The Decline Of CAIR?

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

From this article in the June 12, 2007 Washington Times:

Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The number of reported members spiraled down from more than 29,000 in 2000 to fewer than 1,700 in 2006. As a result, the Muslim rights group's annual income from dues dropped from $732,765 in 2000, when yearly dues cost $25, to $58,750 last year, when the group charged $35.

The organization instead is relying on about two dozen donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.

[...]

CAIR listed contributors in its Form 990 filings with the Internal Revenue Service, but the IRS redacted all the names before releasing the documents.

In 2001, 26 contributors gave more than $1.6 million; in 2002, 26 gave more than $2.6 million; in 2003, 24 gave more than $2 million; in 2004, 20 gave more than $1.4 million; in 2005, 19 contributed $1.3 million.

One has to wonder who those deep-pocketed donors are and if those donors have anything to do with the following:

In 2004, a federal grand jury returned a 42-count indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and seven officers for raising money for Hamas, money laundering and falsifying tax returns. The Holy Land trial begins July 16 in Dallas, and CAIR is listed among 300 new co-conspirators filed May 29 [2007] in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

According to the government's trial brief, filed May 29, CAIR is an entity "who are, and or were, members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organization."

Mousa Abu Marzook, a former CAIR official, "has been since 1995, a specially designated terrorist and Hamas leader," the brief said.

Predictably, CAIR is complaining:

Mr. Ahmed called the Justice Department's brief "a McCarthyite political move that allows the government to smear major American Muslim groups, including hundreds of mosques representing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Muslims nationwide, without any evidence being offered in a court of law and without legal recourse for those defamed."

"It is unfortunate that the Justice Department apparently violated its own guidelines, which indicate that such lists are to remain sealed to prevent unfair and un-American labeling of those who are not facing any criminal charges," Mr. Ahmed said.

Apparently, CAIR represents few American Muslims, despite the organization's being quite prominent on news interviews and as advocates for Muslim rights in certain cases (i.e., that of the six praying imams). The above-cited article also contains information indicating that CAIR is full of taqiyya, although the Washington Times doesn't use the term:

CAIR constantly notes in its press releases that it cooperates with federal law-enforcement activities and claims to conduct sensitivity training for Homeland Security officials. A February press release from CAIR's Chicago office says it met with Homeland Security immigration officials and made an agreement to "conduct sensitivity training to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers and possibly prison personnel."

Homeland Security officials deny such claims and a check of the Office of Management and Budget Watch database of government contracts since 2000 shows CAIR has never been awarded a grant or a government contract.
"The department does not have a formalized relationship with that particular organization," said one Homeland Security official speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Might a not-formalized relationship be an informal one? After all, government officials and representatives from federal law-enforcement sometimes attend CAIR banquets and other events at which CAIR provides sensitivity training. Also, consider this, from May 7, 2007, as listed on CAIR's web site:

CAIR-CT TRAINS FBI AGENTS ON ISLAM

(NEW LONDON, CT, 5/7/07) - Representatives of the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT) recently offered diversity and sensitivity training on Islam and Muslims to officials at the New Haven office of the FBI.

The hour-long training included information on basic Islamic beliefs and practices.

The above is just one example. Here are some more, with links for CAIR chapter involvements (According to CAIR a partial listing including Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Arizona, California, Kentucky, St. Louis, and San Antonio) and the following bulleted list:

• Recently received a letter from the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement highlighting the positive working relationship between the department and CAIR-FL
• Conducted sensitivity trainings for the FBI in Orlando and Jacksonville
• Held a joint press conference with the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies seeking information on a person wanted for questioning
• Participated in an 8-week Police Community Relations Leadership Program with the Miami Dade Police Department
• In collaboration with the FBI, FDLE, BSO and several other law enforcement agencies, coordinated a forum with state Islamic leaders
• Participated in several town hall meetings with FBI, FDLE, and U.S. Attorney's office discussing the issues of security and liberty

Uncontracted relationships, I suppose. Then, again, the information comes from CAIR's web site, which isn't exactly the epitome of veracity.