Denying the Undeniable

That's essentially what CAIR is doing according to this Strib article. Here's the denial that they can't defend:

Ibrahim Hooper, the council's spokesman, denounced Erlandson's remark: "It is unfortunate that a candidate for public office would stoop to anti-Muslim bigotry ... by using long-refuted smears. Neither the council nor Mr. Awad supports any terrorist group anywhere in the world."

Here's proof that Mr. Hooper's denials can't be sustained:

CAIR's affinity for terrorist causes is well documented in the press. At a 1994 meeting at Barry University, Nihad Awad stated succinctly, "I am a supporter of the Hamas movement."

I don't know how Hooper can say that Mr. Awad doesn't support terrorists when he's on the record of supporting Hamas. It's a stretch to think that Hamas isn't a terrorist organization.

Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper has defended Saudi Arabia's financial aid to families of Palestinian suicide bombers. In recent months, three CAIR officials were indicted on terrorism-related charges.

As luck would have it, just hours before the hearing, news services reported that former CAIR official Bassem K. Khafagi had pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud in federal court in Detroit. The charges were brought against Khafagi for his role with the Islamic Assembly of North America, a group that has advocated violence against the United States and is believed to have funneled money to organizations with terrorist connections. At the time of his arrest, Khafagi was Community Affairs director with CAIR.

That Mr. Hooper would rationalize Saudi Arabia's paying off families of Palestinian terrorist-martyrs seems to suggest that he's a supporter of terrorism. Committing bank fraud so you can support a group, IANA, that advocates violence against the US isn't smart.

Whatever your perspective, Hooper's attempting to deny verified, documented facts, never a smart practice.

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Posted Friday, September 1, 2006 4:17 PM

August 2006 Posts

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