Yesterday, tape broke of Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, openly celebrating the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israelis — the worst terror attack in the West since September 11.
“I was happy to see people breaking the siege,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1732712958281629864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proclaimed:</a>
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CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad at AMP Convention: I Was Happy to See the People of Gaza Break the Siege on October 7; They Were Victorious; the People of Gaza Have the Right to Self-Defense &#8211; Israel Does Not <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hamas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hamas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gaza</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Palestinians?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Palestinians</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CAIRNational?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CAIRNational</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NihadAwad?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NihadAwad</a> <a href="https://t.co/WDbSRjFJo0">pic.twitter.com/WDbSRjFJo0</a>
&mdash; MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) <a href="https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1732712958281629864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Awad’s words were perfectly in line with CAIR’s generalized anti-Semitism and radicalism. 
On October 7, the date of the Hamas massacre, CAIR National <a href="https://twitter.com/CAIRNational/status/1710758201358966893" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>: 
<blockquote>We join @USCMO and the American Muslim community in reaffirming our support for the Palestinian people’s right to freedom and calling for an end to the Israeli occupation, which … sparks the deadly violence that we see again and again, including today.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We join <a href="https://twitter.com/USCMO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCMO</a> and the American Muslim community in reaffirming our support for the Palestinian people&#39;s right to freedom and calling for an end to the Israeli occupation, which kills hundreds of Palestinian civilians every year, subjects millions of Palestinians to racist… <a href="https://t.co/eW4waBJGc2">pic.twitter.com/eW4waBJGc2</a>
&mdash; CAIR National (@CAIRNational) <a href="https://twitter.com/CAIRNational/status/1710758201358966893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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On October 7, before any Israeli response, they also called for an end to American aid to Israel and the Abraham Accords. The group has not offered a single word condemning Hamas.
Yet CAIR remains a go-to organization for the media and Democrats in politics. In May, in an attempt to counter accusations of anti-Semitism from inside the Democratic Party, the White House organized a National Strategy to Counter Anti-Semitism. That strategy included a group dedicated to “cross-community” solidarity — and that group included CAIR, which the White House <a href="https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-welcomes-biden-administrations-commitment-to-comprehensive-approach-to-combating-antisemitism-islamophobia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> would launch a tour: 
<blockquote>&#8230;to educate religious minority communities about steps they can take to protect their houses of worship from hate incidents, such as appropriate security measures, developing strong relationships with other faith communities, and maintaining open lines of communication with local law enforcement.</blockquote>
Why was CAIR included in this enterprise? To support the intersectional coalition the Biden administration has attempted to build. The Jews don’t truly fit in that intersectional coalition, of course. They don’t fit comfortably in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kill-dei-to-fight-anti-semitism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the oppressor-oppressed matrix</a> that underscores the coalition because Jews are both highly targeted and also highly-successful.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1865-breaking-hunter-biden-hit-with-nine-more-tax-charges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
But the Left likes the pretense that Jews belong in the coalition.
CAIR is the price of Jewish belonging: Since there is no substitute for CAIR in that organizational coalition, Jewish groups are expected to swallow hard and pretend CAIR is legitimate.
Tablet Magazine’s Armin Rosen has written on this topic, <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/biden-antisemitism-strategy-cair" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>: 
<blockquote>The ADL and CAIR might not get along, but they are protected by the same dynamic: They both provide a nearly identical service to the same larger coalition, which returns the favor by keeping both groups at a level of prominence that crowds out any potential rivals.</blockquote>
That’s the Biden administration’s program: Activate the coalition of the oppressed at all costs. That means covering up radical Muslim hatred for Jews — and that means including radical Muslims in the program to fight anti-Semitism.
At least, that was the plan. Biden Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt admitted CAIR was problematic, but <a href="https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-745971" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they could be included in the White House working group on anti-Semitism because: “If they’re really willing to change, if they’re really willing to say, ‘Hey, we now see this is a serious problem,’ then they are welcome.”
But, of course, CAIR wasn’t willing to change.
That was obvious.
To actively oppose Hamas would violate CAIR’s raison d’être.
The roots of CAIR are fascinating and frightening. As prosecutor Andy McCarthy writes about in his book, “The Grand Jihad,” Hamas supporters gathered at a Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia on October 27, 1993, with the intent of creating a new public relations organization in the United States. Those Hamas supporters included one Omar Ahmad, president of the Islamic Association for Palestine; concerned about being recorded, Ahmad referred to himself as “Omar Yahya” and referred to “Samah” instead of “Hamas” — “Samah” is “Hamas” backwards, of course. Ahmad, at the meeting, said it would be worthwhile to lie about the agenda, that the new organization could not admit “We represent Samah” or that “Ahmed Yassin,” the head of Hamas, “represents me.”
Awad, who was at the time the PR director for IAP, was at the conference too. There, according to McCarthy, he was an active participant in the meetings, where he agreed with Ahmad about adopting lying to Americans: “When I speak with the American,” he said, “I speak with someone who doesn’t know anything. As for the Palestinian who has a martyr brother or something, I know how to address him, you see?”
Less than a year later, CAIR was born. CAIR was linked with the Holy Land Foundation and the Muslim Brotherhood from its foundations. Daniel Pipes elaborated on the creation of CAIR in a National Review article, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/11/cair-terror-group-daniel-pipes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, 
<blockquote>Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and many other governments, indirectly created CAIR and the two groups remain tight. Examples: In 1994, CAIR head Nihad Awad publicly declared his support for Hamas; the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), a Hamas front group, contributed $5,000 to CAIR; in turn, CAIR exploited the 9/11 attacks to raise money for HLF.</blockquote>
Multiple board members and staff at CAIR have been arrested or denied entry to the United States or were indicted on and pled guilty to terrorism charges. CAIR defended the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, calling their convictions a “travesty of justice,” did not condemn Osama Bin Laden for September 11 until Bin Laden himself claimed the crime, opposed the deportation of terrorist Rasmea Odeh, and steadfastly tied virtually all anti-terror efforts to phantom “Islamophobia.”
In 2008, the FBI cut off relations with CAIR.
But under Democrats, the American government has never been willing to let go of the illusion that CAIR represents a crucial part of the intersectional coalition. In 2011, the Obama Justice Department declined to prosecute CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad; Ahmad worked closely with the Holy Land Foundation, as well as the Islamic Association of Palestine. That declination to prosecute came despite the fact both Attorney General Eric Holder and then-FBI Director Robert Mueller had serious reservations about CAIR. Reporter Patrick Poole <a href="https://pjmedia.com/patrick-poole/2011/04/14/did-obama-and-holder-scuttle-terror-finance-prosecutions-n11596" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on the indictments, saying they “were scuttled last year at the direction of top-level political appointees within the Department of Justice (DOJ) — and possibly even the White House.”
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The Trump administration cut off relations with CAIR. But under the Biden administration, CAIR returned to prominence.
Nihad Awad has spent years being feted by the media because the Left-wing media require a Muslim organization within the intersectional coalition, no matter how extreme. Thus, Awad is welcomed to national television to pretend at moderation, even while he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JipwLrSn4PM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spouts</a> Hamas talking points. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="CAIR&#039;s Nihad Awad Interviewed on MSNBC on Biden Admin&#039;s Response to Gaza War, Need for Ceasefire" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JipwLrSn4PM?start=290&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Now, of course, we’ve heard the radicalism from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. The question is whether the Left will be willing, this time, to admit what is plain: that CAIR is a radical Islamist organization.
Don’t hold your breath.

Screenshot 2023-12-08 at 3.38.40 PM copy

The Not-So-Secret Hamas Support Group With White House Access

Anti-Semitism

Ben Shapiro

CAIR

Hamas

Israel

Radical Islam

Readers Pass

White House

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden&#8217;s</a> administration scrambled on Thursday to distance itself from the Council on American-Islamic Relations after the organization&#8217;s executive director celebrated Hamas&#8217; October 7 terrorist attack against Israel.
Nihad Awad, the executive director of CAIR, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cair-executive-director-i-was-happy-to-see-people-breaking-the-siege-on-october-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> late last month that he was happy to see the people of Gaza “breaking the siege” on October 7, when Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis.
“The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7th,” said Awad while speaking at the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) convention in Chicago. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, that they were not allowed to walk in. And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves, and yes, Israel, as an occupying power, does not have that right to self-defense.”
The Biden administration included CAIR in its National Strategy to Counter Anti-Semitism White House fact sheet while excluding exclusive use of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.
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This is the same CAIR that was included in the <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeBiden</a> administration’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism White House fact sheet. 
Including CAIR, while excluding exclusive use of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Deeply disappointing. <a href="https://t.co/ao4VdOSGw8">https://t.co/ao4VdOSGw8</a> <a href="https://t.co/I37DuQuczo">pic.twitter.com/I37DuQuczo</a>
&mdash; RJC (@RJC) <a href="https://twitter.com/RJC/status/1732801697259380835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We criticized Biden’s antisemitism report for this and other reasons when it first came out,&#8221; said former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. &#8220;The report literally enlists CAIR — a Hamas sympathizer — as a partner in combating antisemitism. It seemed ridiculous then; it’s downright criminal now!&#8221;
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Exactly. We criticized Biden’s antisemitism report for this and other reasons when it first came out. The report literally enlists CAIR — a Hamas sympathizer — as a partner in combatting antisemitism. It seemed ridiculous then; it’s downright criminal now! <a href="https://t.co/58GEharqEr">https://t.co/58GEharqEr</a>
&mdash; David M Friedman (@DavidM_Friedman) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidM_Friedman/status/1732970651617542328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
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White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates responded to Awad&#8217;s remarks in a <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2023/12/white-house-distances-itself-from-cair-condemns-directors-antisemitic-statements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> to Jewish Insider: “We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms. Every leader has a responsibility to call out antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head.”
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The report noted that CAIR’s name was deleted from that fact sheet following Awad’s comments.
“CAIR was not listed in the strategy. They were one of several independent organizations listed in a supplemental document,” a White House official claimed to Jewish Insider in reference to the fact sheet. “The White House removed their commitment from the supplemental document today as a result of the comments.”
The administration also said that CAIR was not involved in developing its national strategy against Islamophobia.

