns Muslim terrorist groups--such as Hamas and Hizbullah--by name.

But Joel Mowbray wrote in September last year:

Although CAIR has repeatedly condemned “terrorism,” it has pointedly refused invitations to do so by naming specific Islamic terrorist organizations. In November 2001, the Washington Post asked a CAIR spokesman to condemn Hamas or Islamic Jihad. He refused, explaining, “It’s not our job to go around denouncing.” Given a similar opportunity to denounce Hamas and Hezbollah by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in February 2002, CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper called such queries a “game,” and added, “We’re not in the business of condemning.”

Mr. Hooper is too modest by far.
[Hat tip: LGF]

Technorati Tag: CAIR and Keith Ellison.

INTRODUCING SHARIA LAW: Kathryn Jean Lopez notes one example of the consequences of following Sharia, in a case last year in Yemen

in which 19 alleged members of al Qaeda were exonerated for plotting to kill Westerners by blowing up a hotel frequented by Americans because the presiding judge ruled, “Islamic Sharia law permits jihad against occupiers.”

There is also the recent case in Germany where a judge denied divorce for an abused Muslim woman because according to the Koran “men are in charge of women."

Can what happened in Germany--and is happening in Europe--happen in the US?
It depends on who you ask.

Ibrahim Hooper, before becoming CAIR spokesman, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1993:

I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future.

CAIR Chairman Omar M. Ahmad in 1998 addressed a Muslim crowd in California in July 1998, and told them:

Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.

Imam Zaid Shakir, an American Muslim leader, is quoted by the New York Times this past June as saying:

"Every Muslim who is honest would say, I would like to see America become a Muslim country," he said.

Based on the outcry in Germany and the work in the US of men like M. Zuhdi Jasser, who has come out openly against CAIR's lawsuit on behalf of the flying imams, Lopez is optimistic.

But there is a long way to go.

Technorati Tag: Sharia and Islamic Law and Koran and CAIR.