Does Anyone CAIR Anymore?

August 9, 2011 By 22 Comments

In the ‘90s, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) successfully marketed itself as the largest advocacy group for Muslim-Americans, shrewdly linking its mission to that of the civil rights movement. “We are similar to a Muslim NAACP,” winked spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.

But the group’s aims seemed less about civil rights and more about intimidating people into silence. Wherever there is a critic of radical Islam to be smeared or a frivolous lawsuit to be pursued (remember the Nike logo lunacy?), CAIR is there. The group even managed to simultaneously lecture American law enforcement on how to tiptoe around the Muslim community while lecturing the Muslim community on how to stonewall law enforcement. And probably most significantly, it positioned itself as the media’s go-to spokesmen for all issues Islamic, making their message the only one disseminated.

But now CAIR has been embarrassed by a new survey which reveals that nearly 90% of American Muslims don’t feel that the Muslim Brotherhood front group represents their interests.

The survey released last week by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center explored “U.S. Muslims’ political, social, and spiritual engagement 10 years after September 11.” It asked, among other questions, “Which national Muslim American organization, if any, do you feel most represents your interests?” According to its surprising results, over half the men and over 40% of the women polled said they feel that no national Muslim group represents them. Only 12% of men and 11% of women surveyed said that the ubiquitous, high-profile CAIR speaks for them. Single digit percentages of the respondents, ranging from 0% to a mere 7%, said they felt that other prominent national Muslim interest groups, like the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Muslim American Society (MAS) – all groups with their roots in the Muslim Brotherhood – represent them.

This survey is another nail in what is shaping up to be CAIR’s coffin. The Washington Times had already reported as far back as June 2007 that CAIR’s membership had plunged 90% since the terrorist attacks of September 11. 2001. “This is the untold story in the myth that CAIR represents the American Muslim population,” said Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American-Islamic Forum for Democracy, at the time. “They only represent their membership and donors.” The new Gallup poll seems further confirmation of that.

Being named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a highly-publicized terrorism-funding court case didn’t help their carefully crafted image either. The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) was the country’s largest Islamic charity, shut down by authorities in 2001 for funding the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. That case ended with convictions for the HLF and five of its top officials. The judge later rejected CAIR’s request to be removed from the unindicted co-conspirator list, saying there was “ample evidence” connecting it to Hamas.

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Filed Under: Daily Mailer, FrontPage
About

Mark Tapson, a Hollywood-based writer and screenwriter, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center. He focuses on the politics of popular culture.

  • kafir4life

    I've heard that there is a group called cair that is a terrorist supporting organization, supporting terror, and supporting those who support terror, and may possibly even be members of that terroristic satanic gutter-cult of islam that was invented by a madman named mohamat who after a sex with and later a meal of his favorite pig (aka "dad"), shat the contents of the terror guide, the koran, that can redundantly used as toilet paper or snot rags, and is followed today by gutter cultists that call themselves muslim.

    Is that the same cair?

    allahu snackbar, and pass the pork, mad mo be praised!

  • al Kidya

    kafir4life…LMFAO!

    My thoughts are this…Most Muslim don't know that CAIR even exists or really don't give a CARE until they have a LAWFARE possibility.
    Taxi drivers who refuse to drive people carrying alcohol or dogs knew about CAIR but didn't really care until they were slapped with a disciplinary action by their employers.
    Muslims who commit crimes based on sharia customs probably did have prior knowledge of CAIR's existence.
    Terrorists committing jihad on behalf of Islam DO have knwledge of CAIR and the DO CARE about CAIR.

  • Angel

    The Muslims in America need to make a decision. They need to draw a line in the sand and sharply denounce those who seek to undermine them and control them. They need to take stand, are you an American first and willing to obey the laws of this nation or do you believe the narrative that CAIR promotes of Sharia Law to trump U.S. legal system. If the Muslims accept the fact that they are a minority, and they will accept our customs as theirs and become part of the great melting pot. When this happen then I will support them. Let me quote

    "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."

    In my opinion, the jury still out on this. It matters not whether the Muslims reject CAIR but what is in their heart. Now is the time to put up or get out.

    • Ghostwriter

      I wholeheartedly agree,Angel.

    • Peter

      Well put, Angel!

    • umustbkidding

      The "peaceful" Muslims will never take any stand whatsoever against CAIR or any other Muslim radical organization. To do so would mean they would be hunted down and killed, possibly even their family as well.

      You see when push really comes to shove the violent will easily over come the passive. Therefore the passive will become the violent just to survive. I say this because I would be extremely surprised if one of the first things to happen (just before these Muslims go snap) isn't the purging of the weak in the mosques.

