Allegations that CAIR is a front group with connections to terrorists.
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) (*) is well known to those who have been following the news in the US. CAIR spokesmen are frequently interviewed and quoted in the media. CAIR often speaks up on behalf of the civil rights of Muslims in the US. Some charge, however, that CAIR has ulterior motives, and wishes to spread pro-terrorist propaganda.
CAIR has been severely criticized. Joe Kaufman writes:
This particular group, CAIR, is widely reported as having been the creation of the Texas-based Islamic Association for Palestine or IAP, which is a front for the terrorist group Hamas and an organization that the United States has taken action against in its war on terror. Yet CAIR goes around masquerading as a civil rights organization, as an organization that fights against discrimination.
(†) There have been other, similar criticisms leveled against CAIR. (‡) (§) I’m not aware of whether these allegations are true. I am only noting them here for the sake of looking into them. If there is such a connection, the credibility of CAIR would be nil.
The US officially lists Hamas as a terrorist group. (**)
It would be interesting to know if CAIR has made a statement regarding its relationship, if any to Hamas or IAP. I can’t find any such statement on CAIR’s web site.
Let’s keep an open mind and proceed rationally. We should not assume that CAIR is a front group with connections to terrorists. Let’s develop evidence that shows that it is or is not.