The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) says it seeks “to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.”[3]
In November 2014, CAIR-SFBA honored convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Sami Al-Arian with a “Promoting Justice Award.” CAIR maintained that Al-Arian was innocent and a victim of persecution, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. That notwithstanding, Al-Arian’s vocal extremism is recorded and publicly-available, so CAIR is at least knowingly upholding a proven extremist.[3a]
CAIR-SFBA presented Hatem Bazian, chairman of American Muslims for Palestine, with an “Empowering American Muslims” Award on November 17, 2012 at its 18th Annual Banquet.[4] The event also featured Imam Johari Abdulmalik, the Outreach Director of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center.[5] In 2001, he endorsed attacks on Israeli infrastructure.[6]
In February 2011, CAIR-SFBA’s website featured a poster for an event that said, “Build a Wall of Resistance; Don’t Talk to the FBI.” The graphics on the poster portrayed the FBI in a dark way. The poster was removed after it got negative attention.[7]
The Executive Director of CAIR-SFBA is Zahra Billoo. She was an adviser to the Muslim Students Association West from 2005 to August 2010. During that time, MSA West events featured extremist rhetoric.[8]
On November 15, 2012, she tweeted, “Israel ‘defending’ itself is analogous to Nazi Germany defending itself from Jewish uprising.”
On November 20, 2012, she wrote a tweet justifying Hamas’ rocket attacks on Israel by comparing them to fighting off a rapist. She also retweeted a message stating that Israel will be eliminated and tweeted, “So Israel has ‘unleashed the gates of hell’ on #Gaza, so let the gates of hell be unleashed on Israel on the Day of Judgment. #Pray4Gaza”[9]
She also misrepresents U.S. military operations as deliberate attacks on civilians. On February 3, 2013, she tweeted, “Our tax dollars are funding drone strikes against children.”
In March 2013, Billoo sent out a tweet that referred to the U.S. military as the “US Occupying Army” and said that people should be “rescued” from serving in it. Another tweet said the U.S. military is responsible for the “murder of thousands” in Iraq. She also said that the arrest of an American convert for planning to join terrorists in Syria was “another FBI terror plot.”[10]
Billoo has questioned whether Muslims should honor fallen U.S. soldiers who die in wars they disagree with. In 2014, she sent out a tweet quoting another CAIR official as saying, “If one dies in an unjust war in which we illegally invaded and occupied a sovereign nation, should that person be honored?”[11]
After press coverage resulted and some Muslim activists condemned the comments, she accused her critics of being racist, sexist and anti-Muslim. She also re-tweeted messages that the U.S. military commits “genocide” and is “committing war crimes for empire & profit.”
Billoo also re-tweeted a message that said, “I support troops…who refuse service.”[12]
In June 2014, Billoo compared a Pakistani Taliban terrorist attack on an airport to the U.S. military. She tweeted, “feels more responsible for & outraged by US military terrorism in Pakistan than Taliban terrorism there. I fund the former not the latter.”[13]
Billoo has also expressed support for Imam Jamil al-Amin, who she calls a “black liberation soldier.” He was a member of the Black Panthers and was convicted of killing a police officer in 2000. He preached that the U.S. Constitution is “diametrically opposed to what Allah has commanded” and “If America doesn’t come around, we’re gonna burn it down.” Al-Amin explicitly justified violence.[14]
[1] “Chapters,” Council on American-Islamic Relations website, https://www.cair.com/Chapters.aspx#CAIRCASanFrancisco.
[2] “Chapters,” Council on American-Islamic Relations website, https://www.cair.com/Chapters.aspx#CAIRCASanFrancisco.
[3] “Our Mission,” CAIR-SFBA website, https://ca.cair.com/sfba/
[3a] “Days Before UAE Terror Designation, CAIR Awards PIJ Board Member,” IPT News, November 20, 2014. https://www.investigativeproject.org/4660/days-before-uae-terror-designation-cair-awards
[4] “CAIR-SFBA to Present Dr. Hatem Bazian with ‘Empowering American Muslims’ Award,” American Muslims for Palestine website, https://www.ampalestine.org/index.php/newsroom/articles/403-cair-sfba-to-present-dr-hatem-bazian-with-empowering-american-muslims-award.
[5] “CAIR-SFBA’s 18th Annual Banquet,” CAIR-SFBA website, https://ca.cair.com/sfba/event/cairsfba18thannualbanquet
[6] “Dar Al-Hijrah Official’s Deception on Awlaki,” IPT News, November 18, 2009. https://www.investigativeproject.org/1521/dar-al-hijrah-officials-deception-on-awlaki
[7] Starnes, Todd. “CAIR Says Poster Warning Against Helping FBI is Misinterpreted,” Fox News, January 13, 2011. https://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/13/cair-says-anti-fbi-poster-misinterpreted/
[8] “Apologists or Extremists: Zahra Billoo,” Investigative Project on Terrorism, October 18, 2012, https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/702.pdf.
