According to Josh Gerstein over at Politico, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is to be the keynote speaker in Detroit, Michigan, on November 19, 2009, at the "first annual awards banquet of Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust, a coalition of several dozen law enforcement and community groups."
So what’s the big deal? Holder’s speech will be delivered to many organizations, but it is "the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations" (CAIR) that raises eyebrows.
As Gerstein points out, and as you probably already know, the FBI “cut ‘formal contacts’ with CAIR after federal prosecutors in the 2007 criminal trial of officers of a Texas-based Islamic charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, introduced documents the government said showed links between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, which gave rise to Hamas.”
What you may not know is that CAIR is a radical Islamic group, consider…
CAIR On The Koran Being The Highest Authority In America:
Then-CAIR Chairman Omar M. Ahmad said The Koran Should Be The “Highest Authority In America.” “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant, [Omar M. Ahmad, then-Chairman of the Board] said. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America and Islam the only accepted religion on earth, he said.” (Lisa Gardiner, “American Muslim Leader Urges Faithful To Spread Islam’s Message,” San Ramon Valley Herald, 7/4/98)
“In 1993, Before CAIR Existed, [CAIR National Communications Director] Ibrahim Hooper Told A Reporter: ‘I Wouldn't Want To Create The Impression That I Wouldn't Like The Government Of The United States To Be Islamic Sometime In The Future.”’ (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
Hooper Favored An Islamic US, And Said He’d Use Education Not Violence To Promote His Agenda. "I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper says. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education." (Lou Gelfand, “Reader Says Use Of 'Fundamentalist' Hurting Muslims,” Star Tribune, 4/4/93)
• Hooper Said In 2003 That If Muslims Were The Majority In The U.S. “It Would Be Safe To Assume That They [Muslims] Would Want To Replace The U.S. Constitution With Islamic Law. . .” “On the Michael Medved radio show in 2003, Hooper made the same point more positively: if Muslims ever become a majority in the United States, it would be safe to assume that they would want to replace the U.S. Constitution with Islamic law, as most Muslims believe that God's law is superior to man-made law.” (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
In 2006, Ihsan Bagby Of CAIR’s Washington Office Said Muslims “Could Never Be Full Citizens Of This Country.” “Other CAIR personnel also express their contempt for the United States. Ihsan Bagby of CAIR's Washington office has said that Muslims ‘can never be full citizens of this country,’ referring to the United States, ‘because there is no way we can be fully committed to the institutions and ideologies of this country.”’ (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
CAIR On The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing:
CAIR Criticized The Conviction Of Bombing Mastermind. “CAIR was critical of the conviction of Sheik Omar Abdul-Rahman, whom U.S. authorities deemed the ringleader of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and who was convicted with nine followers in October 1995 of conspiring to blow up the Lincoln Tunnel along with other New York city landmarks.” (Jake Tapper, “Some Of The Groups Claiming To Speak For American Muslims Find It Impossible To Speak Out Against Terrorist Groups,” Salon, 9/26/01)
• CAIR’s Founder Called Abdul-Rahman’s Trial “A Travesty Of Justice.” “And CAIR’s founder, Nihad Awad, wrote in the Muslim World Monitor that the World Trade Center trial, which ended in the conviction in 1994 of four Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, was ‘a travesty of justice.’” (Jake Tapper, “Some Of The Groups Claiming To Speak For American Muslims Find It Impossible To Speak Out Against Terrorist Groups,” Salon, 9/26/01)
CAIR Listed The Conviction Of Abdul-Rahman For The 1993 World Trade Center Bombings “On A List Of ‘Hate Crimes Against Muslims.” “CAIR went so far as to include the court conviction of Abdul-Rahman on a list of ‘hate crimes against Muslims.’ And CAIR’s founder, Nihad Awad, wrote in the Muslim World Monitor that the World Trade Center trial, which ended in the conviction in 1994 of four Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, was ‘a travesty of justice.’” (Jake Tapper, “Some Of The Groups Claiming To Speak For American Muslims Find It Impossible To Speak Out Against Terrorist Groups,” Salon, 9/26/01)
In 1993, Ibrahim Hooper Demanded That The Muslims Responsible For The World Trade Center Bombings Not Be Described As Fundamentalists. “Ibrahim Hooper, who says his Islamic Information Service represents Minnesota's estimated 15,000 Muslims, has reiterated his request that "fundamentalists" not be used to describe those charged in the World Trade Center bombing in New York.” (Lou Gelfand, “Reader Says Use Of 'Fundamentalist' Hurting Muslims,” Star Tribune, 4/4/93)
• “To Be A Muslim You Must Believe In Islam's Sacred Text, The Koran, And That Makes Every Muslim A Fundamentalist, Hooper Says.” (Lou Gelfand, “Reader Says Use Of 'Fundamentalist' Hurting Muslims,” Star Tribune, 4/4/93)
CAIR On Billboard Of Bin Laden In 1998:
