Council on American-Islamic Relations

The Council on American-Islamic Relationshttp://www.cair-net.org Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a "non-profit, grassroots membership organization" headquartered in Washington, D.C., and with "CAIR chapters across America"http://www.cair-net.org/asp/chapters.asp
== About ==
According to the CAIR web site,http://www.cair-net.org/asp/aboutcair.asp "CAIR was established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America. We believe misrepresentations of Islam are most often the result of ignorance on the part of non-Muslims and reluctance on the part of Muslims to articulate their case."http://www.cair-net.org/asp/aboutcair.asp
CAIR states that it is "dedicated to presenting an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public. In Offering that perspective, we seek to empower the Muslim community in America through political and social activism."http://www.cair-net.org/asp/aboutcair.asp
CAIR accomplishes its mission through:http://www.cair-net.org/asp/aboutcair.asp
*Media Relations: working "with media professionals around America to help shape a positive image of Islam. CAIR activists also monitor the local, national and international media to challenge negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims."
*Conferences and Seminars: organizing "conferences and seminars for media professionals, government officials and the academic community. These events are designed to present otherwise unavailable information about Islam and Muslims."
*Publications: "A variety of publications addressing the needs of Muslims in America are offered to opinion leaders and the public. We also publish a quarterly newsletter Faith In Action. CAIR also produces practical handbooks, such as Hajj and Ramadan Publicity Kits, for use by Muslim leaders and activists."
*Action Alerts: "CAIR issues action alerts to local communities as a means of promoting local activitism and generating a grassroots response on important issues. We believe local response is a key factor in making our voices heard."
== Controversies ==
In a March 2007 article on allegations against CAIR, the New York Times reported, "Government officials in Washington said they were not aware of any criminal investigation of the group. More than one described the standards used by critics to link CAIR to terrorism as akin to McCarthyism, essentially guilt by association. 'Of all the groups, there is probably more suspicion about CAIR, but when you ask people for cold hard facts, you get blank stares,' said Michael Rolince, a retired F.B.I. official who directed counterterrorism in the Washington field office from 2002 to 2005."http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/washington/14cair.html
The controversies mentioned in the article include:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/washington/14cair.html
*Links between CAIR and people who "have either been convicted or deported for links to terrorist groups," such as "Mousa Abu Marzook, a Hamas leader deported in 1997 after the United States failed to produce any evidence directly linking him to any attacks." The New York Times reported, "There were no charges linked to CAIR in any of the cases involved, and law enforcement officials said that in the current climate, any hint of suspicious behavior would have resulted in a racketeering charge";
*CAIR accepting "large donations from individuals or foundations closely identified with Arab governments," a practice that some of CAIR's local offices, which "raise their own money and operate largely as franchises," have criticized;
*House Republicans urging Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to allow CAIR to hold a March 2007 panel discussion on Islam and the West in a Capitol meeting room, because the Republicans called CAIR members "terrorist apologists";
*Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) revoking a Certificate of Appreciation granted in Fall 2006 to a Sacramento CAIR representative, after online critics called her a "Senator for Terror"; and
*CAIR issuing statements or holding events that are controversial in Washington DC, such as calling for "a halt to weapons shipments to Israel as civilian casualties in Lebanon swelled" in Summer 2006; hosting a dinner with "former President Mohamed Khatami of Iran" in September 2006; and, in November 2006, organizing a "panel discussion by two prominent academics who argue that the pro-Israeli lobby exercises detrimental influence on United States policy on the Middle East."
However there are many other sources that clearly document CAIR leadership's support for groups considered terroris. For example, Nihad Awad one of the leaders of Hamas openly state at a Barry University, "I am a supporter of the Hamas movement"http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=755
Daniel Pipes has made extensive documentation of what he believes to be CAIR's connection to terrorism. For example, in 1998 CAIR condemned a bullboard critical of Osama Bin Ladn as "offensive to Muslims" They also considered the conviction of the terrorists involved in bombing the World Trade Center in 1993 a travesty of justice and a hate crime. Anothe CAIR leader Siraj Wahhaj is an unindicted co conspirator in terrorist attacks in NY. Additionally he notes "...CAIR Chairman Omar M. Ahmad told a crowd of California Muslims in July 1998, "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...." http://www.danielpipes.org/article/394
== Leadership ==
*Omar M. Ahmad, Chairman (September 25, 2002http://www.disinfo.com/pages/news/id2750/pg1/
*Nihad Awad, Executive Director (December 17, 1998)http://leb.net/IAC/oldsite/cair.html/(December 23, 2002)http://www.tonguetied.us/archives/000160.php
*Al-Haaj Ghazi Khankan, Executive Director (September 26, 2001)http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/news1/an010929-14.html
*Hussam Ayloush, Head of Los Angeles office (September 25, 2002)http://www.disinfo.com/pages/news/id2750/pg1/
*Ibrahim Hooper, Communications Director (September 26, 2001)http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/news1/an010929-14.html/(September 25, 2002)http://www.disinfo.com/pages/news/id2750/pg1/
*Siraj Wahhaj, Advisory Board Member (September 25, 2002)http://www.disinfo.com/pages/news/id2750/pg1/
In February 2006 the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced "that it has elected North Carolina State Senator Larry Shaw to its board."http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=1972&theType=NR
==References==
== External links ==
{A chronology of published attacks against CAIR}
*4 April 2001: "How CAIR Put My Life in Peril" by Khalid Durán, Middle East Quarterly/Middle East Forum.
