Mr. Awad, you are served
"They are not allowed to be operating, according to the law." But go and enforce it.
"Lawsuit's claim: CAIR no longer even exists," from WND, November 24:
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, a pro-Muslim lobby named as an unindicted co-conspirator in one of the largest terror-funding cases ever brought by the U.S. government, continues to operate even though it no longer exists as a corporate entity, according to a lawyer suing the organization.As WND reported last night, CAIR officials were surprised at their 14th annual banquet in Washington when lawyer David Yerushalmi arranged for them publicly to be served with legal notice of a new lawsuit over a staff member accused of representing himself as a lawyer and improperly taking clients' money.
Yerushalmi represents four plaintiffs, two of whom are African-American Muslims, in the case that claims CAIR internal documents reveal hundreds of people were victimized in the fraud scheme.
Yerushalmi discussed the developments today with WND founder and editor Joseph Farah, who was at the microphone in G. Gordon Liddy's absence on Liddy's regular radio program.
"We have CAIR documents which demonstrate there are at least 30 other victim-clients who paid money and were victimized by CAIR," Yerushalmi said, "And hundreds of other victims who don't even know they were victims."
The lawyer suggested allegations of that kind could spell the beginning of the end for CAIR's operations.
"If we have our way it certainly is," Yerushalmi told Farah. He said organizations that are proven to have a record of criminal activities should not exist.
Then came the suggestion of further defiance of the law by CAIR.
"The organization is no longer a valid corporation," Yerushalmi revealed on the program. "The District of Columbia delisted it on Sept. 8, 2008."
He said the organization failed to file its paperwork to continue to exist.
"They are not allowed to be operating, according to the law," he said.
A spokesman for CAIR, contacted by WND for a comment, said, "Thank you and have a nice day," and hung up on the reporter....
Ah, there's a tactic in CAIR's diplomatic arsenal that has been hallowed by long use.
JihadWatch.org director Robert Spencer, a longtime critic of CAIR, said the lawsuit "is an extraordinarily significant action.""For years CAIR has used litigation as a weapon to silence and intimidate both its critics and anyone who has advocated measures to protect Americans against jihad terror. But the convictions of various of its former officials on jihad terror-related charges, as well as Islamic supremacist statements that have come to light from some of its spokesmen, have long suggested that CAIR is quite different from what all too many in the government and the mainstream media take it to be," Spencer told WND.
"This suit further suggests that they have not hesitated to use the same tactics they've used with non-Muslims against their fellow Muslims, and is an important step in exposing this unsavory organization for what it really is," he said....
On Spencer's comment page, the participants were awestruck by the legal move.
"This basically discredits all their leadership," wrote one person.
"It's about time that they are unmasked, and this suit directly strikes at their cover operation as a 'civil rights organization,'" said another.
"Give them enough rope … wonderful," said a third. [...]
Critics allege CAIR is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals.Indeed, the list is long and growing, and includes:
* Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director's home was raided last year by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.
FAAIR claims to be a consulting firm raising awareness of Sunni grievances in Iraq, but investigators suspect it's a front supporting the Sunni-led insurgency.
Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided last September. In 2004, LIFE's Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers.
Al-Hanooti is related to Shiek Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He currently leads prayers at a Washington-area mosque that aided some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The FBI alleges al-Hanooti, an ethnic-Palestinian who also emigrated from Iraq, raised money for Hamas. In fact, "Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas," according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held last decade at a Philadelphia hotel.
Prosecutors recently added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, although he's praised Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs" who are "alive in the eyes of Allah."
Earlier this year, his younger brother, Hamid al-Hanooti, was found dead in Iraq after reportedly being held by local security forces as a suspected terrorist.
* Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.Last decade, Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, "Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media."
Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit's group.
In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the ongoing case.
* Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining bin Laden hadn't killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida's top fund-raisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
* Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli's name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden's personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation.
Awad's and Dahduli's phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing "important phone numbers" for the "Palestine Section" of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit shows Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.
* Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad too was placed at the Philly meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee" in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR's website mentions their IAP past.)
* Nabil Sadoun: A current CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case.
* Mohamed Nimer: CAIR's current research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S.(Tellingly, CAIR neglects to mention Nimer's and Sadoun's roles in UASR in their bios.)
* Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that "the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas." In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.
* Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fund-raiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by Treasury for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.* Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR's board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and defended him during his trial.
He was also a featured speaker at tonight's dinner.
* Randall "Ismail" Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters, and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush, was among those who trained with Royer's Northern Virginia cell.
* Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counterterror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.
* Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR's founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria, and is serving 80 months in prison. He's also charged with providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Marzook.
* Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience."This country is facing a terrible fate and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned," Yusuf warned. "It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands."
WND has much, much more, including more video. Read it all.
I was quoted in WND! And right below Robert, no less.
Nihad Awad: For the first time, wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR's executive director at a Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants allegedly hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.
Not allegedly anymore.
If CAIR doesn't exist then why is their website still up and why do they keep appearing on the news as spokesmen for the Muslim Community?
Mystical Time Traveler, just to add to the evidence you've mentioned of CAIR's existence, TheReligionOfPeace.Com featured Ibrahim Hooper in its "Picture of the Week" not too long ago, with a caption that read "CAIR is standing by its principles - adamantly refusing
to condemn the Sharia stoning of a 13-year-old rape
victim in Somalia for the crime of 'sex' outside of marriage."
They're still out there. And they're still standing by their prophet's principles.