President Biden Attends White House Tribal Nations Summit

White House Scrambles To Distance Itself From CAIR After ‘Shocking Anti-Semitic Statements’

White House Scrambles To Distance Itself From CAIR After 'Shocking Anti-Semitic Statements'

Biden Administration

Executive

Politics

Nihad Awad, the executive director of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cair" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CAIR</a>, said during a speech late last month that he was happy to see the people of Gaza &#8220;breaking the siege&#8221; on October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented terrorist attack against Israel.
The Middle East Media Research Institute reported on Thursday that Awad made the remarks while speaking at the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) convention in Chicago on November 24.
&#8220;The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7th,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, that they were not allowed to walk in. And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves, and yes, Israel, as an occupying power, does not have that right to self-defense.&#8221;
He later said that &#8220;Gaza became the liberation source, the inspiration for people&#8221; and that Gaza &#8220;transformed many minds around the world, including people who are not Muslim.&#8221;
&#8220;What kind of faith do these people have? They are thankful, they are not afraid,&#8221; he said, later adding: &#8220;Israel did not scare them, because they knew their heaven is in Gaza, and if they would like to die, they will go to another heaven.&#8221;
&#8220;That is the faith of the people of Gaza,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;That is why Gaza and the people of Gaza were able to transform everyone who is watching – they have learned from these people. Those who felt bad for Gaza – they don&#8217;t understand the equation. Those who thought that Gazans are less than those who can help them, they are mistaken. They are mistaken. The Gazans were victorious.&#8221;
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad at AMP Convention: I Was Happy to See the People of Gaza Break the Siege on October 7; They Were Victorious; the People of Gaza Have the Right to Self-Defense &#8211; Israel Does Not <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hamas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hamas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gaza</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Palestinians?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Palestinians</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CAIRNational?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CAIRNational</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NihadAwad?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NihadAwad</a> <a href="https://t.co/WDbSRjFJo0">pic.twitter.com/WDbSRjFJo0</a>
&mdash; MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) <a href="https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1732712958281629864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Council on American-Islamic Relations Response to Trumps Immigration Executive Order

CAIR Executive Director: ‘I Was Happy To See People Breaking The Siege’ On October 7

CAIR Executive Director: 'I Was Happy To See People Breaking The Siege' On October 7

Gaza

Terrorism

World

The nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group said Monday that a Maryland school system misled a federal court about its efforts to block parents from “opting out” their children of lessons pushing homosexuality and transgenderism.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also obtained documents showing that a labor union representing principals harbored similar concerns, with the principals saying that Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) was publicly telling parents it wouldn’t indoctrinate kids, then forcing principals to take the heat for doing the opposite.
The dual broadsides by the Muslim group and labor union highlight new fault lines on sexual indoctrination in minority-heavy, Democrat-dominated school systems like MCPS, a large district outside of Washington, D.C. Hundreds of immigrants gathered for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-muslim-and-christian-parents-show-up-in-force-to-protest-lgbt-books-at-maryland-school-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protests</a> this summer to advocate for parental rights, while white female Democrat activists shouted them down.
MCPS claimed it prohibited opt-outs because so many parents wanted to opt out that it was causing a disruption, but it also said in response to a public records request that it had no data on the number of people who wanted to opt out, and a CAIR official said in a deposition that a school official said repeatedly that it was actually because of advocacy from a few LGBT activists.
“Contrary to its claims, MCPS has indeed instructed Pre-K through 12 English teachers to teach detailed concepts that would normally arise in sex education courses and then scold, debate or silence only children who express traditional or religious views about those topics. This is wrong. So is MCPS’ decision to mislead the public and a federal court about why it canceled the opt-out option earlier this year,” CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement.
Emails show that the district’s principals union wrote in November 2022 that principals were angry that the school district was publicly telling parents that it wouldn’t indoctrinate their kids, then leaving principals to take the fire when they were ordered to do it anyway.
MCPS said that it was simply using LBTQ books as examples of literature to study English, but internal documents “contradict the overarching messaging and seem to support the explicit teaching of gender and sexual identify,” the union wrote.
MCPS documents erase “parents” altogether and refer only to “caregivers.” A document called &#8220;<a href="https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Responding-to-Caregivers_Community-Questions.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Responding to Caregivers/Community Questions</a>&#8221; instructs teachers how to dismiss concerns from parents.
In response to the complaint that “Ideas about gender diversity go against the values we are instilling in my child at home. Are you trying to teach my child to reject these values?” they should say that children are “increasingly, identifying as LGBTQ+ themselves, even in elementary school.”
In response to “Can I keep my child home when students are learning about LGBTQ+ topics?” it gives a long speech about “equity” before giving a “no” dressed up as a “yes,” saying: “Parents always have the choice to keep their student(s) home while using these texts; however, it will not be an excused absence.” Parents who keep their child out of school for extended unexcused absences can be charged with promoting truancy.
In response to “Are these books appropriate? What place do they have in the classroom?” it claims they are simply examples of literature being studied in English, as well as being used for social emotional learning.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woman-abused-as-teen-says-schools-social-emotional-learning-guru-pressed-her-to-drop-charges-because-her-teacher-assailant-was-black" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Woman Abused As Teen Says School’s ‘Social Emotional Learning’ Guru Pressed Her To Drop Charges Because Her Teacher Assailant Was Black</a>
Another MCPS document tells teachers how to respond to students, saying if a student says that a boy can’t be a girl, the teacher should <a href="https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Sample-Student-Call-Ins_LGBTQIA.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tell the child</a> that “that comment is hurtful” and that they are wrong. The principals union said staff was being forced to make a “shaming comment to a child” and “state as a fact” something that was not necessarily a fact.
The union said that the answer teachers were instructed to give to a student who says being gay is against their religion is “dismissive of religious beliefs.”
It said that principals were being asked to push books about transgenderism to young elementary school students, before they even take sex-ed in fifth grade.
“Numerous concerns have been raised by principals, teachers, and community members that the content of the books does not align with the stated messages” and “Principals are requesting that MCPS consider other titles that more closely align to the communicated intent,” the <a href="https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-07-26-47-1-Decl-of-Robert-McCaw.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union wrote</a>.
MCPS wanted preschoolers to read a book about a drag queen called &#8220;Pride Puppy,&#8221; have first graders read a “difficult and unengaging” book called &#8220;Intersection Allies,&#8221; and have second graders read a book called &#8220;My Rainbow&#8221; about an autistic girl who “comes to understand she identifies transgender [sic].”
Fourth graders are asked to read &#8220;Love, Violet&#8221; about a “young school-age girl who falls in love with another girl in her class.”
“It is problematic to portray elementary school age children falling in love with other children, regardless of sexual preferences,” the principals union wrote.
It also referenced a critical race theory-based document that encouraged students to judge a work of literature based on the race of the person who wrote it. “This criterion is exclusionary,” the principals wrote.
It said that the documents contradicted MCPS’ claims that they were reading such books merely as examples of literature, rather than pushing the content, when it said it hoped the books would lead to “curious exploration.”
“MCPS has stated publicly that there is no option to opt-out, with the rationale that MCPS is simply providing books about inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and inclusivity. However, due to the concerns shared earlier about the plot and nature of the books, this creates a significant concern by some parents about ‘indoctrination’ or ‘hidden agendas,’” the union wrote.

