A Bad Day for CAIR

By Evan McCormick

FrontPageMagazine.com | September 24, 2003

September 10th, 2003 will forever be remembered as a grim day for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). On that day, the eve of the second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, CAIR faced up to its own terrorist connections. 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. CAIR should find it hard to recover from this string of defeats.

Last Wednesday, The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security held the second in a series of hearings aimed at examining Saudi Arabia's role in exporting Islamic extremism abroad. The hearing, titled “Two Years After 9/11: Connecting the Dots,” was focused on the prevalence of the radical Wahhabi Islamic sect among Muslim political groups in the U.S. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad and Chairman Omar Ahmed were invited to testify at the hearing, but both declined to attend. In their absence – and in front of their empty witness chair - the committee heard compelling evidence that Saudi Arabia financially and ideologically supports a network of American organizations that act as the defenders, financiers, and front groups of international terrorists. CAIR has been a major player in this network since its creation in 1994, with a particularly soft spot for the suicide-bombing death squads of Hamas.

Senators turned out in force to connect the dots between CAIR and the deviant Islamic extremism that led to the vicious attacks of 9/11. In his opening statement, Chairman Jon Kyl said, “a small group of organizations based in the U.S. with Saudi backing and support, is well advanced in its four- decade effort to control Islam in America -from mosques, universities and community centers to our prisons and even within our military. Moderate Muslims who love America and want to be part of our great country are being forced out of those institutions.”

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—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. As luck would have it, just hours before the hearing, news services reported that former 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. Al-Hussayen is awaiting a deportation order after refusing to testify in his own defense.

The Chairman of IANA has stated that half of the Assembly's funds come from Saudi Arabia, while the other half come from private donors who are primarily Saudi. IANA conferences in the early 1990's featured lectures from Ali al-Timimi, an Islamic preacher recently identified as “co-conspirator number one” in the indictment of 11 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist recruits in a Northern Virginia Jihad network.

One of the 11 Virginia Jihadists, Randall Todd Royer, formerly served as a Communications Specialist and Civil Rights Coordinator at CAIR.

While Senators on Capitol Hill were assiduously connecting the dots to prevent future terrorist attacks, CAIR-Florida was teaming up with the American Civil Liberties Union to sponsor a town hall meeting on immigration issues in South Florida. The September 10th event was billed as an opportunity for residents to discuss “how America and Florida has [sic] changed since September 11, 2001 - our constitutional rights, inter-group relations, and the treatment of our immigrant communities, etc.” The event was slated to feature a U.S. Attorney, an FBI representative, and the Assistant Commissioner of the Florida Department of law Enforcement. None of the officials showed up.

By absenting themselves from the meeting, the officials foiled another attempt by CAIR to oppose the Bush administration's War on Terror. CAIR has made a cottage industry out of blaming individual incidents, either real or perceived, of anti-Muslim violence and discrimination on the Bush administration's anti-terror policies, especially the USA Patriot Act. CAIR's uses statistical manipulation and “civil rights” arguments, not to protect innocent Muslims but to exonerate its own “intimate links with terrorism” to use the words of Senator Schumer. Meetings like the South Florida immigration symposium are an integral part of the Wahhabi groups' strategy of gaining political access to the U.S. government.

Since well before 9/11, CAIR and other organizations have alleged to speak on behalf of America's peaceful, moderate Muslims, while simultaneously lending support and funds to terrorist causes. Certain members of the Bush administration, anxious to frame the War on terror in the context of political correctness, have then pandered to the Wahhabi organizations, providing them with phony legitimacy at the expense of the Muslim community at large.

Since September 11th, prominent Wahhabi-backed leaders have been granted meetings with President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and FBI Director Robert Mueller. These meetings are then used to further the notion that Wahhabi-funded organizations like CAIR are fit to represent America's estimated 6 million Muslims. (See below.)

This strategy has permitted the Wahhabi Lobby, as the collection of pressure groups are called, to become the de facto pool of consultants for government agencies willing to compromise vigilance for ethno-sensitivity in the War on Terror. The true agendas of groups like CAIR are obscured or forgotten in the process, and Wahhabis are given a blank check to oppose anti-terror policies that threaten to expose their connection to the terrorist support network in the U.S.

Combating the Wahhabi agents of influence in the U.S. will require a comprehensive assessment of the political objectives, operational strategies and sources of funding of each group and their individual leaders. A basic and important step must be to resist the Wahhabi Lobby's attempts to influence U.S. policy. The new absence of Justice Department officials from a CAIR symposium is a welcome sign that government agencies are becoming aware of the Council's close links with extremists. Meanwhile, we must continue to support the government's efforts to apprehend those who serve terrorist causes from within our borders. The guilty plea of CAIR official Bassem K. Khafagi is one of many signs that the U.S. is winning the War against terrorists at home as well as abroad.