[9] Mauro, Ryan. “CAIR Gives Award to Anti-American Islamist,” RadicalIslam.org, November 21, 2012. https://www.radicalislam.org/analysis/cair-gives-award-anti-american-islamist
[10]Mauro, Ryan. “CAIR Officials: U.S. Army ‘Occupiers,’ ‘Murderers.’” Clarion Project, March 20, 2014. https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/cair-officials-decry-muslims-us-military
[11] Mauro, Ryan. “CAIR Officials on Memorial Day: Do U.S. Troops Merit Honor?” Clarion Project, May 26, 2014. https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/cair-officials-memorial-day-do-us-troops-merit-honor
[12]Mauro, Ryan. “Muslims Express Outrage Over CAIR’s Memorial Day Tweets,” Clarion Project, May 29, 2014. https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/muslims-express-outrage-over-cairs-memorials-day-tweets
[13]Mauro, Ryan. “CAIR Official Compares U.S. ‘Military Terrorism’ to Taliban,” Clarion Project, June 12, 2014. https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/cair-official-us-military-immoral-taliban
[14] Mauro, Ryan. “CAIR Officials on Memorial Day: Do U.S. Troops Merit Honor?” Clarion Project, May 26, 2014. https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/cair-officials-memorial-day-do-us-troops-merit-honor
The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) says it seeks “to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.”[3]
In November 2014, CAIR-SFBA honored convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Sami Al-Arian with a “Promoting Justice Award.” CAIR maintained that Al-Arian was innocent and a victim of persecution, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. That notwithstanding, Al-Arian’s vocal extremism is recorded and publicly-available, so CAIR is at least knowingly upholding a proven extremist.[3a]
CAIR-SFBA presented Hatem Bazian, chairman of American Muslims for Palestine, with an “Empowering American Muslims” Award on November 17, 2012 at its 18th Annual Banquet.[4] The event also featured Imam Johari Abdulmalik, the Outreach Director of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center.[5] In 2001, he endorsed attacks on Israeli infrastructure.[6]
In February 2011, CAIR-SFBA’s website featured a poster for an event that said, “Build a Wall of Resistance; Don’t Talk to the FBI.” The graphics on the poster portrayed the FBI in a dark way. The poster was removed after it got negative attention.[7]
The Executive Director of CAIR-SFBA is Zahra Billoo. She was an adviser to the Muslim Students Association West from 2005 to August 2010. During that time, MSA West events featured extremist rhetoric.[8]
On November 15, 2012, she tweeted, “Israel ‘defending’ itself is analogous to Nazi Germany defending itself from Jewish uprising.”
On November 20, 2012, she wrote a tweet justifying Hamas’ rocket attacks on Israel by comparing them to fighting off a rapist. She also retweeted a message stating that Israel will be eliminated and tweeted, “So Israel has ‘unleashed the gates of hell’ on #Gaza, so let the gates of hell be unleashed on Israel on the Day of Judgment. #Pray4Gaza”[9]
She also misrepresents U.S. military operations as deliberate attacks on civilians. On February 3, 2013, she tweeted, “Our tax dollars are funding drone strikes against children.”
In March 2013, Billoo sent out a tweet that referred to the U.S. military as the “US Occupying Army” and said that people should be “rescued” from serving in it. Another tweet said the U.S. military is responsible for the “murder of thousands” in Iraq. She also said that the arrest of an American convert for planning to join terrorists in Syria was “another FBI terror plot.”[10]
Billoo has questioned whether Muslims should honor fallen U.S. soldiers who die in wars they disagree with. In 2014, she sent out a tweet quoting another CAIR official as saying, “If one dies in an unjust war in which we illegally invaded and occupied a sovereign nation, should that person be honored?”[11]
After press coverage resulted and some Muslim activists condemned the comments, she accused her critics of being racist, sexist and anti-Muslim. She also re-tweeted messages that the U.S. military commits “genocide” and is “committing war crimes for empire & profit.”
Billoo also re-tweeted a message that said, “I support troops…who refuse service.”[12]
In June 2014, Billoo compared a Pakistani Taliban terrorist attack on an airport to the U.S. military. She tweeted, “feels more responsible for & outraged by US military terrorism in Pakistan than Taliban terrorism there. I fund the former not the latter.”[13]
Billoo has also expressed support for Imam Jamil al-Amin, who she calls a “black liberation soldier.” He was a member of the Black Panthers and was convicted of killing a police officer in 2000. He preached that the U.S. Constitution is “diametrically opposed to what Allah has commanded” and “If America doesn’t come around, we’re gonna burn it down.” Al-Amin explicitly justified violence.[14]