Montgomery County parents stage ‘Family rights & Religious freedom’ demonstration

Muslim Group, Principals Union Say School System Lied To Stop Parents From Opting Their Children Out Of Transgender Lessons

Education

Maryland

Parental Rights in Education

Transgender

The &#8217;90s called. They want their moral panic-induced censorship back.
Seriously, it’s like the games “journalists” of today don’t remember Jack Thompson’s failed crusade in the 1990s and early 2000s. His claims that video games caused violence were eventually dismissed (he was also disbarred for unrelated reasons), with little to no evidence supporting his theories.
But the ghost of the still-alive Thompson legacy has once again reared its ugly head, this time in the form of a concentrated effort to censor one particular video game — that no one has played — claiming it will lead to violence, even though such claims have failed to prove true in the past.
The latest example is the upcoming game “Six Days in Fallujah,” which sounds like a pretty cool concept for a game, combining gameplay and documentary in an attempt to show what it was like for everyone involved in the Second Battle of Fallujah back in 2004 — including U.S. troops, Iraqi troops, and civilians.
Erik Kain, who regularly writes about video games, explained that “Six Days in Fallujah” was not “Call Of Duty,” a famous video-game series that some claim as some kind of “war crime” game.
Still, “Six Days in Fallujah” has been lumped in with “Call Of Duty,” even though the former hasn’t even been released, and so no one who is condemning it has actually played it yet.
The usual voices are seeking to ban this game before it even goes to market. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release last week insisting the game — which, again, no one has even played — is basically an “Arab murder simulator” that “glorifies violence that took the lives of over 800 Iraqi civilians, justifies the illegal invasion of Iraq and reinforces Islamophobic narratives.”
CAIR has a tendency to argue this position regarding anything which portrays Americans at war with Islamic countries, so it’s predictable they would attach the claim to something they haven’t seen. They’ve also moved beyond their press release and are now actively petitioning Sony and Microsoft to keep “Six Days in Fallujah” from their online stores, despite there being no evidence that so-called Islamophobia is fueled when a new war-based video game (or movie, or documentary, or TV show) is released.
However, games journalists — who are supposed to cover games — are actively rooting for “Six Days in Fallujah” to be banned. The Houston Press ran an <a href="https://archive.is/wc2mR">opinion piece</a> from someone who built upon CAIR’s words to make numerous assumptions about the game, comparing it to “Cut-and-paste military shooters with racist bents” and suggesting it would be “yet another adventure where we focus on how hard killing foreigners and people of color is on Americans while still not addressing why we did it in the first place.”
Kotaku, one of the most notorious outlets for “woke” commentary on video games, also parroted CAIR’s press release and suggested the game should be banned on various platforms, calling it “a step in the right direction.”
Again, there is little to no evidence that video games cause any of the world’s ills, as Stetson University psychology professor Christopher Ferguson <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/checkpoints/202103/the-moral-panic-over-the-six-days-in-fallujah-game">wrote</a> at Psychology Today.
“The good news, and a reason to be cautious about stating such effects, is that evidence for other video game effects outside of the violence realm has generally turned up very little. That’s true whether we’re looking at <a href="https://christopherjferguson.com/WomenSexualizedGames.pdf">body-image concerns</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25844719/">sexist </a><a href="https://christopherjferguson.com/Annual%20Review%20LSS.pdf">attitudes</a>, or <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1555412013493498">pro-militaristic attitudes</a>. In general, beliefs that fictional media can influence behaviors or attitudes is largely exaggerated. Thus, even if the game were to portray a one-sided version of the Second Battle of Fallujah (something we don’t know since the game hasn’t been released) there’s no clear reason to believe it would have particularly noticeable effects on players’ attitudes toward Iraqi citizens,” Ferguson wrote.
If people want to boycott a service or product as an individual, that’s fine, but trying to get something widely banned over misplaced concerns that someone, somewhere might be hurt goes a step too far. The flip side, of course, is that all these outlets and organizations are giving the game more publicity, which will likely help the developers.
Unless, of course, Sony and Microsoft give in to a small number of activists with big microphones. After all, we’ve seen it happen before.
The views expressed in this piece are the author&#8217;s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Game controller

Woke Gamers Looking To Censor ‘Six Days In Fallujah,’ Before They’ve Even Played It

Video Games

The Daily Wire conducted an email interview with New York City Jewish leader <a href="https://twitter.com/HikindDov">Dov Hikind</a>, a former Democratic New York state assemblyman, founder of <a href="https://twitter.com/AmericansAA">Americans Against Antisemitism</a>, and prominent public-facing activist representing large swaths of New York&#8217;s Orthodox Jewish community. Just last month, President Trump called Hikind a &#8220;highly respected Jewish leader&#8221;:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thank you to highly respected Jewish leader Dov Hikind for his wonderful statements about me this morning on <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxandfriends</a>.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1211655287247126535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
What follows is a question-and-answer exchange about anti-Semitism — and how to fight it.
The Daily Wire (TDW): Anti-Semitism is, of course, the world&#8217;s oldest bigotry. But why has it been so on the rise over the past decade or so in Europe and now, it seems, in the U.S.?
Dov Hikind (DH): The answer is complex, as there are many factors involved. Though Europe and the U.S. are experiencing increased anti-Semitism, the sources aren’t exactly the same. In Europe, most physical attacks and verbal assaults are committed by Muslims — though there is also a resurgent far-Right. In America, nationally, it is primarily a white supremacy problem; but in the major cities, which happen to be areas with high concentration of Jews, it’s the far-Left and minority groups that are responsible for perpetuating anti-Semitism and justifying the violence committed in its name. But what they do have in common is that the rise happens because hatred is tolerated and anti-Semitism is back in vogue. Additionally, the cesspool of hatred that can be found on social media has no borders or political affiliations and serves to feed the growing hateful appetites on both sides of the Atlantic.
TDW: How much do you blame Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio for the rise in anti-Semitism in New York and New York City, specifically?
DH: I’m not in the habit of blaming any single individual for a massive problem that predates their own existence. The governor and mayor did not create anti-Semitism and certainly don’t directly contribute to its rise. They are, however, responsible for reacting appropriately and swiftly to restore the sense of security that has been robbed of the Jewish community. And here, the onus is more on the mayor than the governor since it’s New York City that is far beyond out of control in comparison with any other city in America. That’s not a great distinction for New York to hold. So I don’t blame them for the rise, but they are to be held accountable for the lack of results on the ground.
TDW: To what extent have Mayor de Blasio&#8217;s constant attacks on police undermined the safety of Jews in New York City?
DH: That goes to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-hammer-on-tipping-point-with-liz-wheeler-new-yorks-insane-pro-criminal-bail-law">broader issue of policing and criminal justice</a> that we’re seeing unfold now. There’s no doubt that when respect for law enforcement is undermined, so is respect for the law itself. Add to that the lack of consequences for violent anti-Semitic criminals, and there’s no doubt as to why there’s a lack of deterrence and the attacks continue unabated. The police of New York City are the best; they just need to be enabled to do their jobs with the dignity and respect they deserve. Strong policing ensures safe communities; they go hand in hand. It remains to be seen if these trends will be reversed or if they continue to deteriorate.
TDW: Why do so many Jews seem to not take self-defense seriously? Why is a fear of guns and gun ownership so seemingly popular among large swaths of the Jewish community?
DH: Two reasons: First, there is a notion that G-d protects every person, not guns — so if a person’s time comes, no gun will help. Second, there is a legitimate fear that in households filled with children, bringing in a lot of guns to a community that is not especially adjusted to it will only lead to accidents and tragedies that will be painfully regretted. Also, there’s a notion that the fighter, the one to take up arms, is not for every segment of the Jewish population. Some study and pray, some fight. I do think it’s important for every person, Jewish or not, to know how to defend oneself in this crazy and unpredictable world, but that’s a decision for each individual to make.
TDW: Why do so many people politicize anti-Semitism and weaponize it as a cudgel? Why do so many on the Left, in particular, only focus on white nationalist/neo-Nazi anti-Semitism and turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism from Islamists, so-called &#8220;anti-Zionists,&#8221; and black nationalists alike?
DH: Anti-Semitism has always been used as a cudgel. Rather, more precisely, Jews have always been used as political cudgel (in previous times, known as “the Jewish question/problem”). What it signifies is a certain decay and rot within society. When a society cannot face its decisions and actions, and instead seeks a scapegoat, the most available and returned to in history, are the Jews. Easy. Convenient. And it comes with an entire repertoire of “reasons” for hating Jews. Now, at this point in time, in America, it is the Left that has a major blind spot when it comes to anti-Semites in their ranks, and that’s because anti-Semites got so good at couching hateful rhetoric in the guise of humanitarian concern that they’ve lost sight of what they’re really promoting. Think of the morning Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) woke up to find that David Duke had tweeted in her support! A white supremacist neo-Nazi tweeting support for an African-American anti-Zionist anti-Semite! That’s the level of distortion and blindness at play in the current landscape that leads to such strange political bedfellows.
TDW: Is so-called &#8220;anti-Zionism&#8221; the same as anti-Semitism, pure and simple?
DH: Yes. Pure and simple. Why? Because can you find a similar movement that is “anti-China” over its detention of over 1,000,000 Uighur Muslims? Is there any anti-Syria movement over Bashar al-Assad’s committing genocide against his own people? The list goes on. The answer is no. There is only one movement of people that are mobilized to challenge the &#8220;right to exist&#8221; and sovereignty of a single nation on Earth, and that so happens to be the lone Jewish state. Anti-Zionism is simply one variation of anti-Semitism. It’s on the menu. You can hate Jews because we’re not white (neo-Nazis), because we’re white and share in its privilege (far-Left), or because we’re baby-killing, Zionist-colonialists who have absolutely no history in the land of Israel (radical Islamism). They can take their pick from the &#8220;hate du jour.&#8221;
TDW: What can be done to make Zionism and the pro-Israel cause palatable and popular again among the American and international Left?
DH: You know, traditionally this question gets an answer like, “we have to show how valuable Israel is to the world, how the start-up nation is innovating for the betterment of the world by bringing water and irrigation technologies to rain-deprived regions in Africa and being among the first to send rescue teams and humanitarian aid when natural disasters strike any country on earth.” But I’m personally sick of those answers because it implies that we need to constantly compete in some kind of warped popularity contest. Our deserving of equal rights and treatment on the global stage should not be tied to how wonderful Israel is. No. Let’s take Israel for no better than any other state, no more amazing — it would still be no less deserving of fair treatment! So I don’t think we can magically make Zionism and Israel more palatable, but more importantly, I don’t think that’s where our energies should go.
TDW: Why is Israel so unpopular on the American university campus? What can be done to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-how-pro-israel-students-campus-can-fight-josh-hammer">counter growing anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment</a> on the university campus?
DH: We know for a fact that a lot of money has been pouring into the American university system from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-al-jazeeras-disgraceful-holocaust-denying-josh-hammer">terror-supporting states like Qatar</a>, which bankrolls <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-israel-must-destroy-hamas-once-and-all-josh-hammer">Hamas</a> as well as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-designating-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-josh-hammer">Muslim Brotherhood</a> and its American subsidiary, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/firester-cairs-fight-to-undermine-u-s-border-security-continues">CAIR</a>. These benefactors are behind groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine, which is single handedly responsible for creating a terribly toxic environment for Jewish students and faculty. Frankly, I don’t believe Jewish groups will ever invest the same resources in combating those efforts as the enemies of Israel do, but it goes back to high school education. When you peel that layer back and see what kind of Jewish education students have received prior to arriving on campus, it becomes clear that too many lack the basic and adequate knowledge to defend themselves against the malicious lies and libels that anti-Semitic student groups spread. If we can better educate our high school students, they’ll have a better chance at fighting back against anti-Semitism on university campuses.
TDW: What role does education play, exactly, in countering anti-Semitism? How can education about the Holocaust and Jewish history, in general, help counter the trend?
DH: Crucial. Central. It’s all about education. Hate is borne of ignorance. But the task is doubly as hard because it’s not only a matter of getting the right information to students, but working to counter all the lies and falsehoods that are perpetuated at astounding speed and frequency. The Holocaust is the central case study of anti-Semitism because it encapsulates from beginning to end what the dangers of unchecked anti-Semitism look like. What starts with hateful rhetoric can easily end in a genocide perpetrated by the most &#8220;cultured&#8221; and &#8220;civilized&#8221; of European societies, with a majority of its citizens partaking in the apparatus that annihilated six million Jews. No society is immune to the plague of anti-Semitism. However, those who choose ignorance and denial of the Holocaust rather than wrestling with its wrenching paradoxes are those most likely to repeat its darkest chapters.
TDW: What advice would you give to those who are trying to make a difference in their own lives, in terms of countering anti-Semitism?
DH: Action! Get involved with an organization, like Americans Against Antisemitism, that takes concrete steps to combat this hatred. Taking part gives the individual a sense of control, that we are not victims or pawns, that we will not be pushed around, but will stand up for our G-d-given rights. But individuals can do anything that works for them. For some, it’s being loud on social media; for others it&#8217;s hosting events and attending rallies. The point is for every individual to do his or her part, no matter how small or big, because our force is increased with unity. And to be clear, one need not be Jewish to take up the fight against anti-Semitism; the fight to eradicate this special and oldest of hatreds is quintessentially an American struggle for the right to live in freedom and pursue happiness.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind – Jewish organizations held a protest