*18 June 2001: "C.A.I.R. Attacks Cal Thomas" from Emanuel A. Winston, Middle East Analyst & Commentator at the Freeman Center for Strategic Studies : "A concern is growing in the U.S. and European intelligence networks that radical militant Islamic Fundamentalists represent significant threats to their countries' security. While most Muslims have no intention of attacking their host country, nevertheless, those who support Islamic violence and intimidation demand obedience from the general non-radical Muslim community."
*26 September 2001: "Islam's flawed spokesmen. Some of the groups claiming to speak for American Muslims find it impossible to speak out against terrorist groups originally posted at Salon.com.
*8 November 2001: "CAIR Package. Islamophobic smear campaigns?" by John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review Online: "The formulation is typical of CAIR, which makes no distinction between criticism of itself as an organization, on the one hand, and criticism of the American Muslim population for which it purports to speak or of Islam as a religion."
*22 April 2002: "CAIR: 'Moderate' friends of terror" by Daniel Pipes, New York Post.
*7 May 2002: "CAIR: The NAACP for Islamic Terrorists" by Daniel Pipes, Capitalism Magazine: "Summary: CAIR must be shunned as a fringe group by responsible institutions and individuals throughout North America."
*25 September 2002: "Exposing the Council on American-Islamic Relations" by Rula Borelli, Friends of Liberty.
*22 December 2002: "Here's what CAIR doesn't say about me-or its record" by Daniel Pipes, Campus Watch; original article.
*11 March 2003: "Questions CAIR Refuses to Answer" by Lee Moore, ChronWatch.
*20 March 2003: "Americans: Be CAIR-ful" by Paul M. Weyrich, Accuracy in Media.
*22 March 2003: "TRUTH OR CAIR" by Bob Jones, WorldMag.com: "The Muslim public-relations group CAIR--Council on American Islamic Relations--has a tough sell in post-9/11 America. But if its goal is simply to promote Islam as a 'religion of peace' and to distance American Muslims from terrorism, why can't CAIR begin with a simple acknowledgment that the terrorist threat to America is real? Instead, CAIR's modus operandi has been to attack Christianity with the same, simplistic broad brush it claims is tarring Islam."
*9 April 2003: "Contradicting CAIR's Spin: The Islamic School Book Controversy" by Paul M. Weyrich, Free Congress.
*18 April 2003: "Allegations that CAIR is a front group with connections to terrorists" by Andrew Hagen, andrewhagen.com: "CAIR has been severely criticized. Joe Kaufman writes: 'This particular group, CAIR, is widely reported as having been the creation of the Texas-based Islamic Association for Palestine or IAP, which is a front for the terrorist group Hamas and an organization that the United States has taken action against in its war on terror. Yet CAIR goes around masquerading as a civil rights organization, as an organization that fights against discrimination.'"
*25 April 2003: "The real CAIR" by Joseph Farah, WorldNetDaily.
*4 June 2003: "Who's Pushing Bush?" by Anita Stieglitz, Jerusalem Post Internet: "The very same person (Grover Norquist)who pushed the first George Herbert Walker Bush after the first Gulf War to force Israel to pay for that benighted 'war.' Exactly the same person who has, since September 11, 2001, been courting and co-habiting with CAIR, that apogee of Jew-hating Arab American organizations, which, thanks to this same person, has had full access to the White House, and, among other things, gave the President that line from a comedy club in hell, Islam means peace."
*4 June 2003: "CAIR: $80 Million Suit Filed Against CBS, ´Terrorist Hunter´" from PR Newswire (announcement from CAIR).
*"CAIR Applauds Senate Defeat of Patriot Act Extension; Islamic Advocacy Group Says Civil Liberties Protections Must Be Strengthened", U.S. Newswire, December 16, 2005.
*CAIR reacts to Hadji Girl, June 12, 2006."Marines' Cheer Song About Killing Iraqi Civilians" 
*Neil MacFarquhar, "Scrutiny Increases for a Group Advocating for Muslims in U.S.," New York Times, March 14, 2007.
==Source==
*This article uses content from Council on American-Islamic Relations on SourceWatch.
Category:Islam
Category:Organizations
Category:Religion and Politics