The Investigative Project’s definitive, devastating exposé of the radical Islamic front group called the Council on American Islamic Relations finishes today, with Part 10 of the series. This one looks at a CAIR tactic that has been used against LGF: CAIR Pushes Phony Charges of Anti-Muslim Hysteria, Hate Crimes.

In a series of thorough and carefully documented articles, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has detailed the sinister side of the self-proclaimed Muslim civil rights group CAIR.

Today’s tenth and final installment takes a look at CAIR’s persistent — and often contrived — charges of “hate crimes” perpetrated against Muslims and supposed “anti-Muslim hysteria” rampant in this country.

Here are some of the highlights:

* CAIR’s annual report on the status of Muslim civil rights in the United States repeatedly has included, among what it considers to be acts of anti-Muslim discrimination, law enforcement investigations involving Muslims.

* In its 2002 report, CAIR included the closure of HLF, GRF, and BIF and wrote, “Those who oppose the government closure of the charities believe the government violated the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.” The report also condemned the 2002 SAAR raids. CAIR wrote, “No criminal charges were filed and no evidence was produced to back up the government’s actions … . In the view of many Muslims, what transpired was a form of collective punishment targeting Arabs and Muslims.”

* In advancing the notion that government policy has resulted in an undeserved backlash against ordinary Muslims, CAIR seeks to muster opposition to the anti-terror laws it finds objectionable.

A June 2003 US News and World Reports column reasoned that CAIR and other groups “push the ‘bias’ button so hard” because “the victim stance works,” attracting attention in the media and Congress and raising large sums of money. “It encourages Muslims to feel angry and non-Muslims to feel guilty,” the column noted, adding that “by pre-positioning all future criticism as bias, it tends to intimidate or silence even the most sensible critics.”

* When CAIR issued a similar report in 2003, the Justice Department called the group’s claims irresponsible. “We’re talking about unfair criticism based on a lot of misinformation and propaganda,” a department spokesman told the Associated Press.

* According to the FBI, CAIR has compromised potential hate crime prosecutions by ignoring requests to keep quiet about ongoing investigations.

A spokesman for the Chicago FBI cited the 2005 case of a local Muslim family who received telephone death threats from an unidentified individual – a caller who could face felony charges if found. CAIR issued a press release even after the FBI asked it not to publicize the case, the spokesman said, and thus “compromised or impeded our investigation.”

Yaser Tabbara, then executive director of CAIR’s Chicago office, said his organization issued a statement to make the FBI and other agencies “more responsive” and to put the matter “under spotlight.” He added, “That makes them take this as seriously as we would want them to take it … .We believe we did this in the best interest of the victim.”

As with all the installments to this series, full documentation with sources for all quotes is contained in an accompanying PDF file.

And since this concludes the series, they’ve set up a page with links to all the installments and PDF files: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) :: Groups and Networks :: The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

Previous LGF posts on the IPT CAIR exposé:
Major New IPT Report: CAIR Exposed
CAIR’s Funding
CAIR Officials Convicted of Crimes
CAIR’s Ties With Hamas
CAIR Questioned Al Qaeda’s Role in 9/11
CAIR Portrays ‘War on Terrorism’ As Malicious ‘War on Islam’
CAIR Seeks To Define Away Threat Posed by Radical Islamists
CAIR Backs Islamist Meetings, Denigrates Muslim Moderates
Leaders’ Statements Illustrate CAIR’s Extremism, Anti-Semitism