Fighting Anti-Semitism: An Interview With Jewish Leader Dov Hikind

Andrew Cuomo

Bill de Blasio

Crime

Hate Crime

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In its latest annual <a href="http://www.islamophobia.org/reports/228-2018-civil-rights-report-bias-incident-data.html">hate crimes report</a>, the <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/resources/profiles/the-council-on-american-islamic-relations-cair">Council on American-Islamic Relations</a> (CAIR) vilified U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials as the nation’s greatest perpetrators of anti-Muslim discrimination. So, when as many as 60 Iranian and Iranian-American travelers were delayed for hours earlier this month at the U.S.-Canada border, CAIR was quick to accuse the federal agency of living up to its purported reputation. Has the U.S. government decided to make life difficult for Iranians living in America, as CAIR contends? Or are the nonprofit’s actions part of an enduring campaign to subvert U.S. border security?
In response to a January 2 air strike which <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opinion/soleimani-iran-tom-cotton.amp.html">killed</a> Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/ntas/alerts/20_0104_ntas_bulletin.pdf">published</a> a bulletin warning that Hezbollah and other Iranian loyalists could carry out homeland-based plots by targeting “critical infrastructure.” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo deployed the national guard to protect public transportation, while <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-03/us-cities-on-alert-after-killing-of-iran-leader-qassem-suleiman">government officials</a> in California, Washington, and Massachusetts ordered increased police patrols or warned citizens to remain extra vigilant.
Meanwhile, the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Washington became congested on January 4 after as many as 60 Iranian natives were allegedly selected for additional screening and detained, in some cases, for several hours. The travelers, who were returning from a pop concert in Vancouver, put a <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article238985213.html">strain</a> on CBP resources as customs agents struggled to keep up with the sudden increase in cross-border traffic. However, CAIR officials explicitly alleged that delays and mistreatment were premised solely on national heritage.
Soon after, CAIR’s Washington chapter issued a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cair-wa-assisting-iranian-americans-detained-at-us-border-300981286.html">press release</a> accusing CBP officials of treating Iranians and Iranian-Americans to prolonged interrogations at the U.S.–Canada border. “A source at CBP reported that the [DHS] has issued a national order to CBP to ‘report’ and detain anyone with Iranian heritage entering the country who is deemed potentially suspicious or ‘adversarial,’ regardless of citizenship status,” CAIR wrote.
CBP <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/us-border-protection-denies-reports-that-iranian-americans-were-detained-at-washington-canada-border/281-e276b43b-21a1-46d3-8de7-f1e700b0016a">rejected</a> these allegations. &#8220;Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false,” said CBP spokesperson Michael Friel.
So far, CAIR has failed to produce any evidence supporting its discrimination claims. Instead, the nonprofit denigrated CBP personnel based on the testimony of frustrated tourists who experienced delays while crossing an international border during a period of heightened geopolitical tension.
What can’t be known about the recent cross-border controversy, because it falls beyond the public purview, is whether there was specific intelligence from the Terrorist Screening Center that indicated a need to conduct a more robust screening operation at the Peace Arch crossing. It is telling that <a href="https://www.thenorthernlight.com/stories/order-to-detain-iranian-american-travelers-likely-originated-in-blaine-say-lawyers,9173">no other enhanced security measures</a> were enforced at other U.S. entry points around the same time.
Even public knowledge of the threats posed by Shi’ite Islamism suggests that it was credible national security risks, and not uninformed profiling, that guided CBP’s actions. The agency must contend with Hezbollah’s elite external operations unit, known as the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), whose members have been <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/07/iran-has-terrorists-embedded-inside-the-united-states-and-across-our-border/">trained</a> to &#8220;maintain ostensibly normal lives” until they are activated to serve the Iranian regime&#8217;s interests.
<a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/07/iran-has-terrorists-embedded-inside-the-united-states-and-across-our-border/">FBI reports</a> indicate that Canada serves as a staging area for future homeland attacks. Ali Kourani, a Hezbollah sleeper agent <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/hizballah-operative-sentenced-40-years-prison-covert-terrorist-activities-behalf-hizballah-s">convicted</a> in 2019 of planning attacks in the U.S., <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/14/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut-its-in-new-york-too-canada-united-states-jfk-toronto-pearson-airports-ali-kourani-iran/">told </a>FBI agents that IJO is “even more active in Canada than they were in the United States.” Kourani’s Iranian handlers discussed the strategic advantages of cultivating familial ties to Canada, so that “it wouldn’t appear suspicious or odd if he were to make travel to Canada with some regularity or frequency.”
Iran is a country that is regularly <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-state-department-iran-remains-world-s-worst-state-sponsor-of-terrorism-/30248755.html">cited</a> as a state sponsor of terrorism, with a track <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/14/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut-its-in-new-york-too-canada-united-states-jfk-toronto-pearson-airports-ali-kourani-iran/">record</a> of penetrating U.S. borders. For instance, between 1995 and 2000, Lebanese immigrant Mohammed Youssef Hammoud oversaw a vast “<a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/mohamad-youssef-hammoud-sentenced-30-years-terrorism-financing-case">criminal enterprise</a>” in Charlotte, North Carolina, which accumulated millions of dollars in capital intended for Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon.
In 2011, Soleimani’s Quds Force was implicated in a clandestine <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">plot</a> to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and bomb the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C. Then there is Alexei Saab, a New Jersey resident charged in September with a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-indictment-new-jersey-man-terrorist-activities-behalf">nine-count indictment</a> for surveilling targets on behalf of IJO, probing for “soft spots” throughout New York City.
CAIR’s position on screening for terrorists, however, has been to <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_to_announce_complete_victory_in_constitutional_challenge_to_federal_terror_watchlist">undermine</a> the process wherever possible. Indeed, the organization exerts a great deal of <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cair-asks-federal-court-in-mich-to-prohibit-fbi-border-agents-from-interrogating-muslim-travelers-about-religious-beliefs-and-practices-300858541.html">effort</a> challenging the government’s immigration and border security policies.
In September, CAIR proclaimed “complete victory” in a <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_to_announce_complete_victory_in_constitutional_challenge_to_federal_terror_watchlist">lawsuit</a> that challenged the constitutionality of the <a href="https://apnews.com/f8abc66af1a64cc7a5f4fba0420cfc54">terrorist watch list</a>, a security protocol that subjects implicated airline passengers and border transients to additional screening. (Fewer than 0.5% of watch list suspects are U.S. citizens or legal residents.) For more than a year, CAIR filed lawsuits and amicus briefs that <a href="https://www.cair.com/fighting_the_unconstitutional_muslim_ban">stalled</a> Trump administration efforts to implement a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-enhancing-vetting-capabilities-processes-detecting-attempted-entry-united-states-terrorists-public-safety-threats/">travel ban</a> affecting visitors from select high-risk countries
CAIR has even directed Muslim Americans who are detained by customs officials to <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wtsp.com/amp/article/news/politics/muslim-rights-groups-urge-passengers-to-refuse-secondary-questioning/67-395025140">obstruct</a> the screening process whenever possible, perhaps explaining the delays experienced at the Peace Arch Border Crossing. “Whether you wait an hour or four hours, remain silent until they let you out,” advised CAIR-Florida executive director Hassan Shibly.
National-level law enforcement efforts must be led by consulting relevant intelligence <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/law-enforcement-guard-iran-retaliation-u-s-after-commander-killed-n1109826">sources</a>. Given the geopolitical context, the enhanced security posture at the U.S.-Canada border can be attributed to due diligence, and not some nefarious desire to pester Iranian-Americans. Yet, CAIR is far too eager to paint American security personnel as aggressors. CBP was merely taking reasonable precautions in the face of escalating hostility from a rogue nation that has spent decades building powerful Islamist infrastructure across North America.
&nbsp;
David Firester is a writer for Islamism in Politics, a project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>. He is the founder and CEO of TRAC Intelligence, LLC, an Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter College, and a former U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst.

