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Council on American-Islamic Relations

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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is an advocacy group which seeks "to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding."<ref>The Council on American-Islamic Relations. What's CAIR's vision and mission? Retrieved August 6, 2006.</ref>

CAIR is a major non-profit, non-governmental, Muslim organization in North America, funded by American Muslims and also in significant part by Middle Eastern sources such as the Al Maktoum Foundation, which is headed by the crown prince of Dubai and which owns the deed to CAIR's headquarters in Washington, D.C. [1].

Contents

[edit] Overview

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with 32 regional offices and chapters in the U.S. and Canada, CAIR was founded in 1994 by Nihad Awad, Omar Ahmad, and Rafeeq Jaber<ref>IAP Board Of Directors / Shura Council</ref><ref>Rafeeq Jaber: An Energetic Muslim Visionary and Fearless Palestinian-American Political Activist</ref> of the Islamic Association of Palestine (a Hamas front organization), with funding from the Hamas group Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.<ref name="Emerson2005">United States Senate Committee of Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs"Money Laundering and Terror Financing Issues in the Middle East." July 13, 2005 Accessed October 16, 2006.</ref> CAIR’s vision as a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group is to promote justice and mutual understanding. Its mission is based on 3 core goals – enhancing understanding of Islam, promoting justice and empowering American Muslims.

CAIR works in close cooperation with other civic and civil liberties groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, NAACP, Hispanic Unity, Organization of Chinese Americans, Japanese American Citizens League, Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, among many others. In 2003, the Ohio chapter of the ACLU gave its annual Liberty Flame Award to the Ohio chapter of CAIR "for contributions to the advancement and protection of civil liberties." [2].

CAIR has successfully formed partnership with the National Council of Churches and held dialogue with representatives of the National Association of Evangelicals.

CAIR has been critical of a number of U.S. criminal prosecutions, arguing, for example in one of many cases, that Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, deemed the ringleader of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and convicted of conspiring to blow up the Lincoln Tunnel and other New York City landmarks, did not receive a fair trial.

[edit] Funding

In 1999, the Islamic Development Bank gave a 250,000 US dollar grant to CAIR to purchase land for a national headquarters<ref>[Royal Embassy for Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC press released, quoted at http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/36]</ref>.

In 2002, the World Association for Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi government-funded organization, financed a 2002 weekly advertising campaign in American publications estimated to be worth $1.04 million dollars <ref>[[Saudi Gazette, November 2002 quoted in http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19241 Michael Graham, Killed in Action]</ref>

In 2003, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated $500,000 to place books in US libraries.

In 2006, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, financed the building of a property in the US to serve as an endowment for the organization. <ref>UAE Official Web site</ref> This gift is thought to generate income of approximately 3 million US dollars a year.

In June 2006, it was announced that Saudi Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal will be funding a $50 million CAIR project to influence the American media. [3]

[edit] Projects

CAIR works to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America through media relations, lobbying, education, and public advocacy. CAIR tries to get a Muslim voice represented in the media, and to present American Muslims' side of issues in current events, considering this a form of empowerment. Its members often appear on news programs when a story involves Muslims in America. Over the years, CAIR has become an often-cited source for journalists who are seeking input or a quote from Muslim leaders or the Muslim community.[citation needed]

CAIR monitors local, national and international media in part to challenge negative stereotypes, but also to applaud and encourage positive representations of Islam and Muslims. It issues "Action Alerts" to its online subscribers to call attention to hate crimes or harsh statements against Islam and Muslims in the media. Often, it will encourage a letter-writing campaign to ask politicians or editors to condemn hate speech. It also publishes positive reports of interfaith cooperation and examples of businesses that reach out to Muslims, and often asks the subscribers to write letters of gratitude to those leaders and companies.

