The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to lift its “un-American and unconstitutional” funding freeze of security grants for American Muslim nonprofits reportedly frozen based on their religious identity and their criticism of the Israeli government’s human rights abuses.
According to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security may have targeted Muslim organizations based on a spurious report produced by a pro-Israel and anti-Muslim hate group founded by Daniel Pipes.
Exclusive: Inside the Trump administration’s efforts to disqualify Muslim groups from security grants | CNN Politics
Pipes has derided Muslims as “brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene,” and his organization’s director has been sued for allegedly engaging in sexual harassment of female employees during trips to pro-Israel events.”
CAIR called for the DHS to reverse course as mosques, churches, synagogues, temples, and other religious institutions are increasingly targeted by violence.
SEE: New normal at churches, houses of worship after deadly attacks
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“It is un-American and unconstitutional for the government to block American Muslim organizations – including mosques, community centers, and civil rights groups – from critical security funding based on their faith or baseless, politically-motivated allegations. These actions violate the constitutional rights of all Americans and endanger vulnerable communities at a time when hate crimes against all faith communities, including Muslims, are on the rise.
“The Department of Homeland Security should immediately reverse course, restore grant eligibility to Muslim organizations and renounce any reliance on the claims of the ‘Israel First’ hate group founded by racist Daniel Pipes. We also call on members of Congress, civil rights advocates and interfaith partners to demand transparency, accountability,and equal protection under the law for all Americans – regardless of their faith.”
In its exclusive report, CNN wrote:
“While the DHS officials didn’t give a reason for disqualifying Muslim groups when they floated the idea, the Trump administration at the time was in the throes of dramatically downsizing the federal government.
“Ultimately, the idea was dropped.
“But six months later, dozens of those Muslim organizations have been stripped of their eligibility for security funds that help protect against hate crimes and extremist attacks after DHS and the Department of Government Efficiency alleged that the groups have ties to terrorism.
“Five FEMA insiders — including those with knowledge of the proposal to block the funds — describe those allegations as questionable, given the standard vetting the groups undergo and the unusual circumstances that led to their loss of funding. Some suggested that the allegations of terror ties, which they said came with little evidence, may be a pretext to justify the cuts.”
Exclusive: Inside the Trump administration’s efforts to disqualify Muslim groups from security grants | CNN Politics
In a statement to CNN, CAIR previously said:
“Mosques have the same legal right as churches, synagogues and other religious nonprofit organizations to apply for federal grants, including funding that vulnerable houses of worship use to enhance their security. The government cannot ban American Muslim nonprofit organizations from receiving federal grants because of their religious identity, their criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, or the rantings of the Israel First racists at the Middle East Forum; doing so places American Muslim institutions at increased risk during a time of rising hate.”
“This hate group’s claim that American organizations opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza are somehow ‘aligned’ with Palestinian militant groups is Orwellian nonsense. Unlike the Israel First genocide supporters at the Middle East Forum, every major American Muslim organization in our nation has condemned all forms of bigotry, from antisemitism to anti-Palestinian racism, and all forms of unjust violence, from terrorism to genocide.
“The Department of Homeland Security must not let the inmates run the asylum by launching witch hunts into nonprofits or denying federal funding based on the demands of a hate website whose founder Daniel Pipes has derided Muslims as “brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene,” and whose director Greg Roman has been sued for allegedly engaging in sexual harassment of female employees during trips to pro-Israel events.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com