Worry not folks: Should CAIR disappear, it will be reconstituted under a new name with the exact same agenda.
I just checked out all of Yusuf Estes' sites, Islamtoday, Islamtomorrow, and Islamalways. He used to be on the homepage of every one of them hugging and smooching Siraj Wahhaj. Not anymore. That's the beautiful thing about the incestuous dimension of the Ikhwan. It's just a house of cards and they just took out the bottom row yesterday.
Next: the MSAa/MSUs. They've got to go. Now.
GAME BOYS WHAT NO SHOOTS AND LADDERSFOR THE BOYS AND CAIR MY FRIENDS IS THE TIP OF THE ICE BERG THERE ARE MANY MORE.
"They are not allowed to be operating, according to the law." But go and enforce it.
No worry. We just have electeda new head of the executive branch of the US government. That should give us Hope for Change...
Seriously, I'm stunned to discover how badly the 'division of power' seems damaged in the US Federal Government. Presidents are elected as if they were Caesars, chosen for four-year terms of dictatorship. Congress seems to be all but abolishing their constitutional role. It's all about the president these days.
The office of the US president is, formally, to make sure the laws passed in Congress are executed, and to take care of foreign relations, a relatively minor issue when the Constitution was created.
It's creepy to watch how perfectly good laws in the books are not being enforced, for fear of, well, Muslim anger, I guess. That is a serious challenge to civilization.
When you turn on the lights, the roaches scurry into hiding. We must be vigilant (Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty) when CAIR once again rises its ugly head with a different set of initials.
Worry not folks: Should CAIR disappear, it will be reconstituted under a new name with the exact same agenda.
Posted by: Cornelius
I agree. But why is reconstitution even a necessity? Aren't there many other organizations doing the exact same thing that would welcome people with their (aargh!!) experience?
I wouldn't worry too much about CAIR regrouping under a different name. The embarrasment that CAIR has gone through will have lasting impact, and any successor will be suspect from the outset.
Best to kill off CAIR with the full force of the law, then worry about the remains later.
Is this site what CAIR is morphing into?
Interesting thing about the above site, which I found via a CAIR newsletter....Last night I voted in the poll there by using IE. This morning, I can't get the site to load at all with IE. But it orders just fine with Firefox. Maybe this loading problem is just a glitch; on the other hand, if you take a look at the poll in the upper right hand corner, you can guess how I voted and why I might not be welcome back.
Here's the direct link to "Calling Islam" to copy and paste into your browser, if you want to take a look at what's going on there:
http://www.callingislam.com/
If you explore the site a bit and click on the links, you'll find many which have been openly advocated by CAIR.
The donation button of the site I mentioned above goes to CAIR's donation page.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/005289.php
The huge Islam signs on our buses gives me the same feeling as seeing minarets rise across the US. It is all about marking territory. Just like a coyote does.
I wouldn't worry too much about CAIR regrouping under a different name. The embarrasment that CAIR has gone through will have lasting impact, and any successor will be suspect from the outset.
henrik,
You really think CAIR or any of its related groups are capable of embarrassment? I haven't seen any evidence to date. The people have to be removed from society. Otherwise they will continue to operate. They have a million aliases. They might go undercover but they won't go away. A new "Islamic relations" group will emerge.
I agree with PMK - this isn't a game of cat and mouse we're playing with these people, and shame and embarrassment don't even come into play if the opposition has no conscience. Instead, what will be important to the larger battle is to establish legal precedents and case law that can be cited in future lawsuits against whatever form, using whatever name, CAIR may morph into in the future. It would also be helpful if criminal charges, preferably felony charges if applicable, could be brought against the CAIR principals.
Concerning the photo above, what is that human-shaped form on the right? Is this CAIR's Halloween party? "Look, I came as a body bag!"
That, Bingo, is Dave Gaubatz. From TruthforMuslims:
The man serving the subpoenas, Dave Gaubatz of Mapping Sharia, has been unwelcome at CAIR’s events because of his efforts to expose their injustice. In order to gain access to the banquet he posed as a blind cleric. A Muslim woman escorted him throughout the banquet hall allowing him to serve the various leaders. Finally, they made their way up to the stage where CAIR Director Nihad Awad received his copy for all to see.
PMK, the embarrasment is primarily in the eyes of others, those who would lend legitimacy to CAIR and its activities. Government agencies are high on this list. They'll have to think twice about any activities with an organisation involved in fraud, and we as active citizens can call our politicians on the issue.
Discrediting CAIR as representing the Muslim community is key to bringing them down.
But yes, I also consider the CAIR members and directors capable of embarrasment. We'll probably never notice, for one thing I do *not* consider them capable of is admitting mistakes to the public. That would be a step too far. But the embarrasment they habour in secret will deter them from doing what they set out to do. It's invisible, but it's Good.
J. Edgar Hoover also claimed there wqas no Mafia.
jdamn,
I'm really tickled to be quoted, too, right after you! (Imagine that, a nebbish like me!)
jdamn,
I'm really tickled to be quoted, too, right after you! (Imagine that, a nebbish like me!)
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.
I am happy for them.
But there will be a vacuum with CAIR's demise.
Who will protect poor Mohammadan sensitivities?
Without CAIR to protect them, Mohammadans will be wide open for abuse by kufrs.
It Won't be long till another CAIR spings up.
Different name, same agenda...
Change we can believe in has arrived.
CAIR is exposed.