Lolla Nur, an intern at the Minnesota Council on American Islamic Relations and U of M student, writes a classic for the TC Daily Planet:
Ten minutes before the June 11 civil rights community social was scheduled to begin, a small group of Somali protestors carrying posters silently walked into the room at the Brian Coyle Community Center. The protestors’ unexpected appearance demanded the attention of the 50 community members who were present to discuss Mayor Rybak’s proposed budget cut to the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department.
[...]For a few minutes, all was dead and quiet in the room as people tried to digest who the protestors were and why they were present. “We don’t want CAIR”, “CAIR is a hypocrite”, and “CAIR is not for the Somali community” were some of the slogans carried on signs by the small, mostly female and elderly group of Somalis. Abdirizak Bihi was leading the protestors, and they were protesting against the Minnesota chapter of CAIR – the Council on American Islamic Relations, a non-religious, non-profit, non-political civil liberties and advocacy group.
Got that? Let’s listen to it again:
…the Minnesota chapter of CAIR – the Council on American Islamic Relations, a non-religious, non-profit, non-political civil liberties and advocacy group.
Council on American Islamic Relations. From their Welcome Message (as of 7/19):
CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
That’s what I thought.
MN CAIR is nice enough to want to give me a free Qur’an.
Therefore we correct the record by a simple edit:
…the Minnesota chapter of CAIR – the Council on American Islamic Relations, a religious, non-profit, non-political civil liberties and advocacy group.
Hmm. Still not quite right. Non-political…non-political…non-political…I got it! Let’s ask the Executive Director of CAIR, Mr. Niahd Awad!
IOL: CAIR’s headquarter is in Washington, DC and you have regional offices, what about the number of subdivisions?
Awad: We have divisions in almost 19 states. In some states, we have more than one office due to the significant presence of Muslim population there. For example, in California we have more than four offices; in Ohio we have about three offices; Florida and Texas, we have more than one office in each. The states where there is a big Muslim population there are more than one office to fulfill people’s needs.
In 2001, we had only head offices. After 9/11, we added more than 22 offices, which was in response to the demands of American Muslims who believed that they needed an institution like CAIR to defend them. But also, CAIR needed strong presence in the community to show the representation and the presence of our work. The general public needed institutions like CAIR in cities and states where ignorance is prevalent.
We needed to build relationships at the grassroots level, which helped CAIR nationwide. We needed to have some political institutions because we work with local, state, and federal representatives who all have constituencies in towns and cities. American Muslims live there, but they cannot have strong representation unless they have institutions that are able to organize and mobilize people to draw this relationship with the society. So, CAIR’s strength initially comes from the grassroots and its wide presence in the United States. Our hope and aim is to have a strong office in every city and state of the union.
According to their own website, the national office of CAIR is involved in government affairs:
CAIR’s Governmental Affairs Department conducts and organizes lobbying efforts on issues related to Islam and Muslims. The department is active in monitoring legislation and government activities and then, responding on behalf of the American Muslim community. CAIR representatives have testified before Congress and have sponsored a number of activities designed to bring Muslim concerns to Capitol Hill.
Once again, we correct the record by a simple edit:
…the Minnesota chapter of CAIR – the Council on American Islamic Relations, a religious, non-profit, political civil liberties and advocacy group.
Either Miss Nur – the article’s author – is ignorant about the very organization she interns for; or Mary Turck, TCDP’s Editor, didn’t do her job correctly; or is also ignorant about CAIR. There are other possibilities. Let both Miss Nur and Mary Turck correct the record and explain it themselves.
BTW, I had a past discussion with Mary Turck concerning Rabbi Manis Friedman.
Filed under: Decline of Western Civilization, Immigration, Islam, Twin Cities Daily Planet, media | Leave a Comment
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