Last week we saw what millions of people across the nation, acting in concert, can accomplish. Despite a relentless Oklahoma Attorney General and others who were determined to see Julius Jones die, Governor Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence.
Granted, the ordeal itself was cruel and unusual for Jones, his family and friends, and pathetic for society. America still can’t kick the scourge of capital punishment.
Nonetheless, it was a victory for justice.
There is something about an execution date and the uncertainty of guilt that can stir people to action. Would that more Muslims in America felt an urgency for CAIR to come clean concerning some serious allegations against it, including egregious sexual misconduct, and justice done for the victims.
But whereas the uncertainty about Jones’ guilt should have and did work in his favor, any uncertainty with respect to the allegations against CAIR, many of which were aired more than seven months ago by NPR (Civil Rights Org CAIR Accused Of Ignoring Alleged Misconduct : NPR) should not preclude an honest-to-God investigation.
There is nothing final about an investigation, unlike an execution. And there is something short-sighted about leaving credible allegations of misconduct and malfeasance unaddressed, especially for CAIR when Muslims already are suspect by numbers of Americans. Growing numbers for all I know.
The evidence against CAIR is solid. The incriminating internal communications which I quote from extensively in my last post (CAIR’s Incriminating Communications – Reform CAIR), should demonstrate beyond any doubt that CAIR covered up a blatant violation of a woman’s rights and dignity by a prominent chapter executive. The victim filed a complaint in March of 2016, which CAIR failed to investigate. The alleged perpetrator himself saw to that outcome.
NPR journalist Leila Fadel discusses that case briefly in the article cited above. The victim did not speak with Fadel, for the accused chapter leader, a lawyer, had silenced her for the time being. Another woman similarly violated by the same CAIR leader, who did speak with Fadel, apparently did not file a complaint. Yet, she told Fadel that this CAIR celebrity stole her self-worth and left her contemplating suicide daily. A third woman who suffered a textbook case of sexual harassment in the Florida office by the same individual also did not file an official complaint. As she related to Fadel, she had been told in essence that the perpetrator was too valuable to the CAIR operation.
The emails I included in my last post are smoking guns, and ought to persuade anyone with an open mind that the many allegations against CAIR need to be properly investigated.
But setting all those emails aside, I want to demonstrate by a simple, logical argument, how I came to doubt the candidness of CAIR even before seeing those emails.
First, what are the odds that Muslim-friendly National Public Radio is going to publish an expose critical of a Muslim organization, and one richly endowed with lawyers, if it is not very confident of the content?
Very low, don’t you think?
From that, I think two conclusions logically follow. First, a fair amount of content divulged to Fadel probably did not survive the drafting and editing process at NPR. Second, what did survive was credible and noteworthy enough to NPR editors that it should be worth investigating. Otherwise, why feed Islamophobia with allegations that might be unremarkable except to people who have it out for Muslims to begin with?
Indeed, by now I have heard three people “in the know” say that what appeared in Fadel’s article was only a portion of what was related to her by former employees and board members of CAIR. Even so, it is plenty to answer for.
Thus far, all CAIR has done to address these allegations besides claiming to have had no previous knowledge of any “sexual harassment” complaints against the chapter leader, or any complaints at all against him prior to December, 2020, is to launch a spurious “independent” investigation.
Well, that’s not quite true. To be fair, CAIR has also tried to scapegoat a former employee by smearing her in the community and suing her for defamation and violations of a non-disclosure agreement, which lawsuit is intended to intimidate anyone else who might otherwise be inclined to speak up.
But oddly, or maybe not, no one has come forward to participate in that CAIR-sanctioned investigation.
I have written to one prominent Muslim leader who bothered to get involved in a scandal involving another Muslim leader a few years back. Over the last couple of months, I have written to this brother four times, urging him to trouble himself a bit by pushing for a bona fide investigation of the allegations against CAIR.
So far, nothing.
So I would put this question to any American Muslim, seven months and counting after the publication of Leila Fadel’s expose of CAIR: Are women second class in Islam, pure and simple?
If you have not yet read Leila Fadel’s article, I urge you to. And if you read it but were not moved to action by it, I urge you to read it again. Please ask yourself if that which survived a rigorous editing process is not sufficient cause for a credible investigation.
If you are still not persuaded, then please read my last post (CAIR’s Incriminating Communications – Reform CAIR). Then consider that CAIR claimed in an official statement issued this past April 16 to have had no knowledge before December of 2020 of any sexual misconduct by the named chapter leader.
In the name of the One who knows all that is revealed and all that is concealed, CAIR is playing a dangerous game.
Fourteen hundred years ago, Islam was an advancement for women’s rights. It can be so today, but that is going to take some work. To begin, American Muslims will need to insist that the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the nation be held accountable.
Enough of us acting in concert may yet accomplish something beautiful.
Reform CAIR 