In the course of an article about the Muslim Congressional candidate, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, CAIR’s Nihad Awad declares his support for Ellison — and his rejection of Hamas.
“Muslims rally around congressional candidate,” from AP, with thanks to Mike:
Republicans are trying to make an issue of a contribution from another Council on American-Islamic Relations official – executive director Nihad Awad, who gave Ellison $2,000.
In a fundraising letter last week, state GOP Chairman Ron Carey said Ellison has received “financial support from a self-identified supporter of Hamas.”
That was a reference to Awad’s 1994 statement that he preferred Hamas to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In an interview, Awad said that was before the group engaged in suicide bombings and was designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.
Actually, Awad said flatly: “I am in support of the Hamas movement.” He said this in 1994. It just so happens that I have preserved the old Hamas website’s “glory record” of attacks against Israelis here. Here are some of Hamas’ self-described exploits from before 1994:
3. Boureen Operation: The militant Hamdan Hussein Al:najar, a member of Hamas, killed the Israeli settler Ya’coub Berey using a big rock as his weapon. The militant was shot down as a martyr after he had ambushed an Israeli patrol using the dead settler’s weapon….
6. Bus No. 405 Operation: Militant Ahmed Hussein Shukry, a member of Hamas, was able to lead an Israeli soldier to a secluded place in Tel Aviv where the militant hit the soldier with a chisel and killed him on 8 September 1989. The following day, the militant got on bus No. 405 and stabbed the driver to take over the bus; however, the passengers were able to stop the militant….
12. Keryat Youval Operation: The militant Mohammed Mustafa Abu Jalala stabbed four Israelis and injured another at a bus station in Keryat Youval in Jerusalem before he was arrested by the Israeli forces.
13. Askalan Road Operation: While driving a taxi, the militant Jameel Ismail Al:baz, a member of Hamas, ran over a group of Israelis waiting on this road on 19 July 1991….
15. Shailou Operation: A military group belonging to Al Qassam Brigades attacked an Israeli bus carrying some settlers on their way to Tel Aviv to participate in demonstrations organized by the extremist party Likud against the peace process. The bus was completely destroyed; two Israelis were killed and five more were injured….
17. Eid Al-maskhara Operation: The militant Ra’ed Al:reefy attacked an Israeli crowd in Jaffa on 17 March 1992. He was able to kill 2 and injure 21 Israelis who gathered to celebrate Eid Al:maskhara, also known as Al:boureem.
18. Beit Lahya Operation: On the third anniversary of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin’s arrest, a group belonging to Al Qassam Brigades attacked an Israeli settler at Beit Lahya and shot him down then withdrew safely….
21. Carlo Factory Operation: Four militants belonging to Al Qassam Brigades broke into a citrus packing factory (Carlo) near Nahal Oaz at 2:30 p.m. on 25 June 1992. Three militants stabbed two Israelis while the other was guarding….
Suicide bombings? No. Terrorist attacks on civilians? Sure. And there are many, many more on the list dating from before 1994. So are we to understand that Awad supported such operations, and only stopped supporting Hamas later, although these was no change in its ideology and no change in its taste for victimizing civilians?
Now Awad says:
“I don’t support Hamas today,” Awad said. “My position and CAIR’s position is extremely clear – we condemn suicide bombings. We are mainstream American Muslims.”
Is that so? It wasn’t very long ago that Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin was killed by Israel. CAIR condemned his killing, without ever mentioning that Yassin was the mastermind and director of suicide killings for Hamas. At that time — March 2004 — CAIR said:
“We condemn this violation of international law as an act of state terrorism by Ariel Sharon’s out-of-control government. Israel’s extra-judicial killing of an Islamic religious leader can only serve to perpetuate the cycle of violence throughout the region. The international community must now take concrete steps to help protect the Palestinian people against such wanton Israeli violence.”
See also here for more on the CAIR/Hamas ties.
When did CAIR stop supporting Hamas? I searched the CAIR website for “Hamas.” There are three possible searches: News Briefs, Action Alerts, and Press Releases. Only News Briefs turned up anything at all: an old article from Haaretz attacking Ariel Sharon.
So if CAIR now condemns Hamas, where is it saying so? Just in the lower paragraphs of articles about other subjects? We can’t even get one press release about it? Not one Action Alert calling on Muslims everywhere to condemn Hamas?