In Defense of the Constitution

Anti-CAIR Press Release 021/03

August 25, 2003


- President Makes Recess Appointment of Dr. Pipes to USIP / Voice of Reason
  Added to Important Group

- Who is Mr. Hooper, CAIR spokesperson, afraid of? / Six Questions
 
- Dr. Daniel Pipes, Most Dangerous Man in America?

- Why Don’t Moderate Muslims Support CAIR?



President Makes Recess Appointment of Dr. Pipes to USIP / Voice of Reason Added to Important Group

     On 22 August, 2003, President Bush made good on his appointment of Dr. Daniel Pipes to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Facing strong opposition from a minority of congresspersons, the President took the unusual, but not unprecedented, step of making a “recess appointment” that will allow Dr. Pipes to serve until the end of next year. (Recess Appointments can be made when the Congress is not in session and the President feels that a vacancy is too important to wait for the normal vetting process of the Congress).
 
     ACAIR has been following the nomination process for many months. When the nomination of Dr. Pipes was first announced, the premier “Islamic Civil Rights” organization in the United States, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), went into immediate propaganda overdrive. Nothing was spared in the smear campaign: the leading charge was, of course, “Islamophobia”, CAIR’s usual accusation against anyone that dares to question anything CAIR has to say.

    What was the reaction over at CAIR? Mr. Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR spokesperson, could not resist the temptation to denigrate the President.   

“This back-door move by the president is a defeat for democracy and an affront to all those who seek peace. Pipe’s appointment calls into question all of President Bush’s previous statements claiming that the war on terrorism is not an attack on Islam and shows disdain for the democratic process.”

      Mr. Hooper cannot point to even one Islamic country on this planet that has a democratic government and he has the nerve to say that the President made an undemocratic appointment? There was nothing illegal or unethical about the Presidents appointments and Mr. Hooper knows it. CAIR couldn’t resist the temptation to take another cheap shot at the President. Why?






Who is Mr. Hooper, CAIR spokesperson, afraid of? / Six Questions

     Recently, ACAIR came across an interesting article by Ms. Rachel Neuwirth regarding a recent conversation she had with Mr. Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). In the article, Ms. Neuwirth asked Mr. Hooper six simple questions that should have been very easy to answer. We quote the first paragraph of Ms. Neuwirth’s article:

“In late July, I contacted Ibrahim Hooper, Spokesman and director of communications at the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). When he returned my call, he presented his point of view about the Arab-Israeli conflict and militant Islam. When I reminded him about CAIR’s record of openly supporting Hamas, Hizbullah, and other organizations deemed by the government to be terrorists, he replied by telling me that “CAIR does not support these groups publicly.” But Hooper must have realized that he had said too much: he lost his composure and I suddenly found myself listening to a dial tone!”

     Ms. Neuwirth goes on to say that she immediately called him back and Mr. Hooper told her to “Call me tomorrow morning” and again hung up on her. Rather than do that, she sent him an e-mail asking for clarification and she also posed him six questions:

“1. Does CAIR accept the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state in its historic, biblical homeland, whose “final” borders should be negotiated between the state of  Israel and representatives of Palestinian Arabs who have renounced violence?

2. Does CAIR condemn Hezbullah as a terrorist organization?

3. Does CAIR deem Hamas, Islamic Jihad Tanzim, Al-Aqsa Brigades, Fatah, and other such groups as terrorist organizations, without making a distinction between their political and military wings?

4. Does CAIR unconditionally condemn suicide/homicide bombing?

5. Does CAIR condemn all violence against civilians?

6. Does CAIR agree that a final resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict can be achieved only through political   negotiations, with no threat of a return to violence?”


     That’s it. Six very simple questions that should be very easy for the spokesperson and communications director of Americas “Premier Islamic Civil Rights Group” to answer. Why won’t Mr. Hooper address her questions? What is it about Ms. Neuwirth that upsets Mr. Hooper?  What is it about Ms. Neuwirth that has Mr. Hooper so petrified that he can’t respond to her e-mail?
 
     Mr. Hooper knows very well that he and CAIR are under the thumb of state sponsors of Islamist terrorism. No matter which way he answers her questions, he can’t win. If he tells the truth, he will expose CAIR’s connection to Wahhabi fanaticism and Islamist terrorism. If he lies, he will hold himself, and CAIR, up to ridicule in the Middle East. Will CAIR’s masters in Riyadh look kindly on this? After all, CAIR has never condemned any Islamist terrorist act until forced to do so, and then in only a very condescending manner.  
 
So what is it, Mr. Hooper? Are you going to answer Ms. Neuwirth’s questions, or remain true to your paycheck signers in Riyadh?

