“In every case, CAIR is deliberately claiming that to reject terrorism is anti-Muslim.”
By David Hellerman, World Israel News
The Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents more than 2,000 US rabbis, denounced a recent report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Islamophobia, calling it “both pro-terror and antisemitic.”
“In every case, CAIR is deliberately claiming that to reject terrorism is anti-Muslim,” Rabbi Yaakov Menken, CJV’s managing director told Fox News Digital. “It is hard to imagine something that incites animus towards Islam and all who practice it more than the idea that tolerance for Islam requires acceptance of atrocities committed by purported believers.”
The CAIR report listing 35 charitable institutions and foundations that funneled almost $106 million to 26 groups deemed “anti-Muslim” between 2017-2019. Among the 35 funding sources cited were the Adelson Family Foundation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater L.A. and the Irving Moskowitz Foundation.
Organizations listed as Islamophobic on the receiving end of the money included the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and the Christian Broadcasting Network.
“The targeted groups include several of the foremost supporters of Jewish life and indigenous rights in the Land of Israel,” said CJV president Rabbi Pesach Lerner. “It could only be regarded as a significant badge of honor for them to be labeled hateful by such a virulent hate group.”
The CJV statement noted that “the absolute majority of hate crimes motivated by religious bias in the United States are committed against Jews, exceeding crimes against Muslims by over five to one.” It also noted the harassment that Jewish students have faced on college campuses, often at the hands of Muslim groups and Students for Justice in Palestine, which CJV claimed “glorifies terrorism and antisemitism.”
The coalition also criticized CAIR’s denunciation of Saturday’s armed standoff in a Colleyville synagogue. Malik Faisal Akram held several congregants hostage in an hours-long standoff. Akram sought the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a 49-year-old Pakistani neuroscientist who is also known as “Lady Al Qaida.” She is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence for trying to kill U.S. soldiers. CAIR has been calling for her release.
“Siddiqui’s own bigotry was on full display at her federal trial, in which she tried to exclude any juror with a ‘Zionist or Israeli background,’ meaning Jews, and then declared that her verdict was ‘from Israel and not from America,'” CJV noted.
“Yet just last month, CAIR held the latest in a series of recent events in Texas to call attention to Siddiqui’s ‘plight’ and to demand her freedom,” CJV added. “Just prior to that, CAIR official Zahra Billoo urged followers at a Muslim conference to ‘pay attention to the Zionist synagogues,’ and to ‘know your enemies,’ saying that ‘Islamophobia is a well-funded conspiracy’ backed by Jewish organizations.”