CAIR and Islamic Supremacism

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is attempting to squelch free speech again. The very CAIR listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial which resulted in convictions for illegally sending money to the Islamic terrorist organization known as Hamas.

The simple version of CAIR’s anti-free speech perfidy goes like this:

CAIR provided a taxpayer supported seminar at a Public Library in San Diego, CA. The item of note was to vilify respected authors and anti-Islamist activists for not being knowledgeable about Islam; hence should NOT BE READ. Some of the people CAIR told its audience in matter of fact are considered experts or experienced the intolerance inherent within Islam. In many cases: intolerance equals death threats.

Anyway ACT! For America San Diego chapter leader Mike Hayutin attended the seminar given by CAIR San Diego leader Edward (listed as Edgar on blog) Hopida. Hayutin was horrified by the lack of balance in Hopida’s presentation on Islam. So Hayutin contacted the San Diego Public Library to provide another view on Islam.

Here is an excerpt from an article sent to me in an email alert from ACT! For America:

Having attended Hopida’s presentation, San Diego ACT chapter leader Mike Hayutin took it upon himself to offer a counter argument. He approached the San Diego Public Library Director Deborah Barrow and requested the same time and sponsorship to speak of radical Islam. Unlike Hopida, Hayutin was not on a payroll and invested his own time and resources to exercise his belief in balanced representation. The request was initially reluctantly received by Director Barrow, who had likely perceived CAIR as a civil rights group and was unaware of the controversy surrounding them. However, considerable community pressure and a call from the mayor’s office facilitated Hayutin’s request. Hayutin was finally granted his opportunity to present a two hour presentation on radical elements in Islam. His appearance however was not appreciated by CAIR, which filed a complaint letter and submitted a one-sided press release on their disapproval of Mr. Hayutin’s presentation, as well as his association with ACT, which Hopida labeled as peddling stereotypes by labeling Islam as incompatible with the West. … (From article: “Caliphate or Republic”)

Hayutin received resistance from the Library Director who no doubt felt the victimhood pressure from CAIR. Nonetheless, the rare political involvement by a mayor (usually public officials bow to the CAIR schpeel) and Community pressure Hayutin received his day. Note though the Public Library did not pick up the tab as it did for Hopida’s CAIR chapter.

Here is ACT! For America’s introduction to “Caliphate or Republic”:

The observations by Shireen Qudosi below reveal great insight into the competing value systems of Islamists and those of us in the West. Qudosi writes about the recent “dust-up” in San Diego between ACT! For America’s San Diego chapter and CAIR-San Diego (Council on American-Islamic Relations). In a nutshell:

CAIR did a presentation at the public library; ACT! for America’s local chapter asked for and was granted equal time to do a presentation; CAIR then tried to prevent ACT! for America’s local chapter from doing the presentation, and when that failed, demanded ACT! for America include a Muslim representative to provide “equal time” in the ACT! for America presentation.

Pass this along to people you know so they can see for themselves what it is we are up against. Encourage them to log on to http://www.actforamerica.org/ and sign up for our email alerts.

JRH 8/4/09

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I found this Edgar Hopida profile on Cair Watch:

Public Relations Director of CAIR-San Diego


According to Hopida, CAIR’s founding by the Islamic Association for Palestine and Hamas’s Mousa Abu Marzook, CAIR’s relationship with persons that went to prison on terror-related charges, and the statement of CAIR’s former National Chairman about his wanting Islam to become dominant in America – well documented facts – are all “urban legends.” (Hopida guests on Rodger Hedgecock Radio Show, KOGO 600AM, June 26, 2007)

Hopida commenting on two books cited as being vehemently anti-Israel: “Recently, well respected figures in our country have critically questioned our policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Professors Mearsheimer and Walt presented a well documented academic paper on the negative influence of the Israeli Lobby on our Middle East policy and former President Jimmy Carter’s new book on the mistakes of Israel and US policy and how to move forward, are the more notable of those critics.” (The Official Blog of Edgar Hopida, ‘Israel/Palestine Conflict: US Debate is way overdue,’ March 15, 2007) About Mearsheimer and Walt’s anti-Israel screed Hopida writes, “This book is critical research that is long overdue and impossible to ignore... The Israel lobby is a must book to read if one wants to understand exactly what is going on and where your tax dollars are going.” (Amazon.com, Customer Reviews, ‘A well researched book on the Israel Lobby and its affects on U.S, Foreign Policy,’ September 6, 2007)

Hopida referred to Norman Finkelstein’s anti-Semitic book, The Holocaust Industry, where he states that Jews use the Holocaust as an “ideological weapon” to perpetrate a “specious victimhood,” as an “excellent work.” (Amazon.com, Customer Reviews, ‘Excellent work that was praised by the undisputed Dean of Holocaust Studies,’ June 4, 2007)

About Paul Findley’s book, Silent No More, which lauds convicted terrorist Abdurahman Alamoudi and alleged neo-Nazi William Baker, Hopida writes: “As an American Muslim, this book is a much needed resource for Muslims and Non Muslims in seeing the truth behind the constructed anti-Islam/anti-Muslim hysteria prevalent in America and the West.” (Amazon.com, Customer Reviews, ‘Anti-Muslim Hysteria destroyed in this book!’ Jan 13 2002)

Hopida mocking two Israeli initiatives towards peace with the Palestinians: “Camp David accord which was touted as the 'generous offer' was in fact no offer at all other than accepting the reality that the settlements were there to stay and Arafat had to accept it... Sharon’s 'big sacrifice' of dismantling all the settlements in Gaza in 2004 was in fact a smoke screen in building up the so called 'security fence' which is deemed illegal in international law and condemned by just about every human rights organization, and the expansion of settlements in West Bank.” (The Official Blog of Edgar Hopida, ‘Israel/Palestine Conflict: US Debate is way overdue,’ March 15, 2007)

“If the Israel lobby continues to set the tone of US foreign policy, it will only create more resentment and terrorism.” (Edgar Hopida, Amazon.com, Customer Reviews, ‘A well researched book on the Israel Lobby and its affects on U.S, Foreign Policy,’ September 6, 2007)

As the Vice President of the Muslim Student Union (MSU) at San Diego State University (SDSU), Hopida attended a rally equating Zionism with racism, where he stated, “What does the U.S. vote for? (It) votes for Israel. (It) has interests in Israel. That is kind of absurd to have them mediate [in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process], because they are going to lean towards Israel. They think Muslims are a bunch of war-mongers.” (Zack Smith, The Daily Aztec, ‘Muslim Students Protest Crisis in the Middle East,’ October 26, 2000)

“Edgar Hopida, seemingly oblivious of the 9/11 massacre, wrote a rebuttal... to my column... in which I quoted several of the Quran's mandates for Muslims to kill non-believers. Mr. Hopida did not deny the mandates of his religion... Instead, he asserted that Muslims, except for 'a few misguided individuals or fringe groups,' don't act on the Quranic mandates... Ultimately, disingenuous letters from Mr. Hopida doing his disinformation job for CAIR is not our biggest problem. Our real problem is disinformation about Islamacists and what they are doing.” (Larry Stirling, San Diego Daily Transcript, "It’s Islamofaciasts that have no place in San Diego," July 12, 2006)