CAIR under fire for teaching students 9/11 was ‘in response to America’s support of Israel’

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a major US Muslim advocacy organization, is facing scrutiny after its New Jersey branch promoted educational materials telling students that al-Qaeda launched the September 11 attacks “in response to America’s support of Israel.” The curriculum also stated that “terrorism is defined differently by different groups of people.”

The material was intended for elementary, middle and high school classrooms and was linked from CAIR-NJ’s 2026–2027 back-to-school guide. Despite discussing an attack that killed nearly 3,000 people, the curriculum never explicitly described 9/11 as an act of terrorism. It also suggested students read Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” and described him as one of the rebels who fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

The curriculum claimed the 9/11 Commission Report supported its assertion about Israel. However, while the report lists US support for Israel among several grievances used by al-Qaeda, it does not state that 9/11 was carried out in response to that support. The material has since been deleted, with CAIR saying an earlier version had not gone through proper vetting.