Seattle Times "puff" piece on CAIR

From The Seattle Times

American Muslims mingling in a ballroom at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in downtown Seattle last night showed no outward sign of the pressure many are feeling.

At the annual banquet for the Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the issues of war abroad and civil rights at home surfaced at the podium, and participants were ready with opinions when asked.

Yet this formal gathering of more than 300 people breathed the warmth and intimacy of a close-knit community.

Perhaps the Times missed Frontpage's expose on CAIR and their links to terrorism.

One group in particular, CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an entity masquerading as a ‘civil rights’ organization, has called into question its own support for nefarious causes. The following will prove that, in late 2001, CAIR appeared to be in violation of United States law, as in regards to the providing of material support to terrorists.

Great piece on exposing CAIR.

One overt political note was sounded as U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, was introduced and given CAIR's public-official-of-the-year award for his support of the Muslim community.

No surprise there.

Before giving McDermott his plaque, Samia El-Moslimany, CAIR vice chair, announced "tremendous news."

She told the crowd that the King County Democratic Party, meeting earlier in the day elsewhere within the Convention Center, had voted into its platform a commitment to "withhold U.S. tax dollars from Israel while it is in violation of international law."

"This is a memorable day," said El-Moslimany.

The anti-Israel statement was one of 235 amendments to the party's platform, according to Greg Rodriguez, King County party chairman. Reached at home last night, Rodriguez could not recall the exact wording, but said, "I would imagine that probably did get in."

Following El-Moslimany to the podium, McDermott said that passage of the platform commitment should encourage all American Muslims to get involved in the political process.

Perfect. A terrorist linked organization involved in US politics.

[...]

On the way in, many paused in the lobby to watch video footage of Capt. James Yee, the U.S. Army Muslim chaplain who spent 76 days in prison on allegations of spying at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before all charges against him were dropped in April.

[...]

Yee declined to speak with the press, and confined his remarks from the stage to thanking all who had supported him, and thanking CAIR in particular for its organized efforts.

"I encourage you to stand for justice and to support (CAIR)," he concluded, "My name is Yusuf Yee, your brother in Islam."

Seems the Army was right to be suspicious.

Atefeh Naeemi, a young Iranian-born American, compared the pressures currently facing her community to those faced by African Americans in Jim Crow days and Japanese Americans during World War II.

"Maybe this is the Muslim-American time to be tested," Naeemi said

Well, Atefeh, you might want to learn more about the group you are hanging out with.

UPDATE for Atefeh.

From Daniel Pipes

For these and other reasons, the FBI's former chief of counterterrorism, Steven Pomerantz, concludes that "CAIR, its leaders and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups."

Be sure to read the exhaustive links at the end of the article.