Nihad Awad to Al-Estiklal: Abu Dhabi Funds Anti-Islam Institutions in America

Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) plays a major role in supporting the presence of Islam and Muslims in American society, by adopting a strategy of dialogue and communication with others, in compliance with American laws and Islamic values, to create a state of coexistence and constructive influence for Muslims.

The Council exerts significant efforts to clarify the true image of Islam and to preserve it from the deliberate distortion that some Zionist organizations stand behind.

CAIR was established in 1994 to increase the American society’s understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, support American Muslims, and build civic alliances with US institutions to build mutual trust and spread the values ​​of justice. CAIR’s activities extend across 32 regional branches and offices within the United States.

Al-Estiklal met with Dr. Nihad Awad, director of CAIR, to talk about the council’s activities inside and outside America and its role in the 2020 elections in the United States.

Awad also talked about the role the Council plays in monitoring incidents of discrimination against America’s Muslims and ways of dealing, monitoring legislation issued by Congress, educating American Muslims and encouraging them to political participation in general, and building positive dialogue and cooperation relations between Muslims and the institutions of the United States.

The dialogue with Awad also addressed the great shift in the American community’s vision in favor of the justice of the Palestinian cause, in exchange for a decrease in its support for Israel accompanied with the weakness of the Israeli popular discourse in the face of the justice of the Palestinian discourse.

The dialogue also dealt with the UAE’s plans to support and finance anti-Islam institutions in the United States that promote Islamophobia and hatred against Muslims.

• First of all, to what extent did the conditions of Muslims in the United States improve with the advent of the Biden administration?

Dr. Awad: It is natural for the number of Muslims in the United States to increase, and their influence on the political arena increases along, and even their involvement in American society. There is a remarkable growth among the various Muslim generations regarding their participation in the various general elections, and in particular the Democratic Party conferences.

A record number of Muslims ran in the elections in 2020, and there were 181 candidates in 28 states for public office in municipalities, county councils and Congress. In accordance to a field report we issued in CAIR 10 days ago, indicating the expansion of Muslim influence and their involvement in the political process.

Hence, we say that American Muslims are improving their situation steadily, even though they are still facing hateful racism, Islamophobia, and violence directed against them as a religious group within the minorities of American society, the people of color, the Blacks, the Latins, and the Asians.

• What difference did you perceive as Muslims amid the Trump and Biden administrations’ policies regarding Muslims?

Dr. Awad: It is clear that President Biden’s policies compared to Trump’s with regard to Muslims are like the difference between day and night, as the current discourse is comprehensive and respects minorities, and deals with everyone as equal American citizens before the law, regardless of race, gender, background, sect, and freedom of belief and thought.

The Biden administration is also the most pluralistic in the history of the United States, and this is something to be counted for, albeit a reaction due to the extent of the bad characteristic of the racism of President Trump and his administration, and even the drift of the Republican Party that complied with this racist base against others.

This is considered one of the most dark stains in the history of the United States, and a stigma in terms of the discrimination and division that society experienced under a racist and opportunistic personality such as Trump for 5 years.

There is no doubt that the Biden administration has benefited from these contradictions, and seeks to reunite these components, restore respect for everyone within American society again, and restore its status that was shaken in the world under the Trump administration, and this does not mean that it wiped out all the wrongdoings that were committed.

There are deep issues within the American system of life and politics that are rooted across generations, such as racism, injustice towards minorities, huge economic differences between many groups of society, and the absence of fair political representation, or equal employment and economic opportunities, and even health care.

We saw this during the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed society without sound leadership relying on science, losing its trends, vision and ability to confront the pandemic, and caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives due to the outbreak of the virus, as a result of the indifference, criminal mismanagement and corruption that prevailed in the Trump administration.

The Middle East

• In your opinion, can we see a change in the US administration’s approach to the Middle East with Biden?

Dr. Awad: The US administration and its foreign policy are virtually absent in the Middle East region from taking leadership positions, whether in Syria or Yemen, although we have seen some positive transformation by threatening to stop US aid in the Yemen war and disrupt arms deals for the UAE and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to stop the war.

Likewise, a kind of moderation of the American position in dealing with the issue of Iran has also appeared, and its position is strongly felt, as the United States has retreated sharply on the international scene during the Trump era, even in NATO, but is now trying to regain the lead again.

The common denominators between the policies of the Trump and Biden administrations are also deep-rooted issues, and they need a correct and aware insight of how to change these policies, which are traditional policies between them towards issues such as the Palestinian issue, and the rights of the Palestinian people, which unfortunately go from bad to worse.

This is despite a major shift in the American society’s view of the justice of the Palestinian cause in favor of the Palestinians, and the decreasing of American society’s support for Israel, all of which are clear indications of the weakness of the Israeli discourse and its retreat at the popular level.

However, the traditional policies within the two parties are still the same. The Trump administration moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, proceeded to seize the Palestinian lands, and blindly sided with the Israeli side, and the Biden administration did not change this situation and does not have the power and political will to change that.

There are positive shifts in Congress in favor of the Palestinian cause, with an increase in the new blue wave that supports Palestinian justice, and reflects the shift in the political and elite rules, although the leadership of the Democratic Party still needs a change towards that.

There is an improvement under the Biden administration in the political decision-making process after the Democrats took control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which enables them to accomplish their political agenda by making decisions, making policies, and drafting laws that address the problems that the previous administration failed in and remove the barriers it created.

Confronting Islamophobia

• What is the role CAIR is playing in confronting Islamophobia in American society?

