We are all aware of the barbaric acts of ISIS, al Qaeda and the others flying the Black Flag. Sadly their violence continues to kill innocents around the world and here at home. They fight in the cause of Jihad to impose their totalitarian religion on all people. But they are not the only ones working toward that goal. There are other Islamist groups who seem much less dangerous on the surface, but actually represent an even more insidious threat to free western society. They seek to use our very freedoms as weapons against us.
A Democratic blog at Slantpoint objected to our characterization of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as the Hamas-linked mouthpiece that is a named terror organization in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Now, they are prepared to admit that the UAE has declared CAIR to be a terrorist organization. However, they obtained a quote from CAIR official Corey Saylor to the effect that the UAE is “a known human rights abuser currently suppressing basic democratic ideals.”
We are happy to agree that the UAE is a human rights abuser. For example, last December a British judge blocked the extradition of a gay Briton to the UAE because homosexuality can lead to the death penalty there. Human Rights Watch has warned women considering moving to the UAE to live and work of “the use of Islamic law, which discriminates against women.” A very clear example of this occurred in 2008 when an Australian woman was raped and then, when she reported the rape, imprisoned for eight months.
The human rights abuses they point to are thus quite real. They are no defense for CAIR. Secular Muslims in the United States have criticized CAIR for its attachment to conservative interpretations of sharia law. But the real issue with CAIR is their self-demonstrated ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
See for yourself.
To recap, CAIR is listed as an organization of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America by Brotherhood documents introduced as evidence by the Department of Justice in Federal court. A Federal judge found that the Department of Justice had provided “ample evidence” of CAIR’s links to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, and to Hamas. The UAE acted after discovering a military wing of the Brotherhood aimed at overthrowing their government.
The Brotherhood won a democratic election, but is no friend of democracy. Its president granted himself sweeping powers to legislate without judicial review, and finally overthrew the constitution. “It’s not about Egypt,” ends a piece in the New York Review of Bookswritten by a one-time supporter of the Brotherhood government. “[I]t’s about their larger vision for an Islamic Caliphate.”
Many Brotherhood their leaders immigrated to Europe because the group was suppressed in Egypt following their attempt to overthrow the Nasser government. Foolishly, the CIA saw them as a partner in the Cold War against a godless Soviet Bloc.
“Allah is our objective; the Koran is our law; the Prophet is our leader; jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” (The Brotherhood's Motto)