CAIR: Totally Predictable

According to this at Powerline Blog (citing the Star Tribune), CAIR has come along to defend the Minnesota madrassah being funded at taxpayers' expense:

The Minnesota chapter of a national Islamic civil liberties group has asked the FBI and local law enforcement officers to investigate reported threats against a Twin Cities charter school as possible hate crimes, while a Jewish organization deplored the threats.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) made the request Monday after the director of Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy in Inver Grove Heights told police that he and the school had received threatening and harassing phone messages and e-mails.

The group is concerned about the safety of the school's students, many of whom are Muslim, said CAIR chapter coordinator Chris Schumacher. Tagging the threats as possible hate crimes also makes it clear that prejudice could have prompted them, and "we wanted to bring that to light in case that wasn't already obvious to people," he said.

Powerline's comment:

It is remarkable that CAIR found time to advance the cause of TIZA this week. It has otherwise been engaged working on behalf of convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Sami al-Arian, who is being held in contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury....

Walid Shoebat Strikes A Nerve

From this source:

Air Force grants equal time to critics of alleged ex-terrorists

February 28, 2008

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force Academy has invited three speakers to give their vision of Islam after remarks made by three self-described former terrorists that some in the audience believed were condemnations of all Muslims.

Mikey Weinstein, head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, former U.S. ambassador to Niger Joe Wilson and Islamic expert Reza Aslan, a research associate at the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy, will speak to cadets April 9 at a forum on terrorism.

Academy officials invited the three amid criticism of the appearances of Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani at a Feb. 6 forum on the topic, “Dismantling Terrorism.”

Although academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said this was not in response to the criticism, he acknowledged that it occurred only after the complaints were made.

Academy officials insisted that Shoebat, Saleem and Anani, who claim to have abandoned terrorism after converting to Christianity, are genuine.

Maj. Brett Ashworth, academy spokesman, said the three had been checked out by Air Force intelligence. Ashcroft disputed reports that the three had pushed a Christian agenda during the February forum and had insisted in advance they would not be proselytizing on behalf of Christianity.

[...]

An Air Force task force also concluded there was no religious discrimination at the academy but noted some cadets and staff were insensitive. In February 2006, the Air Force adopted new guidelines cautioning top officers about promoting their religious views.

Shoebat has published an online autobiography describing his journey from membership in the Palestine Liberation Organization to Israeli sympathizer. Saleem says he also is a former member of the PLO, and Zak Anani describes himself as a former member of several Lebanese terrorist groups. The three appear together regularly.

The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations criticized the speakers, saying one of them, Shoebat, has said that “Islam is the devil.”

[...]

The only member of the three self-described former terrorists who could be reached this week defended his credibility. He said he could “not really” speak for the other two.

“I am who I am,” said Shoebat.

Asked if he gave up terrorism after converting to Christianity, Shoebat said, “Absolutely.”

His publicist, Keith Davies, said Shoebat never killed anyone but had once tried unsuccessfully tried to lynch an Israeli soldier. Davies said Shoebat tossed a bomb at an Israeli bank that injured no one, and that Shoebat was jailed by the Israelis but released because he is a U.S. citizen.

Davies also said Shoebat has been in hiding because of what he called threats from Arabs.

HERE is Mr. Shoebat's rebuttal to those challenging his "credentials." His web site is HERE.

On March 14, 2008, Mr. Shoebat is the scheduled guest for The Gathering Storm Radio Show, which WC and I cohost. We will, of course, be addressing for a few minutes the recent "challenge" to Mr. Shoebat's identity and allow him on-air time to state his position on that matter and, for most of the hour, on material from his book Why We Want to Kill You: The Jihadist Mindset and How to Defeat It. An outstanding book, in my view, and recommended reading for all infidels here at IBA.

