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CAIR Head Refuses to Denounce Terrorists

CAIR Head Refuses to Denounce Terrorists

Author: Rachel Neuwirth
Publication: ChronWatch
Date: August 20, 2003

In late July, I contacted Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman and director of  communication 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!

To make sure that I had not misunderstood him, I called him back. His  response?  ''Call me tomorrow morning.''  Then he hung up the phone  again.

Instead of calling Mr. Hooper the next day, however, I sent him an e- mail and told him that his comment kept haunting me and that I  believe I was owed an explanation.  In my quest to comprehend CAIR's  position regarding the Middle East peace process, I posed the  following six questions, hoping for a clear response:

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?

After a few days, there was still no response from Mr. Hooper; so I  called him again to clarify what he meant about not publicly  supporting terrorist groups and to get his reaction to my six  questions.  However, all he said was that he will have peace when I  quit calling him!

This led me to research CAIR further.

CAIR was founded in 1994 by two former officials of the Islamic  Association for Palestine, a group that former FBI counter terrorism  chief Oliver Revell acknowledged was formed as a front for the  Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.  One of CAIR's official  founders and its executive director, Nihad Awad, openly expressed  support for Hamas, Hizbullah, and numerous other Arab/Islamic  terrorist organizations.

Mr. Hooper has defended Saudi financial support of Palestinian  suicide bombers.  In spite of this, much of America's present  political establishment embraces CAIR as a legitimate, mainstream,  Muslim-American organization.

FBI Director Robert Mueller and other top FBI officials have met with  CAIR, even though CAIR seems to be more opposed to the FBI's efforts  to fight terrorism  than to the terrorists themselves, as reported by  Michael Waller in Insight magazine:

Taking a closer look at the facts, CAIR can be characterized only as  an extremist group.

On June 26, Senator Jon Kyl, R-AZ, chaired hearings on ''Terrorism:  Growing Wahhabi Influence in the United States'' before the U.S.  Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland  Security.   According to the testimony of Stephen Schwartz. director  of the Islam and Democracy Program at the Foundation for the Defense  of Democracies, CAIR is financed by and maintains open and close  relations with the Saudi government whose goal, we now know, is to  spread the autocratic Wahhabi brand of Islam which aims to rule the  world. CAIR has claimed that some 70 percent of American Muslims want  the Wahhabi teaching in their mosques:

CAIR also claims to be a (Muslim) civil liberties organization. As  CAIR's spokesman should Mr. Hooper not, then, offer an explanation as  to why militant Islamists appear to be indifferent to the civil  liberties of non-Muslims?   If Mr. Hooper is the communication  director of CAIR, why is he so unwilling to communicate what he meant  when he said that, publicly, CAIR does not support terrorist groups?

If CAIR truly stands for equality, freedom, tolerance, and democracy  for everyone, it should be calling for the dismantling of terrorist  groups.  But never have I heard any CAIR spokesperson denounce  terrorism except in a twisted, elusive manner that seeks to blame  those who speak out against the terrorists' militant brand of Islam.

As an American, Mr. Hooper should make the elimination of hate and  incitement his objective.  It is apparent, from our interaction, that  Mr. Hooper may not really believe in the American system.  This was  indicated by his infamous statement in a 1993 interview with the  Minneapolis Star Tribune in which he declared, "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."

Hopefully, Mr. Hooper will take a few minutes out of his busy  schedule to  respond to my very simple questions and explain his  comment that CAIR doesn't support terrorist groups "publicly."   Surely my questions are not that difficult to answer -- unless, of  course, CAIR actually supports terrorist organizations and/or is  supported by them and simply doesn't want the public to know it.

(Rachel Neuwirth is a freelance writer who lives in Los Angeles)
 


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