A Really Bad CAIR Day
Mon, Jun 4, 2007 at 8:00:08 am PDT
Three radical Islamic front groups have been named by federal prosecutors as participants in a criminal conspiracy to support Hamas—including the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Federal prosecutors have named three prominent Islamic organizations in America as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy to support a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.
Prosecutors applied the label of “unindicted co-conspirator” to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
While the foundation was charged in the case, which was filed in 2004, none of the other groups was. However, the co-conspirator designation could be a blow to the credibility of the national Islamic organizations, which often work hand-in-hand with government officials engaged in outreach to the Muslim community.
A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of “the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.” The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as “entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.”
The secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America, Muneer Fareed, said his group was surprised to be named in the Texas case. “I can tell you categorically that the current administration of ISNA, as well as its stakeholders, they have no connection to my knowledge with any Holy Land foundations,” he said. Mr. Fareed denied his group has any ties to Hamas, though he said it is difficult to police all 300 mosques under his umbrella. “We might have a kid whose dad was president of Hamas for all I know,” he said. “How do you verify these things?”
The Islamic official expressed frustration at the lack of detail in the prosecution’s filing. “Perhaps there’s some evidence. I just don’t really know what it is,” he said.
Spokesmen for CAIR did not respond to messages seeking comment yesterday. Efforts to contact the North American Islamic Trust were unsuccessful.