CAIR also focuses on the civil rights of Muslims in America. It advocates on behalf of Muslims and others who have experienced religious discrimination, defamation, or hate crimes. It often mediates with employers to ensure that companies respect the religious rights of their Muslim workers, such as the right to wear a hijab at work or get time off for Islamic holidays.

CAIR also conducts research on the American Muslim community, releasing annual reports on civil rights and statistics on the Muslim community. It also sponsors voter registration drives in communities and outreach and interfaith relations with other religious groups in America.

CAIR's online "Not in the Name of Islam" petition, with over half a million signatures, strongly repudiates the use of terror.

After 9/11 Americans en masse took an increasing interest in Islam. CAIR created a "library project" which sold packages of educational books and tapes about Islam (over $300 worth per library) for donation to public libraries in the United States. In 2002 Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal donated $500,000 to CAIR to support the program. [4] The Washington Times noted in 2003 that although CAIR claimed to have sent 37 packets, the city had received only one.[5] The libraryproject.org page was last updated in 2005 and the domain became defunct.

CAIR coordinated the release of a fatwa (religious pronouncement) that stated in part, “Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not martyrs.”

In 2005, following incorrect media reports of the desecration of the Quran at Camp Delta in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, as well as negative stereotypes against Islam in the media, CAIR started an "Explore the Quran" campaign, intended to promote understanding of the Quran by distributing complimentary copies to any interested member of the American public.

In 2006, during the worldwide outrage over the publication of derogatory cartoons about Prophet Muhammad, CAIR responded by launching an educational program "Explore the Life of Muhammad" aimed at providing free copies of a DVD or book about the life of Prophet Muhammad to any person who requests it. Over 16,000 requests were received as of September 2006 .

In June 2006, CAIR announced a $50 million project to influence the American media ($10 million per year for five years). According to the article, the project will be spearheaded by Paul Findley, former US Congressman, and funded by Saudi Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal. [6]

[edit] Terrorism

Ghassan Elashi was a founder of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, and was a member of the founding board of directors of the Texas branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Elashi was arrested in December 2002 for conspiracy, money laundering, and dealing in the property of a designated terrorist. He was convicted on all charges in April 2005.

CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association for Palestine, identified by two former FBI counterterrorism chiefs as a “front group” for Hamas. At least four[7] CAIR leaders have been convicted on terrorism-related charges.

[edit] Criticism

Main article: Criticism of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

CAIR has received criticism from a number of both governmental and non-governmental sources, for actions it has taken and people and organizations it has been involved with.

The greatest source of criticism has involved CAIR's ties to terrorism and terrorist groups. As of 2006, at least four CAIR officials have been charged with terrorism-related offenses. CAIR has also been accused by the FBI of raising money for terrorist groups through fraudulent means. Officials of CAIR have been reported advocating for the establishment of an Islamic theocracy to replace the current United States government, and praising controversial groups such as Hamas.

Critics have also taken aim at CAIR's fundraising and sources of funds. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, CAIR's website solicited donations for what it called the "NY/DC Emergency Relief Fund."<ref>Archive.org: CAIR web site as of 2006-11-17]</ref> However, clicking on the donation link led to a website for donations to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). It was later designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union and U.S., and shut down by the U.S. government.

CAIR has also been accused of doctoring photographs and reporting fraudulent statistics about the Muslim population of the United States in support of its own private agenda. Finally, another source of criticism is that CAIR attempts to suppress criticism of Islamic terrorism and intolerance through accusations of racism and anti-Muslim bias.

Among books donated to libraries in CAIR's "library project" were a version of the Quran that was subsequently found to contain numerous anti-Jewish commentaries and was banned by the LA school system <ref>Doug Smith, Henry Weinstein and Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 'Schools Remove Donated Books,' February 7, 2002</ref> and Paul Findley's 'Silent No More', which included complimentary views of convicted terrorist Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi<ref>'Libraries revisit Islam' By Julia Duin, The Washington Times</ref> and former neo-Nazi William Baker.

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

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