The writer of this letter is Nihad Awad* (Read bio at end)
Our strategy is working
As-salaamu alaykum (peace be to you),
Alhamdulillah (all thanks to God), we are finally seeing the tide turning.In the past week, we've reached a turning point in our effort to block the introduction and passage of anti-sharia laws nationwide. Since last Tuesday, five states – Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey, Georgia and Mississippi – have either withdrawn the bills or allowed them to expire.
But the fight isn't over - the governor of South Dakota signed an anti-sharia bill into law on Monday.
Almost 40 anti- sharia bills have been introduced in 30 states. It is critical that we defeat these bills and end this well-financed campaign to demonize Islam and marginalize American Muslims.
The people and groups behind this unconstitutional campaign have the donors and resources we currently lack. They are using their resources to exploit and promote ignorance, fear and religious hatred. Laws don't just go away. If these bills are passed into law, they will affect your children, your grandchildren and their grandchildren.
THE GOOD NEWS: Despite the malicious intentions of the anti-Muslim campaign nationwide, we have seen it become a vehicle for Muslim civic and political engagement. By challenging these unjust bills, our community is gaining friends in state legislatures and is building coalitions with like-minded interfaith and civic groups.
|
I ask that you provide us with the resources needed to prevent these unconstitutional bills from becoming the law of the land.
CAIR can't do it alone. We need your help.
CAIR is taking the lead on this issue and our strategy is working (Alhamdulillah). But we need your support. This year alone, we expect to spend $350,000 for the resources - legal and otherwise - needed to fight the campaign to enact anti-sharia laws.
Please do whatever you can to help us preserve religious freedom for you, your children and all those who may face unequal treatment.
Please - RIGHT NOW - send a one-time donation of $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000 or more to support this critical work. If you prefer, commit yourself to $10 or more per month.
May God bless you.
Thank you again,
Nihad Awad
CAIR National Executive Director
Donations qualify as zakat but are not tax-deductible at this time. (Because the IRS removed CAIR's tax-exempt status due to its terrorist affiliations)
Please send this appeal to your friends and family, and post on Facebook, Twitter, and other networks.
To volunteer to help push back against anti-Muslim hate in your state, contact CAIR.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*NIHAD AWAD
NIHAD AWAD is a founding member and the current Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He is also an ex-member of the Islamic Association for Palestine.
In the 1990s, Awad studied civil engineering at the University of Minnesota and worked at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. As he developed into an increasingly outspoken advocate for the rights of Palestinians, Awad was named Public Relations Director of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which functioned as a front for the terrorist organization Hamas. In 1994 Awad, along withOmar Ahmad and Ibrahim Hooper, founded CAIR.
Eager to gain influence with whichever political party holds power, Awad has courted Democrats and Republicans alike. During the administration of Bill Clinton in 1997, Awad was appointed to the Civil Rights Advisory Panel to the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. And during the 2000 presidential election cycle, he figured prominently in the American Muslim Political Coordinating Committee, a network of American Islamic organizations that assisted in establishing a Muslim voting bloc which endorsed George W. Bush. In the 2006 mid-term elections, Awad contributed thousands of dollars to the campaign of Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress.
Awad wrote in the Muslim World Monitor that the 1994 trial which resulted in the conviction of four Islamic terrorists who had perpetrated the previous year's World Trade Center bombing was "a travesty of justice." Notwithstanding the confessions of the terrorists, Awad said: "There is ample evidence indicating that both the Mossad [Israel's intelligence agency] and the Egyptian Intelligence played a role in the explosion."
In a 1994 interview with newsman Mike Wallace, Awad was asked if he supported the "military undertakings of Hamas," to which he replied: "The United Nations Charter grants people who are under occupation [the right] to defend themselves against illegal occupation." That same year, Awad declared at a Barry University meeting, "I am a supporter of the Hamas movement."
In June 2001 Awad participated in a protest outside the State Department and the White House, condemning U.S. support for Israel's allegedly repressive government. In conjunction with this demonstration, several organizations -- including CAIR, IAP,American Muslims for Jerusalem, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the American Muslim Council, and the Muslim American Society -- released a statement that read: "Before there can be any lasting peace in the region, America must finally come to terms with the real sources of violence, namely: 1) The brutal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, 2) The continued expansion of settlements, 3) The denial of the right of return for Palestinian refugees, [and] 4) The billions of American taxpayer dollars that help finance Israel's occupation. Any other course of action is a recipe for unending strife and instability."
In September 2003, Awad and CAIR Chairman Omar Ahmad were invited to testify at hearings held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security; both men declined to testify.
In an August 2006 interview on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Awad suggested that suicide bombings are understandable attempts to address political injustices and do not have any inherent connection to radical Islam.
Awad has been a guest speaker at numerous colleges and universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins. He was also a featured speaker at the 2002 Reuters Forum on global cooperation at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
No comments:
Post a Comment