A List At CAIR

[Hat-tip to Raven]

The following is from CAIR's web site 2008 Elections: Do Your Part, which also has links to each candidate's web site:

MUSLIMS RUNNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

AL - Yusuf Salaam - State Rep (Incumbent)

CA - Bill Dalati - Anaheim City Council (Challenger)

CA - Ferial Masry - State Rep (Incumbent)

IL - Rifat ‘James’ Sivisoglu- DuPage County Board, District 1 (Challenger)

IN - Andre Carson - US Representative (Challenger)

IA - Ako Abdul-Samad - State Rep (Incumbent)

MD - Saqib Ali - House of Delegates (Incumbent)

MN - Keith Ellison - US Representative (Incumbent)

MO - Talibdin El-Amin - State Rep (Incumbent)

MO - Rodney Hubbard - State Rep (Incumbent)

MO - Jamilah Nasheed - State Rep (Incumbent)

NH - Saghir “Saggy” Tahir - State Rep (Incumbent)

NJ - Mohammed Hameeduddin - Teaneck Township Council (Challenger)

VA - Sam Rasoul - US Representative (Challenger)

WI - Farheen Khan - State Rep (Challenger)

The above web site, one of CAIR's projects, also has some interesting links on the left sidebar, including "American Muslim Opinion Polls" and "Anti-Muslim Rhetoric." Also of interest there is the Thomas Jefferson Graphic at the top, with the words "The national and peacable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people."

I find it interesting and ironic that CAIR is quoting Thomas Jefferson on an Islamic web site devoted to the political activism of Muslims, particularly if this information about Thomas Jefferson and the Koran is correct. Excerpt:

...Jefferson’s resolve to fight [the Barbary Pirates] had its beginings in his reading the Koran as the best source of the time that was all things Muslim. Jefferson knew that 18th century Americans were in danger from what we call today conservative, Wahhabi-type, radical Islam....

CAIR Loses Status?

According to this February 18, 2008 update from the United American Committee, CAIR, whose shady connections have been well exposed by Andrew Whitehead of the web site Anti-CAIR (among others), CAIR may have come down a peg or two (emphases mine):

A major victory in the fight against Jihad has apparently occurred. Somewhere in the dead of night, without any known announcement from the organization, the highly controversial Washington DC based group CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations has apparently lost the tax status which enabled it to conduct lobbying activities. The organization was registered for many years under the IRS tax code 501c(4) which allowed the organization to conduct lobbying activities, campaign funding, legislation and candidate backing, and many other government and litigation related activities. A 501c(4) tax status is very difficult to maintain, requiring quarterly public filings, and is very regulated under strict lobbying laws, yet is the most powerful tax status for organizations wishing to influence government. CAIR, who was under this status, had numerous members of their leadership indicted on terrorism related charges in the past, and had received large amounts of funding from questionable foreign sources. Many critics of the group often wondered how CAIR was able to hold on to such a highly critiqued tax status such as 501c(4). In contrast there is another tax status which is much weaker, and one that is very easy for most anyone to receive, and that status is 501c(3), a status which U.S. tax laws prohibit such organizations from engaging in large amounts of lobbying and government influence activities, it is a status for educational groups and churches, which is greatly restricted in the ability to influence any kind of legislation. CAIR has recently downgraded the description of their organization on their website to 501c(3). While calls to their office could not confirm the reasons, it appears that CAIR may have lost the status as of the first of this year.

Note, the current organization description on CAIR's website reads:
"CAIR is a not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under U.S. Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3)."

While internet archives of the site as of June 2007 read as follows:
"The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a nonprofit 501(c)(4), grassroots civil rights and advocacy group."

Chalk one up for the good guys.

Could there be a connection with CAIR's recent tussle with Michael Savage?

Or is CAIR backing off because the organization dare not open financial records to the light of day as was the case in CAIR's law suit against Andrew Whitehead of Anti-CAIR?

Audio, about ten minutes in length and worth your time:




Read more details about CAIR's unsuccessful law suit against Anti-CAIR, a site which contains the same information it has always provided.

Let's see if CAIR publishes any kind of response to the above update from the United American Committee. Of course, CAIR may do what the organization does best — stonewall or spin the story.

CAIR Seeks Out John Conyers

Of course.

CAIR is sooooo predictable.

From this article:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is seeking help from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. to pressure the Justice Department to change the group's status as a co-conspirator in a terrorism case.

