Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Illinois GOP Calls on Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights to Cut Ties with Hamas-Linked Group Behind Anti-Israel Rallies

From the Illinois Republican Party

CHICAGO – The Illinois Republican Party today called on the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to expel the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) from its coalition due to its links to the Hamas terrorist organization and leadership in promoting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities in the Chicago area.

“Given CAIR’s reported ties to Hamas terrorist supporters, its anti-Israel organizing and its tolerance for anti-Semitic discourse, we call on ICIRR to expel CAIR from its coalition immediately,” Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said. “This should not be a partisan issue. All political candidates, Republican or Democrat, should condemn ICIRR for counting a group like CAIR as a member.”

According its Web site, ICIRR’s membership includes CAIR. In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had cut ties with CAIR, which was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism case.

In Chicago, CAIR was the lead sponsor of a number of troubling rallies against Israel earlier this year. Rally participants held signs reading “Jews are the terrorist,” “Mossad did 9-11,” “Death to the Jews,” and “Death to Israel.” The anti-Semitic rallies were condemned by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Anti-Defamation League.

When pressed about anti-Semitic signage at the rallies, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab told the Chicago Tribune, “As hundreds of innocent human lives are crushed in full view of the world by a belligerent Israeli government, I find it appalling that some on the pro-Israeli side are better concerned with cardboard paper.”

In addition, Rehab signed a fundraising letter for an admitted Hamas supporter’s legal defense fund, called the Hamas supporter “a symbol of a larger Palestinian struggle,” and called Israel “a strategic liability in the war on terror.”

1 comment:

Jason said...

The sad truth is that CAIR is the darling of the left. I salute the IL GOP for doing what Democrats have been failing to do all decade - condemn anti-Semitism.