Border Wall As House Investigates $400 Million Contract

FIRESTER: CAIR’s Fight To Undermine U.S. Border Security Continues

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In October, the Trump administration handed out $100,000 of taxpayer dollars to the <a href="https://www.meforum.org/pics/CAIR-Dossier-other.pdf">terror-tied</a> Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Middle East Forum has found.
In 2009, the FBI blacklisted CAIR after federal prosecutors <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/423.pdf#page=5">named the Islamist group as an unindicted co-conspirator</a> during the 2008 Holy Land Foundation <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/holy-land-foundation-hamas-support-convictions-affirmed-andrew-c-mccarthy/">terrorism financing</a> trial. In 2014, the United Arab Emirates designated CAIR as a terrorist organization. And today, its officials continue to <a href="https://www.meforum.org/59432/hate-crimes-panel-with-cair-leader-cancelled">promote</a> and <a href="https://www.meforum.org/59007/zahra-biilloo">excuse</a> violently anti-American and anti-Semitic rhetoric.
To fund CAIR, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) first <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/#/award/ASST_NON_EMW-2019-UA-00061_7022">awarded</a> monies to the Washington, D.C. government, which then selected CAIR and a number of other extremist organizations as suitable sub-recipients. The federal government would likely have been aware, however, that CAIR was a grantee — <a href="https://hsema.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/hsema/publication/attachments/subrecipient-handbook%20Oct%202018.pdf">according</a> to government documentation, it seems sub-grantees must be approved by DHS before funds are distributed.
The administration’s funding of CAIR was the product of the DHS’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program. As my colleague <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/60198/stop-taxpayer-money-from-funding-islamist-tied">David Swindle recently wrote</a> in The Daily Wire, Congress’ current proposed expansion of the program’s budget, however “well-meaning,” carries enormous “potential for abuse” and will end up providing “millions of taxpayer dollars” to “pro-jihadist Islamist groups.”
This program and others seem to be doing just that. Additional new federal grants of taxpayers’ money handed out to Islamist organizations include over $57,000 to the Muslim American Society (MAS), a national Islamist organization whose Philadelphia branch hosted an event last year at which young children from an MAS-run school recited poetry about the killing of Jews; and $100,000 to Dar al-Hijrah, a hardline Virginia mosque once home to former al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, and <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/mosques/417/dar-al-hijrah-mosque">long</a> <a href="https://clarionproject.org/dar-al-hijrah-islamic-center/">considered</a> a key terror hub by law enforcement agencies.
The Middle East Forum has written before about the enormous amount of taxpayers’ money being handed out to dangerous Islamist organizations. In 2019, we <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/westrop-research-has-uncovered-41-million-taxpayer-sam-westrop">discovered</a> that over $41 million of federal grants has been given to radical groups since 2007. This total does not include the dozens of more recent awards made in the last few months.
Surprisingly, under the Trump administration, grants to extremist organizations have actually increased. As we <a href="https://www.meforum.org/60019/american-islamism-flourishes-under-trump#_ftn28">noted</a> last year, “between 2017 and 2018, the amount of taxpayers&#8217; money given to organizations either influenced or controlled by Islamist activists more than tripled from $4 million to $13.5 million. Under the Obama administration, the amount given to Islamist-linked organizations averaged a mere $1.7 million each year.”
In August 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau quickly cancelled a proposed partnership with CAIR after a number of conservative media outlets started <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/census-bureau-abruptly-ends-just-announced-partnership-with-muslim-advocacy-group-cair">investigating</a> the decision. But why this was not enough to stop the federal government from subsequently funding the very group it had previously conceded was beyond the pale?
Over the last few months, some supporters of the administration have reacted to our research into public subsidy and <a href="https://www.meforum.org/60019/american-islamism-flourishes-under-trump#_ftn28">political support</a> for these theocratic groups by acknowledging the problem but arguing that, in many instances, the federal government’s embrace of Islamists and its failure to work instead with moderate Muslims is an enduring legacy of extant Obama administration policies.
Given the longstanding programs behind many of these grants, this may well be true. If only there were someone to drain the swamp.
&nbsp;
Sam Westrop is director of <a href="http://islamist-watch.org/">Islamist Watch</a>, a project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>.

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WESTROP: DHS Approves $100K Grant Of Taxpayers’ Money To CAIR

