Terror-Tied CAIR Supports the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

The Council on American Islamic Relations has come out in support of the Palestinian NGOs raided by Israel this past August 18.

In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:

“We ask that President Biden speak out against this new attempt to stifle Palestinian political activism and to block documentation of Israel’s ongoing apartheid practices and human rights abuses. The idea of promoting human rights ‘everywhere, except Palestine’ must come to an end.”

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All of the NGO’s raided are fronts for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

But an array of people and organizations, from random internet dudes to the UN to State Department spokesmen, are not sure if the Israeli raids were justified.

So to help us understand the nature of the NGO’s in question, we turn to the website NGO Monitor.

What is NGO Monitor?

According to Wikipedia:

NGO Monitor (Non-governmental Organization Monitor) is a right-wing non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem that reports on international NGO activity from a pro-Israel perspective.

Israel?! That means it’s propaganda, right?

Not at all. In the first place, who would have more knowledge and expertise on this subject than the Israelis? And to call NGO Monitor propaganda is childish. NGO Monitor is not asking anyone to take their word for their conclusions about the NGOs. They cite their sources, which include: statements from the PFLP, U.S. position papers, academic writings, photographs, etc.

So while diplomats may have to hem and haw, any reasonable person can that see the raided groups are in several cases direct extensions of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist organization.

The following is just a sampling from NGO Monitor, which has much more about these terror fronts posing as NGO’s.

What is the PLFP?

• NGO Monitor has identified a broad network of Palestinian NGOs claiming to advance human rights or humanitarian interests that have links to the PFLP terror group.  These connections include current and former NGO board members, officials, and employees who served in the PFLP or spoken on its behalf at public events and taken part in PFLP forums.
• The PFLP is involved in suicide bombings, shootings, and assassinations, among other terrorist activities targeting civilians, and was the first Palestinian organization to hijack airplanes in the 1960s and 1970s.
• PFLP members took credit for the house invasion and murder of the Fogel family in 2011.

What is the Defense for Children International-Palestine?

• Hashem Khader Abu Maria, was executive director of DCI-Palestine. He was mourned on the PFLP website, and they called him a leader.

What is the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)

• UAWC rhetoric includes accusations of “ethnic cleansing,” “collective punishment,” and “apartheid,” as well as supporting a Palestinian “right of return.” UAWC also promotes BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns against Israel.
• UAWC is identified by Fatah as an official Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) “affiliate” and by a USAID-engaged audit as the “agricultural arm” of the PFLP.

What is the Health Work Committees (HWC)

• Ahmad Maslamani, HWC’s co-founder and former director in the West Bank, and a “Central Committee member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”

What is the Union of Health Workers Committees (UHWC)

• Identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate” and by USAID as the “the PFLP’s health organization.”
• Staff:
  • Rabah Muhanna – an UHWC “founder” and “former head” – member of PFLP political bureau.
  • Magdi Yaghi – UHWC board’s treasurer, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors (2016). Referred to by the PFLP as a “member of the regional command.”
  • Fadi Al Ajrami, former member of UHWC’s Board of Directors, and “Central Committee of the Popular Front” according to the PFLP.

What is the Al-Haq

• a leader of anti-Israel “lawfare” campaigns (the abuse of courts for political ends)
• a leader of BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) campaigns.

What is the Addameer

• Addameer is an official PFLP “affiliate.” search [“3. Al-Dameer Foundation”]
• Khalida Jarrar, Addameer’s vice-chairperson, is a senior PFLP official.

What is the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC)

• The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) is identified by Fatah as an official “affiliate” and by USAID as the “women’s organization” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel. UPWC is also active in supporting BDS campaigns and utilizing inflammatory rhetoric.

It might be worth keeping this in your notes as reference. Because this is just one more example of CAIR’s public statements about eschewing terrorism not matching their actions.

CAIR does appear to support terror, from Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, al Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS brides, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. All these groups are arguably CAIR’s comrades-in-arms.