By Black Star News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) is denouncing Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for remarks he made, on August 12, on the right-wing radio program of Sid Rosenberg, who is know for making racist and prejudiced statements.
CAIR’s issue with Rubio is that he seemed to agree with Rosenberg, during the radio interview, that CAIR should, possibly, be officially declared a terrorist organization by the US government. CAIR said that “Last week, we sent Secretary Rubio a letter that called on him affirm that the State Department will not misuse federal power to target American Muslim institutions and warned him that baseless threats will not deter us from our work.” You can read that letter here.
They noted that “Although Secretary Rubio never mentioned CAIR in his responses, he appeared to entertain the possibility of misusing federal power against unnamed Muslim institutions. Regardless of Rubio’s intent, these comments were reckless and dangerous.”
The organization also made it clear that “CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and a fully independent nonprofit that operates in full compliance with the law. CAIR is not—and has never been—a member, chapter, offshoot, or affiliate of any foreign organization. Period.”
During the interview, Rosenberg said to Rubio, “So while we talk about designating the cartels, Marco, as a terrorist organization, I got to ask you: Why wouldn’t you guys designate the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR? I just – I look at these organizations, I have a mayor’s race here in New York City with this psycho, this lunatic Mamdani. Both of these groups you know are behind him, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. Is that something you think we can count on maybe in the near future? Maybe not CAIR just yet, but certainly the Muslim Brotherhood?”
Rubio’s responded by saying, “Yeah, all of that is in the works, and obviously there are different branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, so you’d have to designate each one of them. But let me just tell you that there’s a process which I didn’t fully appreciate till I came into this job, and I know people don’t want to hear about processes, but because these things are going to be challenged in court, right? Any group can say, “Well, I’m not really a terrorist – that organization is not a terrorist organization,” so you have to show your – you have to show your – the paperwork. You have to show your work like the – like a math problem when you go before court.
“So we have to go through this process internally where you have to do the review, you have to document and justify what it is. You can know something is what it is, but you still got to go through it so that when someone comes back, as you’ve seen – they don’t hesitate to go to court now. We are tied up in hundreds and hundreds of lawsuits of every kind. All you need is one federal judge – and there are plenty – that are willing to do these nationwide injunctions and basically try to run the country from the bench. So we’ve got to be so careful.
But all of those things are – that you just discussed, without getting into great detail because I can’t yet, are in the process. We are constantly reviewing for groups to designate for what they are: supporters of terrorists, maybe terrorists themselves, whatever it may be. We haven’t done this in a long time, so it’s – we’ve got a lot of catch-up to do. And you’ve mentioned a couple names, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, that are of grave concern.“
CAIR, which has been an advocacy organization since 1994, also said this: “The real reason anti-Muslim hate groups and pro-Israel lobby group obsessively target CAIR is because of our effective and steadfast advocacy for causes of justice, especially Palestinian freedom. These hate groups fear that American Muslims will continue to become more civically engaged and politically impactful, leading to the reorientation of American policy on Palestine and other issues in a more just and humane direction.
“These hate groups are right about one thing. That is exactly what American Muslims are working to do—advance justice here and abroad—and it’s working. Polls show that most Americans now oppose the genocide in Gaza and support suspending U.S. weapons to Israel, and more members of Congress than ever before are speaking out. That’s why the Israeli government’s supporters are increasingly desperate and lashing out.”
A White House transcript of the interview can be seen here.
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