CAIR jumps into Sussex fray. Is it a “terrorist” group?

The New Jersey chapter of CAIR jumped into the controversy over a satirical post tweeted by Sussex County GOP Chairman Jerry Scanlan. The post, which resembles a classic movie poster (think “Charlie’s Angels” or the “Mod Squad”), features four Democrat members of Congress and the words “Jihad Squad”.

CAIR, which is short for Council on American-Islamic Relations, put out a statement that labeled Scanlan’s tweet “anti-Muslim” and “Islamophobic, racist, and xenophobic” and called for Jerry Scanlan’s resignation. In a lengthy statement, CAIR’s executive director concluded that “Jerry Scanlan should be removed from his position as the county’s GOP chairman.”

We didn’t know much about this organization, so we Googled it and found the press release and statement, referenced above, on the home page of CAIR’s website. Here is what else we found.

The featured story on the home page of CAIR states: CAIR Wins Landmark First Amendment Victory Striking Down Texas Anti-BDS Law.

This is interesting, because we just read today of the bi-partisan efforts by Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (D-Sussex) and Chris Smith (R-Mercer) against the BDS movement, which CAIR obviously supports:

Two New Jersey congressmen today celebrated the passage of a resolution denouncing the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement that targets Israel.

“The BDS movement demonizes Israel and Jews and applies a double standard whereby Israel is always wrong, and the “oppressed” Palestinians are always in the right – regardless of whether groups such as Hamas are engaging in terrorist acts upon Israeli citizens,” said Rep. Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton), the co-chair of a Bipartisan Task Force on Combatting Anti-Semitism. “The overwhelming vote in favor of the House resolution to reject the BDS movement and its efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel, underscores America’s strong support for Israel as a key ally and our commitment to Israel’s right to exist.”

The resolution, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night by a 398-17 vote, opposes economic apparatuses aimed at punishing companies that do business with Israel.

“There are few clearer examples of bias and double standards than BDS movement. But BDS is also fundamentally incompatible with a two-state solution. It seeks to punish only Israel and it rejects direct negotiations in favor of a unilateral strategy,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff). “That is why it is so important that Congress is on record opposing BDS and other harmful efforts to single out and delegitimize Israel.”

The only New Jersey House member to vote against the measure was Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing).

Wikipedia explains that CAIR is “a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide.” Wikipedia goes on to note:

Critics of CAIR have accused it of pursuing an Islamist agenda[5][6][7] and have claimed that the group is connected to Hamas[8] and the Muslim Brotherhood,[9][7] claims which CAIR has rejected and described as an Islamophobic smear campaign.[10] Due to apparent ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the government of the United Arab Emirates has designated CAIR as a terrorist organization.[11]

A “terrorist organization”? That is a very serious matter.

The “Muslim Brotherhood”? Quite a few nations have designated that a “terrorist organization” as well, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia… these are all Islamic nations and all strong American allies.

It looks like you have some explaining to do.

As a courtesy, we offer you the use of these pages to explain how CAIR came to be designated a “terrorist organization” by one of America’s Islamic allies.

And as a further courtesy, we offer to attempt to set up a personal meeting – hosted by Sussex County Watchdog – so that you can meet Jerry Scanlan, who was a resident of Saudi Arabia for many years. We urge you to make your concerns directly to him. Watchdog will provide refreshments. There, over good tea, we can talk as brothers. Perhaps even move on from politics to something more interesting… literature perhaps… The Travels of Ibn Battuta?

Please reach out to us.