Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > CAIR accuses WTimes of "Islamophobia" after they report on membership being down 90% since 9/11 CAIR accuses WTimes of "Islamophobia" after they report on membership being down 90% since 9/11June 15, 2007
Report Of CAIR's Shrinking Membership Follows Feds Naming Of Muslim "Civil Rights" Group As Unindicted Co-Conspirator By William Mayer and Beila Rabinowitz June 14, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - The Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR, a Saudi funded Hamas front group] must be reeling. Fresh on the heels of being named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Federal government's pivotal Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding prosecution, a Washington Times expose on Monday revealed that the group's membership has fallen 90% since 9/11. It's hard to imagine how the Fed's equating of CAIR with the terrorist group Hamas is going to help swell its ranks any time soon. The WashTimes' statistics also cast serious doubt on the veracity of CAIR's claim which appear at the bottom of their ubiquitous press releases, "America's largest civil liberties group." Perhaps a deceptive advertising lawsuit is in order? CAIR's promotional tactics have always relied on subterfuge, claiming with no basis in fact a mandate to speak for American Muslims while representing itself as a civil rights organization when its only real clout has been with ignorant members of the media, gullible law enforcement organizations and clueless governmental entities. CAIR has had from its inception one goal, cultural jihad, enforced in a protection racket like scheme via questionable "bias" lawsuits. As M. Zudhi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy notes:
Stung by these recent catastrophic developments, CAIR has responded with its usual disingenuousness - takiyah - lashing out at its critics. In its 6/12 newsletter the group accused the Washington Times of "'agenda-driven reporting' for falsely suggesting there has been a drop in its grassroots support." Calling its "attackers" "Islamophobes" CAIR suggested that the organization's side of the story was not being presented and that this omission constituted "irresponsible...reporting." The Washington Times did not include any of [CAIR Executive Director] Awad's statement in today's article." While the piece did not carry Nihad Awad's comments it clearly sought to balance its coverage by quoting CAIR Board Chairman Parvez Ahmed: "Asked about the decline, Parvez Ahmed, CAIR's board chairman, pointed to the number of donors. 'We are proud that our grass-roots support in the American Muslim community has allowed CAIR to grow from having eight chapters and offices in 2001 to having 33 today,' Mr. Ahmed said." [Note that Awad was a high level functionary in the U.S. based Hamas PR arm, IAP - the Islamic Association of Palestine] As PipeLineNews has extensively documented in previous pieces, [Ghassan Elashi Case Proves Terror Ties and Case Closed, Government Documents Prove CAIR Is Hamas for example] truth means nothing to this group. The organization's close ties to Hamas explain why it refuses to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization. Several of CAIR's members have been convicted on terrorism charges including most recently Ghassan Elashi, the founder of CAIR's Texas chapter. Elashi was sentenced in October 2006 in the InfoCom terror case ["convicted on 10 counts of dealing in the property of a Specially Designated Terrorist and nine counts of money laundering," source http://dallas.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/terroristsupport101306.htm] and is awaiting trial as the kingpin in the much more serious Holy Land Foundation/Hamas fundraising prosecution. In addition to Elashi, CAIR members who have run afoul of terror prosecutions are Bassem Khafagi - deported, Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer - 20 year sentence for terror recruiting, Rabih Haddad - deported and Siraj Wahhaj - unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 Word Trade Center bombing. Despite his close association with terrorism, Wahhaj is still active within CAIR and on the Muslim lecture circuit in general. Brazenly ignoring this rap sheet CAIR maintains that it is "moderate," a claim which should be evaluated in the same vein as the group pointing to its "free" "membership programs" as proof that it isn't losing members in droves. With its facade evaporating, even leftist politicians are running away from CAIR, with California Senator Barbara Boxer recently withdrawing an award her office made to the organization after being acquainted with the group's record. Since CAIR has largely relied on the media for its undeserved reputation as a moderate spokesman for American Muslims, it is incumbent upon those who have elevated this terror enabling organization to cease any further association with it. If that happens, and the warning signs are everywhere apparent, CAIR will implode sometime in the near future, as indeed it should. http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=cairmember61407.htm |