CAIR-SFBA 15th Annual Banquet

November 5, 11:12 PMSF Muslim ExaminerDavi Barker

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Rifqa Bary... Faleh Hassan Almaleki... Luqman Ameen Abdullah. One thing I keep reading in the coverage of all these stories and others is, "CAIR, the unindicted co-conspirator in a terror funding case." Ominous quotes from CAIR founder Omar Ahmed, and current Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper pepper the Internet. So I thought... what is an unindicted co-conspirator?

unindicted co-conspirator:
-n. A person or entity that is alleged to have engaged in conspiracy, but who is not charged.

Weird... It doesn't even mean that they were tried and let off. It means that they were never even charged. So, if I allege that Barry Obama engaged in a conspiracy with underground lizard people to use satellites to beam subliminal messages directly into your brain then I can say, "President Obama, the unindicted co-conspirator in the Reptilian orbital mind-control lasers case." Maybe there has to actually be an indictment before I can call it a "case" but I think you see my meaning. In the age of the War on Terror, when Muslims can disappear into off shore prisons without due process, the fact that CAIR was not even charged says volumes about the evidence against them to me. But I don't know.

A book was recently published titled, "Muslim Mafia" by former federal counter-terrorism agent P. David Gaubatz. The author's son, Christ Gaubatz infiltrated the national headquarters of CAIR pretending to be a convert to Islam. The reports flaunt his hundreds of boxes and thousands of pages of evidence that CAIR is conducting a secret Jihad to Islamize America, and they make their allegations, but they play their cards very close the vest. They probably are trying to wet people's appetite enough to actually read the book, which I will. So, expect that book review at some point. But it seems like they're basic charge is that CAIR is in Washington trying to influence public policy, which is exactly what every civil rights organization and every lobbying group is there to do. But I don't know.

I'm not a shill for CAIR. I've read the public relations and I've read the propaganda and frankly I don't know what to think about them. I've been critical of CAIR in the past. For example, there was a case were a Muslim girl applied for a job at Abercrombie and Fitch and was not hired on the grounds that she would not remove her hijab. CAIR jumped on that case to defend her right to wear her hijab. But I felt pretty strongly that Abercrombie and Fitch was in the right. It's simple property rights. Your rights end where my property begins. If you don't like it, you can get off my property, which is exactly what this girl should have done. But I am impressed that CAIR also works with non-Muslims. In a recent case a Sikh cab driver was assaulted by a passenger and CAIR supported him. Philosophically I oppose hate crime legislation because victims of all demographics deserve equal justice, but I'll grant that CAIR's willingness to defend non-Muslims is principled.

My impression of CAIR has always been that they are the Muslim version of the Anti Defamation League. I am as skeptical of organizations that work closely with the government as I am skeptical of the government itself. It has always seemed to me that special interest groups are fundamentally designed to aim the guns of government at their enemies and utilize legislative intimidation against their detractors. But I'll admit they do some good. Again, I just don't know.

So, I thought what better way to get the scoop than to visit my own local chapter, CAIR-SFBA.

It turns out that the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of CAIR is the first in the Nation, founded the same year as the Headquarters in D.C. Their 15th annual fundraising dinner is coming up. What better way to know what an organization is about than to see what they're pitching to their donors? So, I bought a ticket. I know the Crusaders will say that now I'm giving money to an unidicted co-conspirator, but I'll be bringing my keen nose for the purges of bovine. If anyone would like to join me, let me know and we'll coordinate, and certainly if you have any questions you'd like me to ask leave them in the comment's section.

Here are the details:

• What: CAIR-SFBA's 15th Annual Fundraising Banquet
• Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009
• Time: 5:00pm to 9:00pm
• Where: The Fremont Marriott, 46100 Landing Parkway, Fremont CA
• Theme: “A New Era of Hope: Our Role, Our Future.”
• Tickets: Call 408.986.9874 or order online.
  $35.00 per Adult ($50.00 after November 8th)
  $15.00 per Child (Ages 0-12 years)
  $325.00 per Table (10 seats)
• Speakers: Professor David Cole, Dr. Jack Shaheen and Dr. Mohammed Rajabally.

Dr. Jack Shaheen is Professor Emeritus of Mass Communication at Southern Illinois University, and consultant on Middle East affairs for CBS News. He studies portrayals of Arabs and Islam in American media, and his presentations contend that stereotypes do not exist in a vacuum, that hurtful caricatures of Asians, blacks, Latinos and others, impact innocents.

David D. Cole is an American law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center who publishes academic articles on various legal topics including civil rights, criminal justice, constitutional law. His main areas of expertise are First Amendment law, criminal procedure and law relating to United States federal courts and lectures on related topics including U.S. drugs policy, the U.S. War on Terror, and capital punishment.

Dr. Mohammad Rajabally is a long time community activist, ISNA member and project leader for NISA. Dr. Rajabally has industry specific experience as a Board Member of the Tri-Cities Homeless Coalition and Human Relations Commissioner for the City of Fremont. He is also the Vice President of the Islamic Society of East Bay in Fremont, the largest Mosque in the Tri-City Area. He and his wife Dr. Fareeda own a family Dental practice in Fremont.