The Islamist front group calling itself the Council on American Islamic Relations is cranking up their propaganda machine as we approach the second anniversary of September 11. They’ve released yet another wildly exaggerated and hysterical “report” on discrimination against Muslims in the United States (these CAIR reports seem to come out every few weeks), claiming another “alarming rise” in hate crimes against Muslims. What they really appear to be doing is delegitimizing America’s right to defend itself against Islamic terrorists: Feds accused of ‘siege’ on American Muslims.

CAIR cited among its examples the Sept. 11 probe in 2002 that required special registration for students and visitors from Muslim-majority countries and the cases brought against three U.S.-based Muslim charities.

[Justice Department spokesman Jorge] Martinez, noting visitors from 162 countries were required to register, said the department’s actions were based not on race or religion but on intelligence data.

“All these measures are based on intelligence-based criteria that tells us about the terrorist threat to the national security of this country,” he said.

Last month, a federal appeals court ruled the Treasury Department had “ample” evidence to shut down Texas-based Holy Land Foundation, which is accused of funding the Hamas terrorist organization.

CAIR itself has been linked to Hamas. The group is a spin-off of the Islamic Association For Palestine, or IAF, identified as a “front group” for Hamas, according to two former heads of the FBI’s counterterrorism section. Former chief Oliver Revell has called the IAF “a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants.”

Note that the CAIR web site has a form that makes it easy for Muslims to report every dirty look and cross word as a hate crime.

I’ve long suspected that CAIR, in addition to their documented ties to Hamas and terror-linked Muslim “charity” groups, is funded and sponsored by the Saudi government. Daniel Pipes has an item in his weblog that provides the first real evidence I’ve seen that this is the case:

A couple of items from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington concerning its support for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are worth noting and pondering. The first dates from August 15, 1999, and is listed under “IDB Approves New Projects Worldwide”:

President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Dr. Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ali announced today that the bank has approved a number of new grants for Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries worldwide. These include U.S. $395,000 to build a school in Tanzania, $250,000 as a contribution to the purchase of land in Washington DC to be the headquarters for an education and research center under the aegis of the Council for American Islamic Relations, and $30 million for Islamic associations in India.

For those not familiar with the Islamic Development Bank, it appears to be an international institution but is in fact an arm of Saudi foreign policy.

The second item, “MWL Delegation In Washington DC,” is dated July 8, 2002, and concerns a visit to the American capital by Abdullah bin Abdulmohsin Al-Turki, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League (MWL) - an organization which, despite its name, is openly a tool of the kingdom. The report indicates what Al-Turki did on July 5, 2002:

During a visit on Friday evening to the headquarters of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) he advocated coordination among Muslim organizations in the United States. Expressing MWL’s readiness to offer assistance in the promotion and coordination of Islamic works, he announced plans to set up a commission for this purpose.

One can only guess what this discreet and implication-laden note is hiding, but between funds officially donated and occasional visits from Saudi officials, it’s probably correct to figure that CAIR is yet another instrument of the Wahhabis’ foreign aspirations.