  • StephenD

    Angel, well said. As pointed out in the article, CAIR has lost 90% of its membership. Yet, and still, we hear practically nothing from the folks that reject CAIR. Why is that?
    Unless and until they rise up and speak out against Shariah and speak out in favor of assimilation (the Hajib is NOT a religious issue but of culture and is not mandated, for example); unless and until they publicly reject Jihad in all it's forms and advocate and subscribe to our Constitution as the highest law in the land, it matters not if they are members of CAIR or any other group. They are yet to be a true member of America.

    • Louie

      StephenD, Angel, and the rest of you on this website are so ignorant about Islam and CAIR that I have no idea where to even begin. First of all, hijab has nothing at all to do with culture. Hijab is a religious requirement and it is very specific. To fullfill the requirements of hijab, hair and neck need to be covered with a scarf, clothes need to be loose fitting as to not reveal your figure, sleeves need to cover wrists, dress needs to cover ankles. material should not be see through or glittery to attract attention. By the way, the New Testament also requires women to cover their hair. Most Christians never read the Holy Bible so they have no idea.As for CAIR, I happen to know two of its co-founders. CAIR was founded by lawyers and they are very moderate. One of them works for the State's Attorney office in the 5tj District Court of Cook County, IL. Lawyers are not terrorists. Lawyers get what they want using the legal system. As for jihad, 99.9% of Americans have no idea what jihad really is. The greater jihad is a struggle within ones self, period. There is no such thing as "holy war" in Islam or the Arabic language. The best war is the one you can avoid.

      • Louie

        In the Holy Quran it says, if you kill one person, it is as if you killed all of mankind, and if you save a life, it is as if you saved all of mankind. That applies to ALL of mankind, the Holy Quran did not distinguish between Muslim and non-Muslim. Jihad (struggle within ones self) is required by all Muslims, and can be fullfilled by working to support your family. The lesser jihad is defending your family, your country, etc when you are attacked. Muslims are not allowed to go start wars. However, when they are attacked, they are required to defend themselves and their country. So if you want to stop the violence, simply return what you stole and get out of the Middle East and you will not hear from Muslims ever again guaranteed.

        • Louie

          Also, many Muslims in the US and other western countries are refugees of wars started by the US and its Allies. Both my parents are refugees of wars started by the west. I was born in the USA, but given a choice, I would love to live in Palestine. The problem is the US and England helped the Zionists steal our land back in 1948. Give us back our land and you will see a mass exodus of Palestinians from the US. It would be a win-win situation for both Americans and Arabs.

        • ObamaYoMoma

          In the Holy Quran it says, if you kill one person, it is as if you killed all of mankind, and if you save a life, it is as if you saved all of mankind.

          There are a couple of problems with that canard. First, that shyster Muhammad stole it from the OT when Islam was still a religion in Mecca, and second, the latter issued sword verses of the Koran have abrogated and superseded that verse.

          That applies to ALL of mankind, the Holy Quran did not distinguish between Muslim and non-Muslim.

          What do you mean? The Koran specifically divides the world between believers and unbeliever and then applies one set of rules and ethics for believers and a completely different set of rules and ethics for unbelievers. For instance, in every Islamic country in the world today Christians and other non-Muslims living in those countries are violently oppressed and systematically persecuted when not outright slaughtered altogether. Are you saying that this manifestation is a freak accident of nature by chance?

          Jihad (struggle within ones self) is required by all Muslims, and can be fullfilled by working to support your family. The lesser jihad is defending your family, your country, etc when you are attacked. Muslims are not allowed to go start wars. However, when they are attacked, they are required to defend themselves and their country.

          Really…well I’ll be. Hmm…. according to the Noble Koran published in Saudi Arabia by the “King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an, Madinah, K.S.A." “Al-Jihad (holy fighting) in Allah’s Cause (with full force of numbers and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on which it stands). Allah’s Word is made superior, (His Word being Lailaha illallah which means none has the right to be worshipped but Allah), and His Religion (Islam) is propagated. By abandoning Jihad (may Allah protect us from that) Islam is destroyed and the Muslims fall into an inferior position; their honour is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim, and he who tries to escape from this duty, or does not in his innermost heart wish to fulfil this duty, dies with one of the qualities of a hypocrite.”

          Jihad (struggle within ones self) is required by all Muslims

          You are right, per the sixth and most important of Islam, jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim to fight in the cause of Allah, it is not an obligatory duty only on so-called EXTREMISTS and it is not an obligatory duty only on so-called RADICALS, instead it is an obligatory duty in Islam on ALL MUSLIMS to fight jihad in the cause of Allah, no exceptions.

          However, jihad is not a “(struggle within ones self)” as you are alleging. Instead, “Al-Jihad (holy fighting) in Allah’s Cause (with full force of numbers and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on which it stands).” Indeed, it says “with full force of numbers and weaponry.” What happened…you missed that part or something?

