| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Land of the Free |
| Harvard Org to Honor CAIR Founder |
| 2017-11-05 |
| [FreeBeacon] Nihad Awad and CAIR have been criticized for support of Hamas. Harvard University's largest student-run organization will bestow a prestigious award Friday night on the founder and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has ties to extremist and terror organizations. The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) will be giving its Robert Coles "Call of Service" award to Nihad Awad, for his work to "defend the rights of Muslims" and for advancing "justice and mutual understanding." An online petition with over 500 signatures outlines the concerns some have with Awad, including the fact that he and the organization he created were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing case. Five Holy Land Foundation executives were found guilty of funneling millions of dollars to the terror group Hamas. Awad also explicitly stated his support for the "Hamas movement" during a 1994 speech, write the petitioners. Prior to founding CAIR, Awad worked as the public relations director for the Islamic Association of Palestine, which the petition notes was directly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. "While CAIR presents itself as a civil rights organization defending Muslims from discrimination, Awad's organization has been criticized by many Muslims for claiming to speak in their name," write the petitioners, citing a Gallup poll that showed fewer than 15% of Muslims think of CAIR as their voice. Zainab Al-Suwaij, cofounder and executive director of the American Islamic Congress, said she was surprised a liberal university would give such an honor to an organization with CAIR's history of ties radical Islamism. "Especially considering the moment we are in right now, where we are all concerned with violent extremism and radicalization, in particular that of radical Islam," said Al-Suwaij. Al-Suwaij believes her organization, founded in the wake of 9/11 following what she described as disappointment with the her community's "very defensive response," is more representative of the average American-Muslim than CAIR. "We have no history of supporting political Islam, and we don't share CAIR's victimhood [mentality]," she said. "CAIR jumps at every occasion to play the Islamophobia card. We don't." A CAIR spokesperson did not respond to request for comment by press time. Previous recipients of the "Call of Service" award include former Vice President Al Gore, Black Lives Matter cofounder Alicia Garza, Civil Rights activist Bob Moses, and TransGriot founding editor Monica Roberts. PBHA and Harvard spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment by press time. |
| Posted by:Bright Pebbles |
| #3 How often have Muslims given awards to people who defended the rights of Christians? |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2017-11-05 14:40 |
| #2 It's only right that the rich pay their fair share! |
| Posted by: Raj 2017-11-05 11:18 |
| #1 Wealthy colleges (See: "Harvard") blast Republican proposal to tax endowments Ahahahahahaha *gasp* hahahahahhh |
| Posted by: Frank G 2017-11-05 08:33 |