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Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), who was infamously the sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against Congress&#8217;s post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, which precipitated the Afghanistan invasion, has now taken to spreading outright fake news.
Yesterday, Lee took to Twitter to spread baseless and unconfirmed innuendo that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is now involved in the detention of Iranian-American U.S. citizens. &#8220;People of Iranian descent — including American citizens &amp; green card holders — are reportedly being detained by CBP officials,&#8221; Lee tweeted. &#8220;We can’t let this stand.&#8221; She continued, urging conscientious citizens all over the land to contact her district office: &#8220;If you or someone you know has been targeted or detained by CBP officials, please contact my district office at 510-763-0370.&#8221;
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People of Iranian descent — including American citizens &amp; green card holders — are reportedly being detained by CBP officials. We can’t let this stand. 
If you or someone you know has been targeted or detained by CBP officials, please contact my district office at 510-763-0370.
&mdash; Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBarbaraLee/status/1213944364575031296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Less than 30 minutes after Lee&#8217;s misleading spreading of fake news, CBP itself responded. &#8220;Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false,&#8221; the agency tweeted. &#8220;Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false.
&mdash; CBP (@CBP) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP/status/1213951246463328256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Congresswoman Lee was not the only prominent leftist to spread this fake news, as the Daily Caller <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/05/customs-border-iran-detain-order">reported</a>. Other offenders included Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who tweeted on Sunday: &#8220;Deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian Americans, including U.S. citizens, are being detained at the Canadian border with WA State.&#8221; She continued, similarly urging conscientious citizens to contact her office: &#8220;My office has been working on this all morning. Please contact us with information on directly affected people at WA07PJ_casework@mail.house.gov.&#8221;
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Deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian Americans, including U.S. citizens, are being detained at the Canadian border with WA State.
My office has been working on this all morning. Please contact us with information on directly affected people at WA07PJ_casework@mail.house.gov.
&mdash; Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJayapal/status/1213896795409059840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/border-patrol-denies-reports-by-democrats-that-iranian-americans-were-being-detained">noted</a> by the Washington Examiner, part of the fear-mongering began via the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was infamously an <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/1854/doj-cairs-unindicted-co-conspirator-status-legit">unindicted co-conspirator</a> in the largest terror finance trial in the history of the Department of Justice. CAIR had issued an <a href="https://www.cair.com/breaking_cair_wa_assisting_iranian_americans_detained_u_s_border">alarmist post</a> earlier on Sunday entitled, &#8220;BREAKING: CAIR-WA Assisting Iranian-Americans Detained at U.S. Border.&#8221;
Lee, keeping with her longtime status as an ardent foreign policy dove, has been one of the most outspoken opponents of escalating military tension with the Islamic Republic of Iran. As <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/476862-omar-lee-introduce-house-resolution-directing-trump-to-pull-us-troops-back">reported</a> by The Hill, Lee is teaming up with none other than Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to draft a congressional resolution that would prevent U.S. military action against Iran that is not expressly authorized by Congress:
<blockquote>
The resolution released by the two lawmakers would explicitly tie any military action against Iran to a congressional vote, though the U.S. would not be prevented from responding to an Iranian attack.
&#8220;We in Congress must exercise our Constitutional duty—and do everything in our power to stop another disastrous war,&#8221; Omar said in a statement. &#8220;Following the assassination [of Gen. Qassem Soleimani,] thousands of additional troops were sent to the Middle East in one of the largest rapid deployments seen in decades. This follows years of saber-rattling and threats of war against Iran by President Trump and his accomplices.&#8221;
&#8220;It’s past time for Congress to reassert our Constitutional authority and return to diplomacy with Iran and our allies,&#8221; added Lee, the sole member of Congress to vote against war in Afghanistan in 2001.
</blockquote>

Barbara Lee Women’s March

Democrat Barbara Lee Spreads False Information About DHS Going After Iranian-Americans

Foreign Policy

Middle East

Surveillance

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Saturday night’s bloody machete attack in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/29/us/new-york-stabbing-rabbi-home/index.html">Monsey, New York</a> against a rabbi and his congregants celebrating Chanukah shocked in ways beyond its sheer brutality. This anti-Semitic assault by a man influenced by the “Black Hebrew Israelite” movement comes amidst a spate of crimes against Jews, with the New York Police Department now investigating <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anti-semitic-attacks-new-york-city-hanukkah_n_5e06227ac5b6b5a713ada7f9">six hate crimes</a> that occurred during the holiday.
Certainly, churches, synagogues, and mosques are under siege in America, from <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2018/11/10/Robert-Bowers-extremism-Tree-of-Life-massacre-shooting-pittsburgh-Gab-Warroom/stories/201811080165">Pittsburgh</a> to <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mikehayes/jury-sentences-dylann-roof-to-death">Charleston</a>, and from <a href="https://jewishjournal.com/news/los_angeles/220410/synagogues-carry-face-bomb-threats/">Los Angeles</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/us/minnesota-mosque-bombing-suspects.html">Minnesota</a>. However, under the pretense of protecting places of worship and faith-based nonprofits, Congress stands poised to spend millions of taxpayer dollars effectively providing pro-jihadist Islamist groups — with documented ties to overseas terrorist organizations — with their own private armed militias.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and co-sponsor Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) have put forth a new bill, the <a href="https://www.portman.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/portman-peters-introduce-legislation-increase-security-resources-faith">Protecting Faith-Based and Nonprofit Organizations From Terrorism Act</a>, which provides <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2019/09/as-hate-attacks-on-houses-of-worship-mount-congress-needs-to-do-more-to-help-with-security-rob-portman.html">$75 million annually</a> over the next five years for security to religious groups.
Lawmakers need to address two notable problems as they consider this security bill.
First, <a href="https://www.portman.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2019-05/Protecting%20Faith-Based%20and%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20from%20Terrorism%20Act.pdf">the proposal</a> provides funding to 501(c)(3) nonprofits. <a href="http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/05/the-muslim-brotherhoods-american-goals">Muslim Brotherhood</a>-linked Islamist groups such as the <a href="http://www.danielpipes.org/3437/cair-islamists-fooling-the-establishment">Council on American-Islamic Relations</a>, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swindle-california-islamist-activists-protest-david-m-swindle">Muslim American Society</a>, and the <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/732/isna-admits-hamas-ties">Islamic Society of North America</a> would therefore be eligible for funding under the plan, providing security dollars to advocacy organizations that share a common Islamist ideological heritage. Another network of Muslim nonprofits, including the <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/57929/catalogue-of-icna-links-to-jamaat-e-islami">Islamic Circle of North America</a> and the <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/84.pdf">Muslim Students Association</a>, would also benefit from the bill despite being tied to <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/59929/jamaat-e-islami-a-threat-at-home-and-abroad">Jamaat-e-Islami</a>, a violent South Asian Islamist movement.
Assuredly, Islamists are not the only extremists exploiting 501(c)(3) laws; <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/white-supremacist-groups-tax-break-educational-2017-8">white nationalists also have a long history</a> of doing the same thing.
Second, the bill fails to adequately limit how grant monies can be spent. It identifies three general types of uses for the funds: “Target hardening,” “security training,” and “any other appropriate activity.” But what is to prevent religious centers and nonprofits from hiring or training armed guards to enforce religious law?
Some Muslim American communities have previously recruited security guards to serve as enforcers of Islamic law. These vigilante patrols have often been less concerned with local security than they are with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/09/02/a-breach-in-guards-invincibility/d0f9c4cc-4562-482f-9aac-fb9be699d003/">converting</a> their neighbors, enforcing standards of dress, and prohibiting drug and alcohol use.
Sunni Muslim secu͏r͏i͏ty patrols can be traced back to January 1988, when New York City imam <a href="https://www.meforum.org/6576/svcf-hate-speakers-siraj-wahhaj">Siraj Wahhaj</a> — listed as a potential <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/02/blind-sheikh-dies-terrorist-evangelist/">un-indicted co-conspirator</a> in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings — announced his <a href="https://clarionproject.org/clarion-special-report-nys-sharia-patrol/">“40 Days and 40 Nights”</a> campaign to expel crack cocaine dealers from Brooklyn. Armed with guns and nightsticks, Wahhaj’s team of nearly 50 men drew recruits from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/23/nyregion/muslims-start-patrol-to-fight-crack-in-brooklyn.html">homeless shelters</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/16/nyregion/security-guards-vigilantes-special-report-brooklyn-private-police-violent-their.html?mtrref=www.google.com&amp;assetType=REGIWALL&amp;fbclid=IwAR2bJlupgVwbKMXoKgDHADEtNRa5_ZILHylCaZfAnK_IFpa26DzMmfvUEqA">prison converts.</a>
From this “40 Days” event arose a more formalized, permanent, and licensed group of paramilitary guards and enforcers, known as SSI Patrol Services. In 1991, a New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/16/nyregion/security-guards-vigilantes-special-report-brooklyn-private-police-violent-their.html?mtrref=www.google.com&amp;assetType=REGIWALL&amp;fbclid=IwAR2bJlupgVwbKMXoKgDHADEtNRa5_ZILHylCaZfAnK_IFpa26DzMmfvUEqA">headline</a> described SSI as “private police as violent as their enemy” and questioned whether the firm employed “Security Guards or Vigilantes?”
The imam’s foot soldiers had no concept of proportionality: “If they spill one pin drop of our blood, we spill gallons of theirs,” one member promised. And indeed, they <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/16/nyregion/security-guards-vigilantes-special-report-brooklyn-private-police-violent-their.html?mtrref=www.google.com&amp;assetType=REGIWALL&amp;fbclid=IwAR2bJlupgVwbKMXoKgDHADEtNRa5_ZILHylCaZfAnK_IFpa26DzMmfvUEqA">followed through with this threat</a>: One guard received a second degree murder charge, a second was held in a case involving the shooting of a disabled man, and a third faced a lawsuit for a brutal beating.
SSI was not the only Muslim paramilitary group with a questionable record. In 1996, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/09/02/a-breach-in-guards-invincibility/d0f9c4cc-4562-482f-9aac-fb9be699d003/">exposed</a> how the Nation of Islam’s (NOI) “Fruit of Islam” wing inspired the creation of multiple private security corporations that received “an estimated $20 million in public contracts in 10 cities.” Residents of areas patrolled by NOI security groups claimed “that guards paid with public money were proselytizing for Farrakhan, pestering residents to stop eating pork, go to the mosque or buy subscriptions to the Final Call, the Nation&#8217;s newspaper.”
<a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/03/11/black-muslim-security-firm-makes-false-claims-in-bid-to-secure-port-of-oakland-contract/">BMT International Security Services</a> is another black Muslim security group accused of defrauding the government and lying about its credentials to secure a $450,000 contract patrolling parks at the Port of Oakland. Such behavior was in keeping with the group’s background since “prosecutors have called it a cult that ran a wide-ranging criminal enterprise, committing crimes from real estate and mortgage fraud to murder.”
More recently, last year Wahhaj <a href="https://spectator.org/brooklyns-islamist-vigilantes/">revived his Islamist security group</a> under a new name: The <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/12/24/new-york-muslims-have-a-new-security-patrol-group/">Muslim Community Patrol (MCP)</a>. Just weeks after its founding, MCP members initiated a <a href="https://christianaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-Secret-Agenda-of-New-York-Citys-Muslim-Patrol-Cars.pdf">conflict</a> when they attempted to stop a group of African-American men from smoking marijuana near a mosque. According to “Abdul,” <a href="https://clarionproject.org/clarion-special-report-nys-sharia-patrol/">an informant who attended an MCP meeting</a>, Wahhaj said, “The mosques need protection and the MCP cars can help stop people who were not following the rules and regulations of the Sharia …”
“Everything is going to be Sharia,” Abdul explained. “That’s Wahhaj’s main thing. He’s working on a ‘one sheikh’ and ‘one government’ system that practices Sharia.”
Portman should  therefore consider one major revision for his bill: Funds must be allocated to increase the presence of trained local police — not dangerous and unprofessional faith-based patrols. The fungibility of funding to Islamist groups must also be considered; every taxpayer dollar dispensed to these groups frees up funding for other extremist activities.
If there’s one thing at which American Islamists are particularly adept, it is exploitation of the good intentions of others. And indeed, the intentions behind this bill are obviously well-meaning, but for such efforts to succeed, Congress must recognize the potential for abuse.
&nbsp;
David M. Swindle is a fellow for <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/">Islamist Watch</a> and the Southern California associate of the <a href="https://counterislamist.org/">Counter-Islamist Grid</a>. He also works as the Director of Research for <a href="https://theisraelgroup.org/">The Israel Group</a>. Follow him on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/daveswindle">@DaveSwindle</a>.