          And what is this crap about, “none has the right to be worshipped but Allah), and His Religion (Islam) is propagated” via jihad, garbage? Care to explain that part?

          So if you want to stop the violence, simply return what you stole and get out of the Middle East and you will not hear from Muslims ever again guaranteed.

          How about you Muslims giving back what you stole instead like Christendom, Zoroastrian Persia, Buddhist Afghanistan, and Hindu Pakistan and India for starters, plus much, much more, and while you are at it, how about getting the hell out of the Americas and the EU, since you Muslim never migrate to the West or any other non-Islamic country for that matter to assimilate and integrate, but instead to eventually subjugate and dominate in order to make Islam supreme via demographic conquest.

      • ObamaYoMoma

        Lawyers are not terrorists.

        You are right about that. Indeed, Muslims never ever perpetrate terrorism, as terrorism is politically based, is always perpetrated by political extremists for any number of political causes, and always involves violence against civilian non-combatants.

        While, jihad, on the other hand, is always Islam based, is waged only by mainstream orthodox Muslims like you as opposed to political extremists as in the case of terrorism, is always in the cause of Allah, can be both violent and non-violent, unlike terrorism which is always violent, and is always directed against unbelievers, both civilian non-combatants and military combatants.

        Moreover, in stark contrast to terrorism, which usually consists of only isolated events, jihad, on the other hand, has been taking place perpetually around the world for almost 1400 years continuously and is specific only to Islam.

        As for jihad, 99.9% of Americans have no idea what jihad really is. The greater jihad is a struggle within ones self, period. There is no such thing as "holy war" in Islam or the Arabic language. The best war is the one you can avoid.

        According to the Noble Koran published in Saudi Arabia by the “King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an, Madinah, K.S.A." “Al-Jihad (holy fighting) in Allah’s Cause (with full force of numbers and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on which it stands).”

        What…they don’t speak Arabic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or something?

      • StephenD

        "By the way, the New Testament also requires women to cover their hair."You can only be referring to 1 Corinthians Chapter 11 where it instructs women to cover their head when prophesizing or praying. I would suggest you read the rest of it. OR are you "contentious" as Paul says since "we have no such custom?" "But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for [her] hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." If the Hajib is a religious requirement why is it that so many of the Islamic country leaders wives not wear it? You see, my whole point, which you NEVER address is the fact that you don't want to assimilate to the American culture but want instead to do away with it and in its place have an Islamic centered (Sharia) culture.  Continued.

        • StephenD

          Peddle your deceit elsewhere regarding Jihad. As I said, address the issue. No other religion advocates "fighting against the unbeliever wherever you find him." No other religion tells its adherents to continue this JIHAD until Islam is the only religion on earth. Not always violent, true, but this doesn't conflict with its ultimate goal does it? You go on to quote the earlier text speaking against killing but you fail to tell us that these were, by virtue of later text made null and void. Tell us what the later text says regarding killing non-believers?
          Return what was stolen?? The Jewish people have, on record, with historical, archeological, empirical evidence of having belonged to this land for nearly 4000 years. Palestinians?? No such people. Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians, sure. Divide their lands for a make believe people you call Palestinians. That is where they came from isn't it?
          You speak these lies and expect people here to lessen their concern? Are you daft man?

  • PKorman

    There is a huge difference between Muslims and islamists, who are as interested in political domination as they are worship. CAIR is funded and run by the latter, and everything they do, say, and write must be evaluated through that lens. Why should we care about CAIR? Because Islamists and arabists (and Arabs) have funded Democratic campaigns and projects. Their crusade is either protected or forwarded on that domestic flank. After all, why would they be promoting and holding seminars entitled “the Myth of Zionism” in the UAW local hall in Detroit (2010, Detroit Activists) but for this alliance?

    • Louie

      Islamist? Arabist? You people just make up words on your own?

    • ObamaYoMoma

      There is a huge difference between Muslims and islamists, who are as interested in political domination as they are worship.

      Yeah right…the only people still gullible enough to believe that there is a huge difference between Muslims and Islamists are delusional leftists, the writer of this lame ass article, and neo-cons that are RINOs for all intents and purposes.

  • patriotwork

    Obama still supports CAIR. Surprise!

    • Louie

      Obama? Obama is among the most anti-Islamic and anti-Arab Presidents that we have ever had. He proved that when he chose Biden the self proclaimed Zionist as his VP and when he appointed Rahm Emanuel as his Chief-of-Staff. Rahm Emanuel is now the mayor of Chicago and he really hates Arabs and is not shy about it. He refuses to meet with the Arab American community in Chicago. His father, Benjamin Emanuel, is a wanted terrorist for the attacks he was responsible for on British soldiers. Benjamin Emanuel also supplied the weapons to the Zionist gang called the Irgun that attacked the Palestinians in the 1940s. Google him and see. So explain to me how Obama and Biden are good for the Islamic community in America?

