Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Last updated: February 23, 2019
Overview
Civil rights group partially funded by the Saudi Wahhabi establishment
Has numerous ties to extremist Islamic organizations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) describes itself as a “non-profit, grassroots membership organization … established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America,†to protect Muslims from hate crimes and discrimination, and to present “an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public.†According to the Council’s Director of Communications, Ibrahim Hooper, “We are similar to a Muslim NAACP.†As of June 2007, CAIR claimed 32 branch affiliates in the United States and one in Canada.
CAIR was co-founded in 1994 by Nihad Awad, Omar Ahmad, and Rafeeq Jaber, all of whom had close ties to the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was established by senior Hamas operative Mousa Abu Marzook and functioned as Hamas’ public relations and recruitment arm in the United States. Awad and Ahmad previously had served, respectively, as IAP’s Public Relations Director and President. Thus it can be said that CAIR was an outgrowth of IAP.
https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/organizations/council-on-americanislamic-relations-cair/