CAIR Called For Removal Of A Billboard Of Osama Bin Laden Which Depicted The Terror Leader As A “Sworn Enemy.” CAIR is calling on Los Angeles-based KCOP Television, Inc., channel 13, to remove billboards deemed offensive to Muslims. The billboards, reportedly seen in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Gabriel, and other cities, feature a picture of Usama Bin Laden with the headline ‘the sworn enemy.’” (Council On American Islamic Relations, Press Release, “CAIR Demands Removal Of Billboard Stereotyping Muslims,” 10/28/98)
CAIR On 9/11:
Shortly After 9/11, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper Refused To Condemn Bin Laden By Name For The Attacks. “Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of CAIR, refuses to outright condemn Osama bin Laden. ‘We condemn terrorism, we condemn the attack on the buildings,’ Hooper said. But why not condemn bin Laden by name, especially after President Bush has now stated that he was clearly responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks?” (Jake Tapper, “Some Of The Groups Claiming To Speak For American Muslims Find It Impossible To Speak Out Against Terrorist Groups,” Salon, 9/26/01)
• “‘If Osama bin Laden was behind it, we condemn him by name,’ Hooper said. But why the ‘if’ -- why qualify the response? Hooper said he resented the question. And what about prior acts of terror linked to bin Laden? Or that bin Laden has urged Muslims to kill Americans? Again, Hooper demurred, saying only that he condemns acts of terror.” (Jake Tapper, “Some Of The Groups Claiming To Speak For American Muslims Find It Impossible To Speak Out Against Terrorist Groups,” Salon, 9/26/01)
“Not Until December 2001, When Bin Laden On Videotape Boasted Of His Involvement In The Attack, Did CAIR Finally Acknowledge His Role.” (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
CAIR And Terror Organizations Hamas And Hezbollah:
After 9/11, CAIR And The American Muslim Council (AMC) “Also Refuse[d] To Outright Condemn Islamic Terrorist Groups Hamas And Hezbollah. In fact, leaders from both groups have, in recent years, been quoted defending or exhorting organizations that the U.S. State Department classifies as ‘foreign terrorist.’” (Jake Tapper, “Some Of The Groups Claiming To Speak For American Muslims Find It Impossible To Speak Out Against Terrorist Groups,” Salon, 9/26/01)
CAIR Has Been Accused Of Giving “Aid To International Terrorist Groups.” “Steven Pomerantz, former FBI assistant director and chief of the FBI’s counterterrorism section, once charged that CAIR’s activities ‘effectively give aid to international terrorist groups.’ Other American Muslim leaders have raised questions about their possible alliances with radical groups, and many academics are disturbed by the groups’ prominence.” (Jake Tapper, “Some Of The Groups Claiming To Speak For American Muslims Find It Impossible To Speak Out Against Terrorist Groups,” Salon, 9/26/01)
CAIR Connected To Terrorists:
Randal (“Ismail”) Royer “CAIR Communications Specialist And Civil Rights Co-Ordinator, Was Indicted For Conspiring To Help Al-Qaida And Convicted Of Terrorist-Related Weapons Charges.” (Joel J. Sprayregen, “Don't Let Lawsuit Do End Run Around FBI Security Checks,” Chicago Sun Times, 5/26/06)
• “Royer eventually pleaded guilty to lesser firearms-related charges, and the former CAIR staffer was sentenced to twenty years in prison.” (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
Ghassan Elashi “Founder of CAIR-Texas, Was Convicted Of Knowingly Doing Business With Abu Marzook, A Designated Terrorist Who Was deported In 1997 And Is Now A Hamas Chief In Damascus.” (Joel J. Sprayregen, “Don't Let Lawsuit Do End Run Around FBI Security Checks,” Chicago Sun Times, 5/26/06)
Bassem Khafagi, Former CAIR Community Relations Director, Was Deported In 2001 For Lying On His Visa Application And For Passing Bad Checks. “Bassem Khafagi, an Egyptian native and CAIR's onetime community relations director, pleaded guilty in September 2003 to lying on his visa application and passing bad checks for substantial amounts in early 2001, for which he was deported.” (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
• “CAIR claimed Khafagi was hired only after he had committed his crimes and that the organization was unaware of his wrongdoing. But that is unconvincing, for a cursory background check reveals that Khafagi was a founding member and president of the Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA), an organization under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for terrorism-related activities.” (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
Rabih Haddad, A Former CAIR Fundraiser Was Arrested On Terrorism Charges In 2001. “Rabih Haddad, a CAIR fundraiser, was arrested in December 2001 on terrorism-related charges and deported from the United States due to his subsequent work as executive director of the Global Relief Foundation, a charity he co-founded which was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in October 2002 for financing Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.” (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
• “Rabih Hadid, CAIR fund-raiser and co-founder of a foundation frozen by the U.S. Treasury for financing al-Qaida, was deported. Cair solicited donations for the foundation.” (Joel J. Sprayregen, “Don't Let Lawsuit Do End Run Around FBI Security Checks,” Chicago Sun Times, 5/26/06)
“Siraji Wahajr Of CAIR's Board Of Advisers Was Named Unindicted Co-Conspirator In The First World Trade Center Bombing.” (Joel J. Sprayregen, “Don't Let Lawsuit Do End Run Around FBI Security Checks,” Chicago Sun Times, 5/26/06)
• “In defense of having Wahhaj on its Advisory Board, CAIR described him as ‘one of the most respected Muslim leaders in America.’” (Daniel Pipes; Sharon Chadha, “CAIR: Islamists Fooling The Establishment,” Middle East Quarterly, 3/22/06)
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