The CAIR-Florida Chapter of the Council on American Relations is a combination of the former CAIR-Miami and the CAIR-Tampa branches of the organization. The Miami chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says it was established “to challenge stereotypes of Islam and Muslims and defend civil liberties.” [1]
CAIR-Miami executive director Nezar Hamze is Vice President of an Islamic Circle of North America non-profit named Community Fest Florida. As a fellow chapter of CAIR-Florida, CAIR-Miami works closely with CAIR-Tampa [insert CAIR-Tampa profile link] and its radical executive director, Hassan Shibly.
CAIR-FL has enlisted prominent Islamist radicals to help it fundraise. Its November 23, 2013 fundraiser, themed “Faith in Freedom,” featured Imam Siraj Wahhaj of Masjid at-Taqwa and Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center. [2]
Though CAIR has documented links to the Hamas terrorist group, Hamze says he rejects Hamas.
“Hamas has made the decision, now, Hamas has been attacked, obviously, but Hamas has made the decision to take innocent lives and we cannot stand with them. Period, it’s very clear,” he said in 2011. [3]
The Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says its purpose is “to challenge stereotypes of Islam and Muslims and defend civil liberties.” [4] CAIR honored it as “Chapter of the Year” in 2013.[5]
In July 2014, CAIR-Florida co-sponsored a pro-Hamas rally held outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown Miami, where rally goers repeatedly shouted, “We are Hamas” and “Let’s go Hamas.” [6]
CAIR-Tampa’s executive director, Hassan Shibly, has said that Hezbollah is “absolutely not a terrorist organization,” but is actually a “resistance group” and “any war against them is illegitimate.”[7] In 2010, Shibly refused to describe Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations to Clarion Project national security analyst Ryan Mauro. He also posted a clip of Norman Finkelstein praising Hezbollah on his Facebook page. [8]
He also said on Facebook, “I love these people” in reference to Neturei Karta, a Jewish extremist group that supports the Iranian regime and the destruction of Israel. Shibly also listed himself as a “fan” of radical cleric Khalid Yasin on Facebook. [9]
He compliments the late Syrian Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro for “speaking out for the oppressed.” His father organized trips to the Kuftaro’s center in Syria. Kuftaro has had radicals like Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam and a neo-Nazi as guest speakers. In 2004, he urged Muslims to fight against U.S. forces in Iraq and to “use all means possible to thwart the aggression, including martyr operations against the belligerent American, British and Zionist invaders.” [10]
Shibly has also praised Sheikh Rajab Deeb, a top disciple of Kuftaro’s. He called on Syria to obtain nuclear weapons and preaches that the U.S. is beholden to a Jewish lobby. Deeb has had an official position with the Syrian regime and said in 2005 that Jews are trying to “eradicate every race except their race.” Shibly says he did not know of these statements and does not agree with them. [11]
In 2004, Shibly was detained at the Canadian border after he and his associates attended an Islamist conference in Toronto. He then sued the Department of Homeland Security and his case was dismissed.
