We’ve written many times about the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR). It claims to be “a leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding” whose mission “is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.”
Many have been deceived by these claims. For example, as I noted, here, CAIR was among the groups that sponsored the recent prayer event held at the National Cathedral.
Institutions more discerning that the Episcopal Church take a less sanguine view of CAIR. The U.S. government named CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case. In that case, leaders of the Holy Land Foundation were found guilty of aiding the Hamas terrorists.
Now, the United Arab Emirates has designated CAIR a terrorist organization. It also so designated the Muslim American Society (MAS).
In addition, the UAE made this designation for a long list of non-U.S. groups. Among them are al-Qaeda, al Nusra, Boko Haram, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood is of particular concern to the UAE. It recently jailed scores of Islamists convicted of forming a branch of the Brotherhood.
Concern over the Muslim Brotherhood presumably led the UAE to designate CAIR and the Muslim American Society as terrorist organizations. The MAS is a U.S. front group for the Brotherhood, according to Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a leading expert on terrorism.
CAIR too has links to the Brotherhood. Andy McCarthy calls it a “the Muslim Brotherhood bullhorn created to cheerlead for sharia, for Hamas, and for sundry other jihadists — all under the guise of ‘civil rights.’”
The UAE considers the Muslim Brotherhood an existential threat, and with good reason. Thus, unlike many in the American left, who seem to have no quarrel with the Brotherhood, the UAE has no incentive to fool itself, or indulge in political correctness, about which groups are aligned with the Brotherhood. To the contrary it has every reason to get this right.
It’s telling, then, that the UAE has designated CAIR and MAS as terrorist organizations.
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