Capitol Hill

SWINDLE: Stop Taxpayer Money From Funding Islamist-Tied Security Agencies

Congress

New York Police Department (NYPD)

Police

Rob Portman

U.S. Senate

In Hollywood, playing an imaginary character is not a job limited to actors. It’s an ethos that is visible going back to Raymond Chandler’s 1930s and 1940s detective stories that depicted a particular culture of strangeness and cynicism in Southern California that persists today: Most people are not as they appear.
Such is the case with the <a href="https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/muslim-public-affairs-council-and-j-street-accuse-trump-and-netanyahu-of-fueling-ethnonationalism/">Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)</a>, which plays the part of a supposed civil rights organization based in Los Angeles, <a href="https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/facebook-and-disney-sponsor-islamist-group-mpacs-media-awards-honoring-dead-anti-semitic-activist-jamal-khashoggi/">supported</a> by numerous entertainment and technology companies, yet has clear <a href="https://gohmert.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=306135">origins with the Muslim Brotherhood</a>.
Back in <a href="https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/facebook-and-disney-sponsor-islamist-group-mpacs-media-awards-honoring-dead-anti-semitic-activist-jamal-khashoggi/">April</a>, MPAC held its annual “media awards” and chose to honor the late Jamal Khashoggi, a supposed Washington Post “journalist” and thus an alleged martyr for free speech. But the truth about Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia is more complicated: The desert kingdom has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-security-idUSBREA260SM20140307">designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization</a> and Khashoggi has <a href="https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/facebook-and-disney-sponsor-islamist-group-mpacs-media-awards-honoring-dead-anti-semitic-activist-jamal-khashoggi/">associated himself</a> with the group for a long time, parroting its propaganda and even indulging in Islamism’s frequent partner, <a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/larryprovost/2018/10/24/khashoggi-writings-reveal-antisemitism-pro-shariaism-n2531301">anti-Semitism</a>.
On November 23, at its 19th annual convention, MPAC <a href="https://convention.mpac.org/banquet">honored</a> another man of mystery who is not as he appears. The “Community Changemaker Award” went to Dr. Ahmed Soboh, chairman of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shuracouncil/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARA6hfOqEB1ADV_lDpqmzTbubduraoZ5Acprm0iHogPf_BVNPGMb8zZVyahW0WMQDKZtwHjEwGwqYwOQKME8pH3KJoO8iI1oeyvF3aSba5_uyyNULXXU8o2G7wgh7RcWsAvnniTz0uVfmY4dqTp-TP2IMkVDkoE9gFWtkrr0xt-gwIv66DgNKjGPgmYMKm-MI2iMKTIjiJ-0LTJSVMKqgHcr_mSj4PL6LCRUjeKpgRxgDKZ1UfwJY5Rn_MG5UeMiQvMx86J2dHR4kPVQSN8CxBDVZTVqEaGf9KXoJ7ZhLkU7deRPCV9hRJ9veOTI2iRLTmXeCEcLwBjnDiklSQ&amp;__xts__%5B1%5D=68.ARCj9TS4VcW45qp0v53Dbi3JpUKBX-L-n-s3PsHzbPp1Xw9wW3X7TqkefKRBxXA0yYzhzLp2SQQY6fBx5cL_nmJEGEyfSYmeHK1rC8Lc87ioCRSDtFhlNFiO90wMBWjC9-_0U-auJR-oP_1t63U2R_eMR8uydC-p6dIu1BZdvaGTEPovamISkyNFM9A4iAK9lVYBjSYsAjTn4_pAfM9dLeodQcH7VQH8u5PahSS3IwRhIzv3EZf3D0UVogzPQfJ6ORbK7FoxVRY6ytq73Yt1drfi0JbrAJCwgusO4cG_Fobj_Ea5K92ouzhoDf-4KxmjQ6PbatHgTcb7uyhWqA&amp;__tn__=K-R&amp;eid=ARA748xLwUqlBDXFhcskqp8MdWhQUPwd9nFKxN2q3mx5wxA0KHqqiDHPPow2Yur5NdXkpwhOphwwLXtK&amp;fref=mentions">Islamic Shura Council of Southern California</a> (ISCSC), an organization he has led following the tenure of <a href="https://www.islamicity.org/by/muzammil-siddiqi/">Muzammil Siddiqi</a>, a prominent Islamist leader and <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/profile/171/muzammil-siddiqi">longtime defender of sharia</a>. Soboh works as a dentist at <a href="http://www.sobohliswidental.com/?orig_url=www.sobohdental.com">Soboh Liswi Dental</a> in Pomona and has held numerous positions in the Southern California Islamist community over the last 15 years. One of his first roles was as an executive committee member for the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Greater Los Angeles chapter (CAIR-GLA), <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_la_holds_community_forum_with_bakersfield_muslims">appearing at a March 2008</a> community forum.
He currently serves as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ahmed.soboh/about?section=education&amp;lst=20704912%3A649505902%3A1575153912">Director of Religious Activities</a> for the <a href="https://cvislamiccenter.org/">Chino Valley Islamic Center</a> (CVIC), a mosque that has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cairgla/photos/a.259334470172/10161733228925173/?type=3&amp;theater">hosted</a> such radical speakers as CAIR-GLA Executive Director <a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/709.pdf">Hussam Ayloush</a>, <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/51845/countering-islamist-extremism-the-right-way">Bayan Claremont</a> Founder/President <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/51845/countering-islamist-extremism-the-right-way">Jihad Turk</a>, and <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/58905/prominent-california-islamists-praise-imam-call">Ahmed Billoo</a>, who was recently criticized for <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/58905/prominent-california-islamists-praise-imam-call">anti-Semitic remarks</a>. Soboh’s support of CAIR continued further as CVIC hosted <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/365949797439438/">two CAIR-GLA events</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/630623767443548/">in July</a> and an event in May with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/354381118541954/">the L.A. chapter</a> of the Muslim American Society (MAS) — which, like CAIR, has also been labeled as a <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/4655/uae-designates-cair-mas-as-terrorist-groups">terrorist organization</a> by the United Arab Emirates.
So how significant is the role which Soboh now plays? What does the ISCSC actually do? The group seems to have three primary functions: (1) Radicalizing the Muslim community by sponsoring extreme speakers, (2) providing Islamist groups opportunities to coordinate their activism, and (3) creating a private space for Islamists to subvert transparency, airing groups’ differences only behind closed doors rather than in public.
First, a brief rundown of the ISCSC’s regular speakers makes clear the organization’s support for radicalism: An April 14, 2018 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shuracouncil/photos/gm.964947137006083/10155608897342833/?type=3&amp;theater">banquet featured</a> <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/52758/hardline-salafist-yasir-qadhi-headlines-islamic">Yasir Qadhi</a>; the March 4, 2017 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1822238718058166/">banquet brought</a> <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/55337/the-worst-of-suhaib-webb">Suhaib Webb</a> to town; the February 27, 2016 fundraiser banquet offered two radicals for the price of one with both former Congressman <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/12/keith-ellison-islamic-radical/">Keith Ellison</a> (D-MN) and <a href="https://www.meforum.org/6576/svcf-hate-speakers-siraj-wahhaj">Siraj Wahhaj</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/167482580270436/">appearing</a>; for the March 1, 2014 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/317864788354203/">banquet</a>, ISCSC chose <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/10181/tariq-ramadan-reformist-or-islamist">Tariq Ramdan</a>, a man now with multiple <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/15/tariq-ramadan-oxford-professor-facing-rape-charges-granted-conditional-release">rape accusations</a> against him. On <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/577702172256409/">March 9, 2013</a> ISCSC hosted a day-long conference featuring <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/52341/worst-of-the-icna-mas-conference-2017">Jamal Badawi</a>, Qadhi, Wahhaj, Siddiqi, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swindle-a-rising-female-islamist-leaders-self-defeating-argument-against-white-liberal-feminists">Muslema Purmu</a>, with Soboh acting as a moderator.
Second, visit<a href="https://shuracouncil.org/our-members"> ISCSC’s list of 74 members</a> to see its unique role in the community. ISCSC acts as an “umbrella organization” and brings together Muslim groups — not all of which are clearly Islamist — of such types as mosques, K–12 schools, higher education, clinics, charities, and activist groups from the moderate-posing MPAC to the more openly radical CAIR and MAS. While MPAC, CAIR, and MAS have tactical differences and varied targets of influence, it’s the role of ISCSC to try and get the three of them to get along and to influence Muslims to support all three groups. On October 25, ISCSC <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=499759974210390">released a video with Soboh urging Muslims</a> to attend the groups’ upcoming November banquets and conventions.
Third, ISCSC’s place in Southern California’s Islamist community came into focus from its role in the Institute of Knowledge’s (IOK) “<a href="https://www.iokconference.com/">Ilmspiration</a>” conference on September 21, which was a one-day gathering of Islamist scholar-activists — including individuals from <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/51455/the-worst-of-omar-suleiman">Omar Suleiman’s</a> <a href="https://yaqeeninstitute.org/">Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research</a>, and <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/civil-rights/328873-once-again-cair-shows-that-islamism-and-civil-rights-dont-mix">Abdul Nasir Jangda</a>’s <a href="https://www.qalam.institute/">Qalam Institute</a>. ISCSC sponsored the event, Soboh gave the opening welcome, and at the day’s final panel, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swindle-a-rising-female-islamist-leaders-self-defeating-argument-against-white-liberal-feminists">Muslema Purmul</a> offered a revealing explanation of how the group operates behind the scenes.
In his speech, Soboh explained how various Islamic organizations had been developing over decades and collaborating together. He began with a reference to the past: “Our Muslim community in America has been building its assets in America for the past 60 years. … And now we have amazing organizations, amazing institutions, amazing properties, endowments, funds, and all that.” What happened approximately 60 years ago? The Muslim Students Association was founded in <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/money-politics/organizations/">1963</a> and from it came such “amazing organizations” as the Islamic Society of North America, the International Institute of Islamic Thought, and the North American Islamic Trust. “But for the past 20, 15 years, we started shifting our building of assets to something that’s extremely important, which is building our base of Muslim scholars and intellectuals.  … Indeed, our institutions are also becoming an asset: IOK, Yaqeen, and Qalam Institute … Shura Council is very proud to sponsor, to collaborate, to see the collaboration of these organizations. &#8230;”
ISCSC would not receive mention again until <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swindle-a-rising-female-islamist-leaders-self-defeating-argument-against-white-liberal-feminists">Purmul</a> brought it up: “Not every single thing that every organization does is agreed upon by every other organization within the Muslim community … we have things like Shura Council that we can come together under one umbrella … we do need to have private spaces where people can go up to each other and say, ‘Look, this is really confusing. Why did you do this?’”
So congratulations to Dr. Soboh for this recognition. A downside of this exposure: The mask is now off and you’re under the spotlight. Opponents of Islamism are now well aware of what, until now, had been a quiet influence operation.
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David M. Swindle is the Southern California associate of the <a href="https://counterislamist.org/">Counter-Islamist Grid</a> and a fellow for <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/">Islamist Watch</a>. He also works as the Director of Research for <a href="https://theisraelgroup.org/">The Israel Group</a>. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/daveswindle">@DaveSwindle</a>.