     ACAIR believes Mr. Hooper will take the tried and true method: He will denounce Ms. Neuwirth as an “Islamophobe” and refuse to answer her questions. If any other “respectable” organization should try to follow up with the same or similar questions, he will refuse to answer on the grounds that if he did so, he would be “supporting the Islamophobe, Ms. Neuwirth”. Its right out of the CAIR spokesperson handbook and in keeping with Mr. Hooper’s philosophy of  “If you can’t beat them, accuse them”. It’s worked in the past…but will it work this time?

     Stay tuned…





Dr. Daniel Pipes, Most Dangerous Man in America?

     Ever since the recess appointment by President Bush of Dr. Daniel Pipes to the United States Institute of Peace, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been in propaganda overdrive in their attempt to paint Dr. Pipes as the “Most Dangerous Man in America”. The latest example is a new low, even for CAIR, in their campaign to smear Dr. Pipes.  

     The web site of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), carries an "American Muslim News Brief " dated August 25, 2003 that is a reprint of an article appearing on the philly.com web site. But, is it an exact copy?

     CAIR has rewritten the heading in order to smear Dr. Pipes.


The column heading as shown on the philly.com web site:

“Bush taps controversial Phila. Scholar”


This is the same heading, after being “sexed up” by the propagandists of CAIR:

“Bush peace appointee says war with Muslims may be needed”
 


     CAIR implies that Dr. Pipes said, “War with Muslims may be needed”, when in fact the text was:

“Daniel Pipes, a controversial Philadelphia-based scholar of Islam appointed yesterday to a tax-funded peace institute, says war may be necessary for peace with some Muslim nations.”

     Dr. Pipes saying “some Muslim nations” is quite significant and very different from the picture presented by CAIR. In their irrational fear and loathing of Dr. Pipes, CAIR, “Americas’ premier Muslim Civil Rights Organization” will never let the truth or a sense of fair play interfere with their plans to impose an Islamic theocracy on the United States.






Why Don’t Moderate Muslims Support CAIR?

     In an article on the Pakistan Today web site, Ms. Fatima Sayyed expresses the strong support of the Muslim community for the nomination of Dr. Daniel Pipes to the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). Although this article first appeared on April 15, 2003, some of the comments are telling in light of recent events. For instance, Ms. Sayyed writes:

“Many moderate American Muslims, frustrated by and angry at the extremist policies of militant Islamist organizations in the US and their efforts to portray themselves as the sole voice of Islam, have welcomed the nomination of Daniel Pipes.”

     How can this be? How is it that an American Muslim writer in the United States can express an opinion not in line with the Council on American Islamic Relations, which speaks for all Muslims in the United States? How is that Ms. Sayyed can express an opinion not in conformity with CAIR’s masters in Riyadh? Has CAIR slipped?

     Or…is CAIR not representing moderate Islam in America? Could it be that CAIR is being ignored by mainstream Islam in America? Ms. Sayyed relates an interesting observation:
 
“Tashbih Sayyed, President of Council for Democracy and Tolerance, condemned the policies of militant Islamists and organizations like CAIR and MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council) of demonizing American policies. He pointed out that the United States of America has welcomed Muslims with open arms, irrespective of their sect and ethnicity, and it is the duty of all American Muslims to condemn these representatives of Islamist extremism.”

She continues:  

“Dr. Younus Mansour, an Egyptian scholar and author, said that Daniel Pipes is doing a service for the Muslims by warning America against the designs of CAIR, MPAC, and their ilk. These organizations want to divide American society. Any country that supports freedoms and democratic values is our friend and all those who work against the American interests are the enemies of American Muslims.”
 

     “Doing a service for the Muslims”?, “all those who work against the American interests are the enemies of American Muslims”? Where is the self pity? Where are the accusations that the United States is hostile to Islam? Is it possible that there is a large body of moderate Muslims in this country that are sick and tired of the anti-American, anti-freedom, self pitying attitude of CAIR?

     Is there a large group of Muslims in this country that are not represented by a group that takes orders from Islamist terrorists in Riyadh?

     It appears there is…and it’s a pity we don’t hear more from them. Have we become so obsessed with the dark side of Islam that we have turned our backs on all Muslims in the United States? Are we, as a country, missing a great opportunity by not cultivating the friendship of those Muslims who share our traditional American values?   

     Why is it that the mainstream media has nothing to say regarding peaceful American Muslims, but will stumble all over themselves at press conferences to hear the ranting of CAIR spokespersons spitting their anti-American screed? What makes CAIR legitimate? Who made CAIR the representative of all Muslims in America?

     Who indeed?







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ACAIR
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