This letter to the editor was published in The Dallas Morning News in response to an editorial.
This editorial rightfully criticizes Gov. Greg Abbott for branding America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization a foreign terrorist organization without evidence. However, the editorial expresses concern about CAIR’s stance on Hamas and antisemitism even though the organization has extensively addressed those issues.
CAIR has condemned all forms of unjust violence, including terrorism. CAIR condemned ISIS so often that it put a target on our director. We have criticized the Hamas suicide bombings of the 1990s and attacks on civilians on Oct. 7, just as we have condemned Israel’s decades of violent oppression of Palestinians. The editorial mentions a remark our director made about Oct. 7, but failed to note he clarified his stance and affirmed his alignment with CAIR.
CAIR has denounced antisemitism and included Jewish Americans in key roles, including as the director of a CAIR chapter.
CAIR’s diverse team has attracted Abbott’s hostility by winning victories in defense of the Constitution, including lawsuits for a Texas schoolteacher, a Texas engineer and Texas students targeted over their support for Palestinian human rights.
The editorial board should continue speaking out against Abbott’s antics without giving credence to his dishonest attacks on the Texas Muslim community’s leading civil rights organization.
Mustafa Carroll, Dallas
CAIR chapter executive director