In Defense of the Constitution

Anti-CAIR Press Release 010/03

May 18, 2003

    CAIR Attempts to Defend Position Regarding Condemnation of Islamist Terror in United States

    CAIR Attempts to Smear Daniel Pipes, Nominee to the United States Institute of Peace

    American Muslims Condemn Riyadh Bombings

    Trust on Trial, CAIR Re-writes Newspaper Article, Distorts Truth

     Toll on Palestinians Goes Beyond Violence

     ACAIR Will Respond to Requests for Information




CAIR Attempts to Defend Position Regarding Condemnation of Islamist Terror in United States

     On 12 May, 2003, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations, www.cair-net.org) issued an American Muslim News Brief with an article entitled “Muslims have not been silent about terrorism”  The article was written by Dalia Mogahed who heads up the Outreach Program for the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh.  In the article, Mogahed is responding to a letter, “The True Outrage” which Mogahed claims to show how evangelists like the Rev. Franklin Graham are “tearing our nation apart”.  

     Mogahed claims the following organizations “condemned” the Islamist terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001:  (Note: all are either terrorist or terrorist supporting organizations/people).  

1.  The League of Arab States – This organization condemned the US-led effort to free Iraq.

2.  President Muhammad Khatami of Iran – The “President” of Iran has roundly condemned the United States on many occasions.

3.  Jamaat-e-Islami – A Pakistan-based Islamic group dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic theocracy.

4.  Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt – An Islamist terrorist group.

5.  Chief Mufti of Saudi Arabia – Whose clerics regularly call for the destruction of the United States.

6.  Islamic Research Academy in Cairo, Egypt – Which called for “Jihad” against the United States should the US seek to liberate Iraq.

In the United States, Mogahed cited the following organizations:

1.  CAIR – An organization founded by Hamas supporters which seeks to overthrow Constitutional government in the United States and replace it with an Islamist theocracy using our own Constitution to tear us down.  CAIR consistently screams for Constitutional protections and then will readily deny these same protections to those who disagree with them.

2.  Islamic Society of North America – Same aim as CAIR.

3.  Muslim Student Association – A radical Muslim organization that imparts Islamist propaganda on college campuses in the US and Canada.  

     What do these organizations and people have in common?  All of them are anti-American and anti-Democratic.  Each one of these groups or people has at one time or another called for the overthrow of the United States government and its replacement by an Islamic theocracy.  CAIR, once again, defends the indefensible.  We find CAIR’s keeping company with these groups and people perfectly in line with their policy of accommodation with Islamist terrorists and their supporters.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/letters/20030511lets0511p1.asp



CAIR Attempts to Smear Daniel Pipes, Nominee to the United States Institute of Peace

     Continuing the smear campaign against Mr. Daniel Pipes, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relation, www.cair-net.org) reprinted a letter printed in the San Francisco Chronicle on May 11th, 2003.  The letter was co-authored by Mr. Helal Omeira (Executive Director, Northern California chapter of CAIR) and Mr. Arsalan Iftikar (Midwest Communications Director for CAIR).  

     In the letter, the authors cite a 1983 Washington Post book review that states:  Mr. Pipes has “a disturbing hostility to contemporary Muslims” and goes on to say that Mr. Pipes, “is swayed by the writings of anti-Muslim writers”.  

     Once again, CAIR leadership writes a letter concerning Mr. Pipes nomination that is completely devoid of any facts to back up their claim that Mr. Pipes is anti-Muslim.  In the lengthy letter, the authors fail to cite even one case of Mr. Pipes alleged “anti-Muslim” position.  Could it be that CAIR simply fears having a fair and impartial member on the board of the US Institute for Peace?  

     ACAIR strongly supports the nomination of Mr. Pipes to the board of the US Institute for Peace and urges the Congress to confirm Mr. Pipes in the shortest time possible so the Institute can carry on its important work.  

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/11/ED303758.DTL

 

American Muslims Condemn Riyadh Bombings

     On 13 May, 2003, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) issued an American Muslim News Brief containing statements made by CAIR regarding the recent terrorist bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  
     In a statement, CAIR condemned “this vicious attack on civilians” and stated, “We join with the international community in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators”.  
     ACAIR notes that CAIR is largely silent when the dead are Americans Islamist terror-murdered in the attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001 and points out that CAIR is largely silent regarding Islamist terror-murder attacks on Jews and other non-Muslims world wide.  ACAIR questions CAIR’s attitude towards Islamist terrorist murders, and points out, once again, that CAIR was founded by Hamas supporters.  
     Was CAIR’s concern for the victims the result of a new-found “concern for civilians” or a result of the strong financial support provided to CAIR by the Saudi Arabian government?  How many pieces of silver were paid by the Saudis for this statement by CAIR?

      The blatant hypocrisy of CAIR once again reveals their true agenda.   

 Link:  http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=31714&page=NB



Trust on Trial, CAIR Re-writes Newspaper Article, Distorts Truth

      On May 13, 2003, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations, www.cair-net.org) issued an American Muslim News Brief containing an article written by Bob Keefe of the Austin American Statesman on May 5th, 2003.  The article in question, “Trust on Trial” concerns the arrest and detention of Mr. Maher “Mike” Hawash, an American citizen for the past 14 years.  
     To read CAIR’s version of events, Mr. Hawash is an innocent American who was simply arrested for being a Muslim.  While CAIR’s version of the article does show that Mr. Hawash was eventually indicted on charges of conspiracy to join al-Queda and the Taliban, it fails to paint a complete picture of the governments case against Mr. Hawash.
 
ACAIR encourages all interested parties to visit the following link:
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=AASB&p_theme=aasb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_field_label-0=Author&p_field_label-1=title&p_bool_label-1=AND&p_text_label-1=trust%20on%20trial&s_dispstring=bob%20keefe%20AND%20headline(trust%20on%20trial)%20AND%20date(05/01/2003%20to%2005/19/2003)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=05/01/2003%20to%2005/19/2003&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(bob%20keefe)&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no

and read for themselves- and ask the question:  Why did CAIR find it necessary to distort the original article in such as way as to attempt to embarrass law enforcement authorities?  Why didn’t CAIR print the whole article and let readers decide for themselves?



Toll on Palestinians Goes Beyond Violence

     On May 14, 2003, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) issued an American Muslim News Brief referring to an article written by Ms. Shelia Poole of the Atlanta Journal Constitution on May 14, 2003.  

     In the article, Ms. Poole writes about the toll being taken on Palestinians in the Middle East. The article goes on to blame Israel for a whole host of problems, including high unemployment and malnutrition in the Palestinian Authority administered areas.  

      ACAIR questions why CAIR, a self-declared “Islamic Civil Rights” organization would find a need to note occurrences in the Middle East?  Will CAIR now be speaking for Palestinian Muslims?  If so, what is the motive?  Will CAIR present a fair and balanced viewpoint on the Middle East, or continue to present articles that are anti-Israeli?  

Link: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/atlanta_world/0503/14care.html



ACAIR Will Respond to Requests for Information

     As a service to our readers, ACAIR stands ready to answer any inquiries from the media or public.  ACAIR will answer questions from the public by e-mail which may be addressed as shown below.  Members of the media may request either an e-mail response to queries or may choose to speak to an ACAIR spokesperson.  Send an e-mail to the address below, stating the organization you represent and a phone number (US and Canada only, need not be toll-free) and time when you may be contacted.  Please allow a minimum of 24 hours for an e-mail response.

For more information:

 

Andrew Whitehead

ajwhitehead@anti-cair-net.org

ACAIR