CAIR officials recently met with Mr. Conyers, Michigan Democrat, and then wrote a letter asking him to lobby the new attorney general on behalf of the group, and to hold hearings.

[...]

CAIR's letter to Mr. Conyers said that "you remember many of these abusive practices from the McCarthy era and the civil rights movement."

Melanie Roussell, a spokeswoman for the Judiciary Committee, had no comment.

CAIR recently petitioned U.S. District Court Chief Judge A. Joe Fish in a "friend of the court" motion to remove it from the listing, saying it caused a decline in membership and fundraising. After the mistrial, Judge Fish forwarded CAIR's request to U.S. Judge Jorge A. Solis, who has not yet issued a ruling.

The group stated in its appeal that linkage to the Holy Land Foundation has "impeded its ability to collect donations" because donors fear contributing to a terrorist group.

Steven Emerson, executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, said the secret collaboration between CAIR and Mr. Conyers raises concerns over the lawmaker's support for "a group unambiguously proven to be part of the Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas infrastructure."

"This combination demonstrates the degree to which radical Islamic groups have insinuated themselves into the highest reaches of the U.S. government by using deceit," he said....

Watch for Keith Ellison to buddy up on this one.

CAIR's Threat

I'm in a hurry to get ready to leave for work, so I have time only to post this link. Read the story for yourself.

John Does Still Under Threat Of Law Suit

Via this posting at Little Green Footballs:

I’m informed by a reliable source that the Associated Press report we linked earlier today, that said CAIR and the flying imams had dropped their suits against anonymous passengers who reported the imams’ suspicious behavior, is not correct. Apparently the Associated Press got this wrong.

Repeat: CAIR has not dropped the “John Doe” lawsuits. They are still named.

Meanwhile, CAIR is trying to intimidate Young Americans for Freedom, where Robert Spencer is scheduled to speak today. According to this posting at The Center for Vigilant Freedom:

...[A]t no point does CAIR do what a responsible organization involved in an argument of political ideas would do, which is offer to take the stage with Spencer and debate his interpretation of Islamic theology....

Instead, CAIR rattles their sabres of legal jihad and makes demands. See this copy of the letter which the CAIR lawyer sent to Young Americans for Freedom.

How about this? We DEMAND that CAIR open their financial records--the real ones.

The Decline Of CAIR?

Can it be? CAIR is about to get exposed for what the organization really is?

From this article in the June 12, 2007 Washington Times:

Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The number of reported members spiraled down from more than 29,000 in 2000 to fewer than 1,700 in 2006. As a result, the Muslim rights group's annual income from dues dropped from $732,765 in 2000, when yearly dues cost $25, to $58,750 last year, when the group charged $35.

The organization instead is relying on about two dozen donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.

Read the rest at Always On Watch.

Is CAIR Finally In Legal Trouble?

From this source, on June 4, 2007:

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.

A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood."

[...]

Spokesmen for CAIR did not respond to messages seeking comment yesterday. Efforts to contact the North American Islamic Trust were unsuccessful.

The identification of the alleged co-conspirators could aid prosecutors when the Holy Land Foundation and five of its officials, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, and Abdulraham Odeh, go to trial on July 16 in Dallas. Statements by and about co-conspirators are exempt from rules barring hearsay.

[...]

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.

Last year, Senator Boxer of California, a Democrat, withdrew an award she gave to an official at a local CAIR chapter. She said she had concerns about statements by some CAIR officials and about claims of financial links to terrorism....

Read the entire article.

[Hat-tip to Raven, who emailed me the above information]

Islamic groups in US named in Hamas funding case

An important development in the investigation of Hamas funders has come to light. And yep, you guessed it, CAIR is among those cited in the report:

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.

A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood."

[...]

The inclusion of the Islamic groups on the list of alleged conspirators could give ammunition to critics of the organizations. 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.

Since CAIR is probably the worst of these groups, that's why it's a good thing that they've been fingered as one of the Hamas' collaborators. It's time to shut them down and to prosecute them, and it's to be hoped that this'll lead to a major trial in which they're told to stand before the court.