CAIR Named as a Defendant in 9/11 Terror Lawsuit

by Daniel Pipes December 30, 2004

CAIR Named as a Defendant in 9/11 Terror Lawsuit A class action lawsuit in the name of John P. O'Neill, Sr., stemming from the 9/11 atrocity, has named the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a defendant. (For those confused about the multiple 9/11 court cases, there is help on the way at http://www.september11terrorlitigation.com/.) Here are the paragraphs of Estate of John P. O'Neill, Sr. et al. vs. Al Baraka Investment and Development Corporation dealing with CAIR's role in the events of September 11, 2001, from the second amended class action complaint, filed today:

86. Council on American Islamic Relations and CAIR Canada (collectively, CAIR), have aided, abetted, and materially sponsored and al Qaeda and international terrorism. CAIR is an outgrowth of the Hamas front group the Islamic Association of Palestine. The FBI's former associate director in charge of Investigative and Counter-Intelligence Operations described the Islamic Association of Palestine as an organization that has directly supported Hamas military goals and is a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants. It has produced videotapes that are very hate-filled, full of vehement propaganda. It is an organization that has supported direct confrontation.

87. CAIR and CAIR-Canada have, since their inception, been part of the criminal conspiracy of radical Islamic terrorism. These organizations play a unique role in the terrorist network. They emanate from the notorious HAMAS terrorist organization and like so many of the terrorism facilitating charities named and indicted by the United States government they are engaged in fund raising under the guise of assisting humanitarian causes they are, in reality, a key player in international terrorism. The unique role played by CAIR and CAIR-Canada is to manipulate the legal systems of the United States and Canada in a manner that allows them to silence critics, analysts, commentators, media organizations, and government officials by leveling false charges of discrimination, libel, slander and defamation. In addition, both organizations have actively sought to hamper governmental anti-terrorism efforts by direct propaganda activities aimed at police, first-responders, and intelligence agencies through so-called sensitivity training. Their goal is to create as much self-doubt, hesitation, fear of name-calling, and litigation within police departments and intelligence agencies as possible so as to render such authorities ineffective in pursuing international and domestic terrorist entities.

88. The role of CAIR and CAIR-Canada is to wage PSYOPS (psychological warfare) and disinformation activities on behalf of Whabbi-based [Wahhabi-based, DP] Islamic terrorists throughout North America. They are the intellectual "shock troops" of Islamic terrorism. In the years and months leading up to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 these organizations were very effective in helping to ensure that North American law enforcement and intelligence officials were sufficiently deaf, dumb, and blind to help pave the way for the attacks on the United States. The role played by these entities is an absolutely essential part of the mix of forces arrayed against the United States as they help soften-up targeted countries so as to facilitate and enhance the likelihood for a successful attack.

Comment: (1) This filing explicitly ties CAIR to "the criminal conspiracy of radical Islamic terrorism" that carried out 9/11, a first to the best of my knowledge.

(2) If the suit is successful, CAIR (1) will have been legally tied to Al-Qaeda and (2) will be partially responsible for damages amounting to US$100 billion.

(3) This filing, when added to Anti-CAIR's counter suit, suggest that despite CAIR's growing litigiousness, it will find itself legally more on the defensive than the offensive in coming months. (December 30, 2004)

Aug. 15, 2005 update: The plaintiffs in Estate of John P. O'Neill, Sr., et al. v. Al Baraka, et al. have provided more specifics today in their "Amended RICO Statement Applicable to Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and CAIR-Canada," a 22-page document. It contains new information (for example, concerning Mohammad Nimer) and new claims. Some excerpts (the first and last of these are the most dramatic and novel):

[CAIR] knew that the Enterprise in which it was participating, Radical Muslim Terrorism, and/or al Qaida and/or the International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, planned to and would commit an act of deadly aggression against the United States in the near future, using the resources and support supplied by CAIR. (p. 4)

CAIR agreed to form and associate with the Enterprise and agreed to commit more than two predicate acts, i.e., multiple acts of murder and arson. (p. 5)

Radical Muslim Terrorism, and/or al Qaida and/or the International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, does not feature a centralized hierarchy, because the lack of a centralized hierarchy is essential to the Enterprise's clandestine nature and its success. Thus, although al Qaida, for example, had its own membership roster and a structure of "committees" to guide and oversee such functions as training terrorists, proposing targets, financing operations, and issuing edicts, the committees were not a hierarchical chain of command but were instead a means for coordinating functions and providing material support to operations. CAIR fit neatly into this framework by raising funds for and providing funding to an otherwise providing material support for the members of the Enterprise who engaged in the Attack [on 9/11]. (pp. 6-7)

The Enterprise conducts terrorism all over the world; the racketeering activity conducted by CAIR funds that activity, which activity culminated in the Attack. (p. 7)

After being turned out of the Sudan in May 1996, al Qaida established itself in Afghanistan, and relied on well-placed financial facilitators, including CAIR, who laundered funds from Islamic so-called charities and corporations and raised money from witting and unwitting donors. (p. 8)

The money raised from these various sources (the "Funds"), including CAIR, were used by the Enterprise to accomplish its goals, with the knowledge and awareness of CAIR, of both those goals and the uses to which the Funds were put. (p. 9)