The U.S. government said they were questioned because of “credible intelligence that conferences similar to the one from which these individuals were leaving were being used by terrorist organizations to fundraise and to hide the travel of terrorists themselves.” [12]
In the 2010 interview with Mauro, Shibly said “people who are oppressed and occupied have the right to defend themselves so long as they too do not oppress.” When asked if that meant he supports attacks on U.S. soldiers in Iraq, he said they are occupiers but he opposes violence unless it’s in “self-defense.” [13]
Shibly has repeatedly posted videos on Facebook that portray U.S. soldiers as abusers of innocent Muslims. For example, he posted a video titled, “Former American Terrorist Denounces American Terrorism” at least twice. The video features a U.S. soldier describing the U.S. military as racist terrorists. [14]
He has accused Israel of carrying out a Holocaust and has promoted propaganda that accuses American and Israeli soldiers of purposely massacring innocent civilians. He has also claimed that the U.S. military is in Afghanistan because the U.S. government “is engaged in a religious war.” [15] On twitter, Shibly has compared Hamas terror tunnels to the Underground Railroad [16] and claimed “Israel & it’s supporters are enemies of God and humanity!” [17]
He also suggested in 2009 that the U.S. and the U.K. are orchestrating sectarian violence and suicide bombings in Iraq to justify their continued military presence. Other postings accused Israel of orchestrating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In his 2010 interview with Mauro, Shibly provided articles alleging that the British were framing Iraqis for terrorist attacks and that Israeli agents had advance knowledge of the 9-11 attacks. [19]
In 2013, Shibly repeatedly characterized the FBI’s shooting of an associate of the Boston Marathon bombers as foul play. He essentially characterized the death of Ibrahim Todashev as a pre-meditated assassination by the FBI. [20]
In 2017, Shibly endorsed the Khatme Nubuwwat (KN) and a conference they held in Virginia. KN is an international network that has incited violence and hatred against Ahmadiyya Muslims, who are seen by many Islamists as heretics. [21]
[1] “About Us,” CAIR-Florida website, https://fl.cair.com/page/about.html
[2] “Mid-Florida Region 9th Annual Banquet,” CAIR-Florida website, https://fl.cair.com/event/banquet9.html
[3] Manjarres, Javier. “CAIR’s South Florida Executive Director Goes on the Record,” Shark Tank, February 19, 2011. https://www.shark-tank.com/2011/02/19/11510/
[4] “About Us,” CAIR-Florida website, https://fl.cair.com/page/about.html
[5] “CAIR Tampa Wins Chapter of the Year!” CAIR-Florida website, September 29, 2013. https://www.cairflorida.org/blog/a_special_thank_you__congratulations.html
[6] Pipes, Daniel. “Is CAIR Lying about a Rally for Hamas?” Gatestone Institute, August 22, 2014. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4640/hamas-miami-cair
[7] Gregorie, Jill. “Living With War,” Generation, undated. https://www.subboard.com/generation/articles/116346097693910.asp
[8] Mauro, Ryan. “Frequent Muslim Speaker to Kids in New York Schools Supports Hamas, Hezbollah.” PJ Media, July 20, 2010. https://pjmedia.com/blog/frequent-muslim-speaker-to-kids-in-new-york-schools-supports-hamas-hezbollah/
[12] Garcia, Michelle. “Muslims Detained at Border Sue U.S. Homeland Security,” Washington Post, April 21, 2005. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6225-2005Apr20.html
[16] Shibly, Hassan. “The Palestinian Underground Railroad. https://t.co/bJONabuQVQ” Twitter Account, August 4, 2014. https://twitter.com/HassanShibly/status/496325959814217728 (A web archived version of the article linked in the tweet can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20170307204409/https://smpalestine.com/2014/07/30/a-thing-or-two-about-terror-tunnels/)
[17] Shibly, Hassan. “God as my wittiness, Israel & it’s supporters are enemies of God and humanity! How many more children must Israel kill 4 U 2 C?#Gaza“ Twitter Account, August 3, 2014. https://twitter.com/HassanShibly/status/496006231036006400
[18]Ă‚Â Mauro, Ibid.
[19] Mauro, Ryan. “CAIR Cries Foul Play in FBI Shooting of Tsarnaev Cohort,” Clarion Project, June 17, 2013. https://qb5cc3pam3y2ad0tm1zxuhho-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/analysis/cair-cries-foul-play-fbi-shooting-tsarneav-associate
[20] “CAIR Florida Leader Hassan Shibly: Homosexuality “Evil,” “A Quick Way To Earn God’s Wrath,” Americans for Peace & Tolerance, June 14, 2016. www.peaceandtolerance.org/2016/06/14/cair-florida-leader-hassan-shibly-homosexuality-evil-a-quick-way-to-earn-gods-wrath/
[21] Westrop, Sam. “Leading American Islamist Endorses Vilent AntiAhmadi Group,” December 1, 2017. https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/blog/december-2017/leading-american-islamist-endorses-violent-antiahm