CAIR: The unindicted co-conspirator, part 2
Today's New York Times reports the efforts of "two prominent Muslim American organizations" to spike the government list of 300 unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation prosecution. The two organizations referred to by the Times are the National Association of Muslim Lawyers and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The Times reports:
[T]he Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, which is on the list, announced that it would file a brief today asking Judge A. Joe Fish of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas to remove its name and all others from the list.Of course, several officers of CAIR have been convicted of terrorsit activities. Former Holy Land Foundation CEO Ghassan Elashi is already serving an 80-month sentece on terrorism-related charges; he was also the founder of CAIR's chapter in Texas. CAIR chairman Parvez Ahmed is himself a prominent supporter of convicted terrorist Sami al-Arian.The brief, a copy of which was released yesterday, says the list furthers a pattern of the “demonization of all things Muslim” that has unrolled in the United States since 2001.
“Most people don’t understand what an unindicted co-conspirator is,” said Parvez Ahmed, CAIR’s board chairman, adding that the release of the list prompted death threats and hate mail against the council. “They think that being related to a terrorism case means we are terrorists.”
CAIR vitally needs to preserve the illusion that it is a civil rights organization consistent with its standing, in the words of the Times, as a prominent Muslim American organization. The Times adds: "Those on the list have not been charged with anything, but they are concerned that the label of unindicted co-conspirator will forever taint them, particularly if the Holy Land group is convicted, and that they will have no legal recourse." CAIR's concern is warranted. As I noted here yesterday, the Holy Land Foundation trial is providing important evidence (unreported by the Times) into the true nature of CAIR. It might not be long before people begin to get the right idea about CAIR despite the best efforts of the Times and others in the mainstream media.
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