Funding Council on American-Islamic Relations
By frenchieman •
Turn out they hit Gaddafi up for a donation, writing a letter to him and asking for money.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/06/lawmaker-criticizes-controver...
For those of you who do not know what this organization is: they are the leading mainstream American organization for the promotion of Muslim human rights in the U.S. They have a high visibility in the media and regularly speak on "behalf" of American Muslim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_American-Islamic_Relations
I must admit I was once a fan of the group, but the leaders' hypocrisy and lust for power as shown by this letter is too much for me.
I agree nadinenana, but I don't think equating Western governments with a charitable advocacy group is a fair one. This is a group that one day (righty) condemns an airline for removing a Muslim woman a "suspicious" woman in a headscarf for violating her rights and wrongly equating Muslims with terrorism and then next day asks a guy like Gaddafi (a known abuser of human rights and supporter of terrorism) to fund them. I think this will be a blow to their cause. There are plenty of legitimate, liberal-minded Muslims (and other supportive people) to fund their work without having to ask Gaddafi.
everyone can be blamed for being a sponsor of terrorism....western countries sponser the biggest supporter of terrorism: ISRAEL....
It's still going to hurt their public image--an organization promoting human rights and
trying to convince Americans that Muslims are not terrorists seeking a donation from a guy known for his abuse of human rights and being a one-time sponsor of terrorism.
Your sentiments would be valid - in an ideal world.
Organisations like CAIR need funding. They usually go to Muslim countries for some help. Most , if not all Muslim countries willing to fund such organizations are governed by regimes we should not do business with - but we have no choice.
britexpat--And our governments are intensely criticized for it. And our governments have not created themselves solely as a organization for the advancement of the human rights.
This is appalling. I too had a great deal of respect for this organization, and I still think it is a force for good, but it highlights how greedy the leadership is. They should be condemning Gaddafi as one of the worst abusers of Muslims' human rights, not asking for his cash. It will hurt their standing in the US.
These types of organizations will try and get funding from whomever they can.
As far as the regime is concerned, our governments have feted and worked with all types of despots and murderers when it has suited them.