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Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Wahhabists speaking with forked tongues: CAIR's "Open Letter" to Congress a study in Islamist doublespeak

Wahhabists speaking with forked tongues: CAIR's "Open Letter" to Congress a study in Islamist doublespeak

March 18, 2007

Critiquing CAIR's "Open Letter" To Congress

March 16, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNew.org - The Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] is shameless. It is also under siege, increasingly siding openly with enemies of the United States such as confessed terrorist Sami al-Arian. The organization has recently been castigated by California Senator Barbara Boxer because of its terror friendly ties.

CAIR recently issued a press release in the form of an open letter to Congress, which appears below, with our comments in italics.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has a long history of positive social and political activism.

[Fact: CAIR is a front group for Hamas, having grown out of the Islamic Association for Palestine an American based PR agency for Hamas and is funded by Saudi Wahhabists. Members of the organization have been prosecuted and convicted on terror related offenses including the most recent Ghassan Elashi, the founder of the Texas chapter of CAIR. Elashi was found guilty of conducting business with a terrorist Abu Mousa Marzook, a high ranking director of Hamas. Additionally, Elashi will stand trial this summer in the Hamas funding scheme concocted by the Holy Land Foundation]

As a result, 32 CAIR chapters in 20 states have developed strong grass-roots relations with people of all faiths in the communities in which they work to promote social justice and interfaith tolerance.

[Fact: CAIR is engaged in a campaign of legal intimidation designed to silence its critics and implement Shari'a]

Our recent event on Capitol Hill, a panel discussion titled "Global Attitudes on Islam-West Relations: US Policy Implications," was our fifth Hill event in the last two years. It was selected as a target of opportunity by some who seek to block participation in the political process of American citizens of the Islamic faith by defaming their representative institutions and organizations.

[Fact: CAIR seeks to advance the most radical elements within Islam, hence their legal representation of the Minneapolis airport's "flying Imams" who engaged in intentionally provocative behavior to serve as the basis for a CAIR lawsuit]

For the record, CAIR unequivocally condemns terror attacks targeting people of all faiths and in all areas of the world.

[Fact: this is a CAIR lie, the organization has NEVER condemned by name Hamas or Hezbollah and for months even denied that bin-Laden was the mastermind behind 9/11]

CAIR operates under the strict guidelines of its core values. These values include: support for freedom of religion and freedom of expression, and a commitment to supporting policies that promote dialogue, civil rights and diversity in America and worldwide.

[Fact: CAIR does not believe in the application Western values across cultures, hence their criticisms are never leveled against their masters, the radicals in Saudi Arabia where it is a major offense to even be in possession of a Bible]

In an effort designed to demonstrate the American Muslim community's repudiation of terrorism and religious extremism, CAIR launched an online petition drive called "Not in the Name of Islam." We also launched a nationwide television public service announcement campaign of the same name and coordinated a ground-breaking fatwa, or Islamic religious ruling, against terrorism.

[Fact: CAIR is merely engaging in semantic games here, they still refuse to condemn individual terror organizations and individuals by name making their fatwa a "faux-twa."]

CAIR offered pro-active and positive responses to the controversies over allegations of Quran desecration at Guantanamo Bay and the publication of cartoons in Denmark defaming Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

[Fact: CAIR agreed with radical Islamists who rioted in the streets about the nature of the cartoons, with the CAIR website calling them "defamatory caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad"]

Our educational initiatives opened doors to dialogue and mutual understanding with Americans of all faiths.

[Fact: to CAIR "mutual understanding with Americans of all faiths" merely translates into opportunities to conduct da'wa]

It is our hope that fair-minded Americans will not be swayed by the extreme rhetoric of those opposed to allowing American Muslims to exercise their full rights as citizens. We were heartened to see confirmation of this hope in the support we received for our right to discuss global opinion polls and the impact they may have on U.S. policy.

[Fact: CAIR has not provided a single example of said "extreme rhetoric"]

We welcome this support in the spirit of a united America, with a vigorous debate about our nation's foreign policies.

This unfortunate episode was triggered by an article in the Washington Times in which the writer falsely claimed, "CAIR officials did not return a call seeking comment." The article's author had spoken to CAIR's Communications Director.

[Fact: if CAIR was interested in a true debate it would have reproduced the context of the above noted Washington Times article which reads, "CAIR officials did not return a call seeking comment…However, CAIR officials have been charged with -- and some convicted of -- offenses related to the support of terrorism, including CAIR fundraiser Rabih Haddad, founding board member Ghassan Elashi and former CAIR civil rights coordinator Randall Royer."]

The rest of the article followed this trend.

The episode was exacerbated when the Republican Conference chose to issue statements that were reflective of "Google" searches of anti-Muslim Internet hate sites.

[Fact: CAIR simply uses the term hate site as a bludgeon against the organization's many critics]

In fact, our detractors' allegations do not stand up to objective scrutiny.

As reported in the New York Times on page A1 on Wednesday, March 14, 2007:

"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."

"A small band of critics have made a determined but unsuccessful effort to link [CAIR] to Hamas and Hezbollah. . ."

[Fact: CAIR is cherrypicking these citations to cast itself in the best possible light, actually the March 14, 2007 UPI article stated of CAIR, "The Council on American-Islamic Relations is under increased scrutiny from U.S. critics looking for links Hamas and Hezbollah. The group, commonly known as CAIR, is partly funded by donors with ties to wealthy Middle East governments, The New York Times reported. House Republicans this week tried to block an appearance by the group at a panel discussion in the Capitol, calling the group "terrorist apologists," which is CAIR's chief function, to serve as apologists for Islamic terror."]

We recognize that many of our positions on issues such as Iraq, last year's conflict in Lebanon, Iran-US relations and overzealous government intrusion into private life make us unpopular with some people.

[Fact: CAIR has allied itself with the Stalinist hard left, with anti-American groups like the ACLU in attempting to give al-Qaeda prisoners the same rights as American citizens]

However, to question the legality of our organization and our loyalty to the United States is simply unacceptable.

[Fact: CAIR has no basic loyalty to Western norms or to the United States it functions at the whim of its Saudi funders, the same people who brought you bin-Laden and al-Qaeda]

Attacks on our positions are the price of taking principled stands on the issues. But personal attacks are unfair and not representative of basic American decency.

[Fact: CAIR simply hides behind the Constitution while trying to impose Shari'a]

The fact that we come under attack by anti-Muslim extremists is no surprise to anyone who works for positive social change. All proponents of social justice have faced similar attacks designed to silence their voices.

[Fact: CAIR does not believe in equality, it believes in the moral superiority of Islam]

It is our view that the attacks against us are an indicator of the effectiveness of our advocacy.

CAIR is supported by many mainstream political, social and religious groups. We have active alliances with members of the Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Hispanic, African-American, and Asian communities. We attend each others events and we share the aspiration to make America's future brighter than its past.

[Fact: CAIR is under siege; California Senator Barbara Boxer has castigated the organization and returned an award that was made to the Sacramento CAIR office. The organization is currently promoting support for Dr. Sami al-Arian a CONFESSED terrorist who is awaiting deportation, this is NOT advocating for "social justice" it is serving as an Islamist fifth column]

In the end, we place our trust in God and pray that He guides us and gives us the strength to endure attempts to marginalize and silence the voice of a growing and contributing religious minority in America.

[Fact: CAIR is shameless, equating its political machinations with the will of God. No one seeks to marginalize patriotic non-radical Muslims in the United States; however CAIR is not of that ilk]

http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=cair31607%2Ehtm

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