CAIR has long provided financial support and other forms of material support to terrorist organizations including Radical Muslim Terrorism, or the al Qaida, and/or the International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. (p. 12)

the true purpose for CAIR is to legitimize the activities of Islamic militants and to neutralize opposition to Islamic extremism. They serve as perception management in support of Radical Muslim Terrorism, and/or al Qaida, and/or the International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. (p. 12)

As the foregoing demonstrates, CAIR thereby knowingly has, for a period of many years, provided critical financial and logistical support to al Qaida, and/or Radical Muslim Terrorism, and/or the International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, to support the terrorist organization's global jihad. The September 11th Attack was a direct, intended and foreseeable product of CAIR's participation in the jihadist campaign for al Qaida, and/or Radical Muslim Terrorism, and/or the International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. (pp. 19-20)

America's estimated 6 million Muslims?

Comment: does Arab American mean Muslim? As Mr. Pipes noted below the "estimated" figure of six million Muslims in itself is inflated. As for Arab Americans, many of those until recent years have been Christians from Lebanon and Egypt. As he points out, the census folks can't ask for religious affiliation. Inflating the numbers could give them more political clout with our pandering political system.

L. Loflin

How Many Arab-Americans?

by Daniel Pipes

It's bad enough that the Islamist organizations more than double the actual number of Muslims living in the United States (as I showed in a 2001 article, "How Many U.S. Muslims?"). Worse is that the Arab-American organizations are now tripling their alleged population, as I briefly noted in November 2003. Trouble is, that whereas the U.S. Bureau of the Census cannot ask about religious affiliation, it can and does ask about ethnicity, so we do have hard statistics on Arab-Americans, undercutting the silly, boosterish claims.

A census study released yesterday, We the People of Arab Ancestry in the United States (why the cloying title, by the way?), reports on the 2000 figures: Approximately 850,000 U.S. residents report exclusive Arab ancestry, while about 340,000 residents report both Arab and non-Arab ancestry. In other words, a total of 1,190,000 residents report Arab ancestry on at least one side, or 0.3 percent of the total U.S. population.

To these figures, James Zogby sourly responds that his organization, the Arab American Institute, "projects the ethnic population to be more than 3 times the number of ancestry responses" found by the census bureau. Al-Jazeera reports that Nawar Shora, legal adviser for the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, says the alleged undercount results from fear among Arab-Americans "because of the negative stereotypes that exist about the community" (despite the collecting having been done well in advance of September 11, 2001).

Comments: It would be a sign of maturity when the Arab American Institute and the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee stop bellyaching about the census numbers, deflate their own figures, and begin to deal with reality. (March 9, 2005) Permalink

More on CAIR

In Defense of the Constitution News & Analysis January 30, 2006

CAIR: Hypocrite's in Defense of Islamic Terrorism? The East Valley Tribune ran a story about Dr. Nadeem Hassan, who was denied re-entry to the United States following his visit to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. (Dr. Hassan is/was a green card holder.) http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=57934

CAIR joined other Islamic groups in denouncing the exclusion of Hassan, joining in the claim that Hassan's possible link to Jamaat al Tablighi, an Islamic terrorist group, was not grounds for exclusion. Apparently, CAIR views the Jamaat al Tablighi as a "Muslim missionary group". For a good look at just what the Jamaat al Tablighi is and what it stands for, we refer to the respected Middle East Forum/Quarterly for a review: http://www.meforum.org/article/686

From the Quarterly, we find this conclusion:

"The estimated 15,000 Tablighi missionaries reportedly active in the United States present a serious national security problem. At best, they and their proxy groups form a powerful proselytizing movement that preaches extremism and disdain for religious tolerance, democracy, and separation of church and state. At worst, they represent an Islamist fifth column that aids and abets terrorism. Contrary to their benign treatment by scholars and academics, Tablighi Jamaat has more to do with political sedition than with religion."

ACAIR finds it interesting that CAIR, with its vast financial resources and access to numerous sources in both North America and the Middle East cannot simply lift up the phone, call the Saudi Embassy and ask for information on the Tablighi Jamaat. Of course, the Saudi Embassy would say it was simply a "missionary group", but as any American knows, any endorsement by the Saudi's is an immediate red flag. Or could the real truth be that CAIR supports the activities of the Tablighi Jamaat to subvert our country? CAIR has, yet again, demonstrated rank hypocrisy in defense of Islamic terrorism. ACAIR notes with great satisfaction that the US gov't revoked Hassan's green card while he was overseas, thus preventing him and his supporters from abusing the courts to advance radical Islam in the US. Hopefully, this marks a new trend by the gov't to exclude undesireable aliens.

Foreigners, even those possessing green cards, are not entitled to special rights when it comes to possible membership in suspect groups...we must remain vigilant to whom we allow into our country.and why. Hopefully, this will be the last we hear of Hassan. Sadly, it won't be the last we hear from the Islamic terrorism supporters of CAIR.

Andrew Whitehead
Director
Anti-CAIR (ACAIR) ajwhitehead@anti-cair-net.org www.anti-cair-net.org

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