  • xlent

    Ther is no, "difference between muslems and islamists" None whatsoever!

  • HalleysFifth

    From the article:
    " 'We are similar to a Muslim NAACP,' winked spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.
    "But the group’s aims seemed less about civil rights and more about intimidating people into silence."

    What do you mean, "But?" CAIR sounds exactly like a Muslim NAACP: More about intimidation than civil rights!

  • ObamaYoMoma

    Wherever there is a critic of radical Islam to be smeared or a frivolous lawsuit to be pursued (remember the Nike logo lunacy?), CAIR is there.

    When the writer mentions “radical Islam,” is the writer implying that there is a version of Islam that somehow rejects the sixth and most important pillar of Islam that makes it an obligatory duty in Islam for every Muslim to fight jihad in the cause of Allah? In fact, the sixth and most important pillar of Islam doesn’t make it an obligatory duty only for EXTREMISTS and it doesn’t make it an obligatory duty only for RADICALS. Instead, it makes it an obligatory duty in Islam for ALL MUSLIMS to fight jihad in the cause of Allah, no exceptions.

    Hence, since ALL MAINSTREAM ORTHODOX MUSLIMS are obligated per the sixth and most important pillar of Islam to fight jihad in the cause of Allah, no exceptions, how can the writer of this lame ass article imply that there is a version of Islam that doesn’t represent an existential threat? The obvious answer is because this writer couldn’t be anymore naïve and gullible. Indeed, this writer is part of the problem, not the solution.

    But now CAIR has been embarrassed by a new survey which reveals that nearly 90% of American Muslims don’t feel that the Muslim Brotherhood front group represents their interests.

    Indeed, if this writer wasn’t so incredibly naïve, gullible, and yes dumb with respect to Islam to begin with, this writer wouldn’t be citing data and information emanating from Dalia Mogahed, especially since Ms Dalia Mogahed has been previously exposed right here on the pages of Front Page Magazine by Nonie Darwish:
    http://frontpagemag.com/2010/04/20/appeasing-the-…

    And also on the pages of jihadwatch.org by none other than Robert Spencer:
    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/10/spencer-obama-a…

    “This is the untold story in the myth that CAIR represents the American Muslim population,” said Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American-Islamic Forum for Democracy, at the time. “They only represent their membership and donors.” The new Gallup poll seems further confirmation of that.

    I hate to rain on this writer’s naïve and gullible parade again, but Dr. Zudhi Jasser is a shyster who poses as being a so-called moderate Muslim and a Muslim reformer, and as a result the so-called lapdog lamestream media is enamored with him, because they use Jasser to legitimize their false narrative that “Islam is a Religion of Peace™ being hijacked by a tiny minority of extremists” canard.

    The truth is Jasser isn’t reforming anything because he has exactly zero following in the Islamic world, since he is considered to be a blasphemous apostate that should be executed per the dictates of Islam by all devout Muslims. Indeed, Jasser was even kicked out of his own mosque. And with respect to his American-Islamic forum for Democracy, which is antithetical to everything for which Islam stands, I bet it doesn’t have more than 5 members and none of them are legitimate Muslims.

    Moreover, as anyone who has studied the evolution of Islam in depth can tell you, the notion that Islam as a religion can ever be reformed is ludicrous, as subsequent to the Hijra, Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, Muhammad in frustration abandoned religion and turned to jihad, politics, and conquest and in the process morphed Islam into something else entirely different from religion altogether and into what it is today, which is a supremacist theo-political totalitarian ideology. Indeed, Islam is far closer to Communism that it is to being a religion, as just like Communism, Islam seeks to dominate the world, and the end result of Islam exactly like Communism is totalitarianism. Hence, like Communism, it is impossible for Islam to ever be reformed.

    Now, I can’t pretend to know Jasser’s true motivations, but one thing is very obvious to me, he is a media whore, and if you pay attention closely to what he says, he sounds a lot like he is a neo-con on steroids with his the US must democratize the Islamic world mantra, which is literally impossible, by the way. Nevertheless, everything he says about Islam and Muslims is nonetheless garbage. He may dupe gullible non-Muslims like the lame writer of this article and the lamestream media, but he sure in the hell doesn’t fool me, and the last person I would ever quote on anything would be a media whore like Jasser.

    In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jasser is a stealth jihadist trying to keep the American people ignorant with respect to the existential threat of Islam, and if he is intentionally attempting to convince the American people to believe in the liberal canard which has it that the extent of the threat emanating from Islam consist of that “tiny minority of radicals,” then he is doing a very good job, especially with respect to this lame ass writer.

    Finally, I do agree with this writer that CAIR needs to be exposed and discredited as much as possible, but fortunately I’m not gullible enough to be duped easy and to believe in fairy tales.