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SWINDLE: A Troubling Award For A Rising Leader Behind Southern California Islamism

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Los Angeles

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington last week was contentious, as a heated debate raged over whether President Donald Trump should meet with the Islamist dictator. Critics questioned the timing of the White House meeting, coming as the Turkish military prosecutes attacks against Syrian Kurdish forces, and remains notorious as the world’s largest jailer of professional journalists.
But one element which was largely ignored in the discussion — and yet might impact Trump’s view of his Turkish counterpart the most — is the outsized role played by Erdogan’s government in meddling in U.S. domestic relations, particularly in his backing of American Muslim groups.
These organizations are among those most vociferously opposed to the president and nearly all his policies — from immigration and border security to moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. These groups also routinely slander the president as a white supremacist.
Working jointly under the banner of the U.S. Council of Muslims Organizations (USCMO), American Muslims groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim American Society (MAS), and other domestic Muslim groups “collaborate and coordinate” with the Turkish government, according to researcher Ahmet S. Yahyla in a special report for The Investigative Journal. What is most notable about these organizations is a shared heritage in the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement which Erdogan publicly supports.
In the last several years, the link between Turkey’s government and U.S. Brotherhood-linked groups has grown deeper. Both CAIR and MAS have increasingly featured Turkish leaders and topics at their conferences and events. A November 2nd CAIR-Los Angeles event in Anaheim sponsored by Turkish Airlines faced dozens of Kurdish-American protestors angry over the group’s continued support for Turkish persecution of Kurdish minorities. Researchers have pointed out anti-Armenian propaganda being distributed by Turkish-sponsored booths at MAS events.
This collaboration between Turkey and American Muslim Brotherhood was most public in the December 2017 protest against the president’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The USCMO joined the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) — led by Erdogan’s cousin, Halil Mutlu — in denouncing the decision outside the White House.
During the rally, Mutlu declared that Erdogan was, “my president, your president, president of the ummah (the worldwide community of Muslim believers),” as the crowd applauded. According to hacked emails published by Wikileaks and noted in Yahyla’s report, in 2016 TASC was part of a network of Turkish organizations facing investigation by the FBI over questions of foreign influence.
Mutlu came under media scrutiny in October after the Daily Caller publicized that he had made a $1500 donation to the campaign war-chest of Rep. Ihlan Omar (D-MN). Omar, a leading member of the “Squad” of freshman Democrats with whom President Trump has repeatedly tangled on a wide variety of political issues, is a frequent keynote speaker for CAIR and MAS events.
In 2019, Omar, together with fellow “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), attended a CAIR-organized event at the Turkish government-affiliated Diyanet Center of America, a massive mosque complex located in Maryland.
Omar has been repeatedly criticized for casting votes favorable to the Turkish government, including as one of only 11 votes against a House resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, and in vocally opposing sanctions on the Turkish military over allegations of war crimes against the Kurds in Northern Syria.
Omar has also been noted for her frequent denunciations of Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood’s shared enemies, most notably in her vocal stance against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates&#8217; joint campaign in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.  The Intercept recently reported on a meeting held in Turkey between Iranian al-Quds force officers and high-level Muslim Brotherhood leaders wherein the two groups discussed cooperation in Yemen.
Omar’s ties to Erdogan predate her time in Congress. That includes a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-ilhan-omar-met-2017-infamous-islamist-josh-hammer">2017 meeting</a> with the Turkish president in New York during a U.N. conference, while Omar was still a Minnesota assemblywoman.
There is much about Turkey’s recent behavior with which foreign policy, national security, and human rights experts might take umbrage. But these complaints have fallen upon deaf ears, thanks in part to the American public’s fatigue with the Middle East more generally.
But Turkey’s efforts to bankroll American Islamist efforts, including seeking political influence and meddling in the larger domestic agenda of the president, could help spur a broader American rejection of Turkish bad behavior.
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Kyle Shideler is the Director of the Counter-Islamist Grid (CIG), and writes at CounterIslamist.org

Erdogan

SHIDELER: Authoritarian Turkey Utilizes American Islamist Groups For Domestic Political Meddling

Ilhan Omar

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey

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