CAIR's Dwindling Support In America

There are polls, there is spin, and then there is objective fact. It is often impossible to winnow away the first two to get to the latter - but not today, at least as far as it is possilbe to identify support for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) among American Muslims. The fact is that American Muslims have been jumping ship from CAIR ever since 9-11, as membership in the organization has dwindled by 90% to less then 1,700 members today. Their dues generate only $58,750 for CAIR. The only thing keeping CAIR afloat at the moment - and flush with a $3,000,000 operating budget to pursue its radical Islamist agenda - are the donations of twelve "private individuals." There can be little doubt that, if we identify those donors, we will find a direct link to Ridyah. The Washington Times has the story:

. . . Asked about the decline, Parvez Ahmed, CAIR board chairman, pointed to the number of individual donors to the organization.

"We are proud that our grass-roots support in the American Muslim community has allowed CAIR to grow from having eight chapters and offices in 2001 to having 33 today," Mr. Ahmed said.

The self-described civil liberties organization for Muslims seeks to portray "a positive image of Islam" through public relations and the media, but has instead alienated some by defending questionable accusations of discrimination.

Critics of the organization say they are not surprised membership is sagging, and that a recent decision by the Justice Department to name CAIR as "unindicted co-conspirators" in a federal case against another foundation charged with providing funds to a terrorist group could discourage new members.

M. Zuhdi Jasser, director of the American-Islamic Forum for Democracy, says the sharp decline in membership calls into question whether the organization speaks for 7 million American Muslims, as the group has claimed.

"This is the untold story in the myth that CAIR represents the American Muslim population. They only represent their membership and donors," Mr. Jasser said.

Read the whole story here. This augers well for Muslims in America. CAIR's agenda is to promote Salafi Islam and to drive a wedge between Americans and American Muslims. The fact that American Muslims are largely rejecting this message is good news indeed. Now it is time for our government to stop working with CAIR and promoting their agenda from above.