Dr. Awad: CAIR is making pioneering efforts in documenting and monitoring hate activities against Muslims, by investigating and revealing the nature of these individuals and institutions and their infrastructure, how they are organized, their sources of funding, their methods of work, their alliances and supporters, their political backgrounds, their philosophy, and the agenda on which they are based.

This methodology adopts the “Know Your Enemy” strategy according to a selective scientific methodology in diagnosing the phenomenon of Islamophobia and isolating it from general trends within American society, so that, in cooperation with our allies, we can isolate those who try to separate community members, and use methods of discrimination, racism, and fear of the other to control political discourse by targeting minorities.

Through its periodic bulletins and annual reports, CAIR was able to launch a website (islamophobia.org) to combat Islamophobia, which is the main site, worldwide, to monitor and confront Islamophobia in a scientific method.

We continue to issue political speeches and notifications, and we campaign to embarrass them politically and in the media, and we follow their activities, especially if they talk about Islam in international forums, or if there are anti-Muslim draft resolutions that the Council addresses in cooperation with its allies.

CAIR organization has great credibility in American society, until the phrase “Islamophobia” has become common among the political and social elites in the United States, and there is a consensus that this is a challenge not facing Muslims alone, but facing society, and we are at the forefront of defending Muslims in confronting advocates of hatred and discrimination.

In addition, CAIR issued strategic reports, one of which dealt with the nature of Islamophobia in detail, and the other spoke about the nature of the network, its political philosophy, and its motives for targeting Muslims, and a third report about the nature of those financing these groups and individuals hostile to Muslims, and we highlighted in a recent report the relationship of hate groups and Islamophobia with decision-makers in the United States, in order to isolate them, nullify their political influence, and delegitimize them.

These reports have a great effect, and now the term “Islamophobia” is used in almost varying amounts with the term anti-Semitism, and we believe that this is a great development. We have also noted that the phenomenon of Islamophobia will not end, because those who faced the Messenger of God, and faced Islam, were, are, and will remain until the end of times.

The advocates of hate will not change, because as long as there is truth, there is falsehood, and as long as there are advocates for reform and a healthy society, there are corrupt groups that try to impede and create unrest and problems, and this is the way of the world, but we have an obligation to be scientific and smart in an attempt not to be drawn behind the agenda of these people, not to fall into the trap.

We do not spend much of our efforts and our financial resources facing Islamophobia, but we allocate part of our budget and human resources to them, while the bulk of our work and our practical and human resources are directed towards building, strengthening and empowering Muslims like other groups of society so that they are treated with respect, dignity and equality in order to be active, benefit and build society and the future of humanity.

 

• What is the possibility of investing in the new situation to compensate for the moral losses that the Muslim community suffered during the Trump era?

Dr. Awad: It is important to emphasize that American Muslims have been able to professionally and distinctively invest in the tribulations they have been subjected to during the past five years, from being directly targeted by the law banning entry of Muslims into the United States, or using them as a scapegoat or as a pretext to extend the racist voter line supporting Trump on the basis of discrimination, division and racism.

Muslims were able to organize and develop themselves in cooperation with various groups of the American people through joint alliances to defend civil rights, such as the right of expression, belief, and the right to belong on the basis of the Constitution and the American values ​​that distinguished them from other countries of the world.

As American Muslims are an educated class, they have suffered a lot and benefited from the experiences of others, and with the presence of institutions such as CAIR, which have offices in 35 of the major states and cities, we have been able to organize Muslims and put them on the political map again during the past four or five years.

In the end, the Muslims were able to defeat Trump’s racism and his racist political agenda by allying with others, so the fruit of their efforts was the first of the promises made by the new President Biden for the benefit of Muslims, which is to cancel the ban on Muslims entering the United States.

This is considered a victory and strategic thinking by American Muslims and their institutions, as a fruit of the participation of a very large number of Muslims in the elections with unrivaled strength and enthusiasm, because they faced challenges in a positive and self-confident manner, and cooperated with others on the good and the interest of society that transcended factional and personal interests.

Likewise, there was an opportunity for Trump’s Democratic opponents to get closer and intouch with the new political voices of American Muslims, and from hereon Muslims turned to become one of the bases for political transformation with the newcomer to the White House, and this was noticeable in the way the political candidates dealt with the Muslim community.

The Muslim political discourse developed significantly and became not only partners in the elections, but also among the leading candidates in many circles, and their political and moral status became good, and they were able to communicate despite their small number by being outstanding in the circles of society and their confidence in their Islamic identity and American belonging increased, that they would not bargain for anything, and they will not allow the hostile media or any other tendentious parties on hijacking the Muslim narrative.

Political Role

•  How did the political role of Muslims escalate through congressional elections and other municipalities and state councils?

Dr. Awad: There are 3 Muslim representatives in Congress who were re-elected, out of 7 candidates, namely, “Ilhan Omar” from Minnesota, “Rashida Tlaib” from Michigan, and “André Carson” from Indianapolis, in addition to the participation of 181 candidates from the Muslim community for public office in State and Municipal elections and others.

We have issued detailed statistics and information on Muslim candidates in the US elections in a historical report, which was prepared by 3 of the major Islamic organizations operating in the United States, namely, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Jetpac Resource Center, and the MPower Change.

The Muslim candidates ran in the 2020 elections, in 28 states and Washington, DC, and this large number of candidates is the highest number since the three organizations began mapping the electoral progress of Muslim politicians.

The aforementioned report confirmed the escalation of the political role of Muslims in Congress, and the representative and local councils in the United States, which is a clear indication of the Muslim community’s awareness of the importance of their voices and their political role in society, to reform the internal politics of which they are part of that they influence and are influenced by, and to confirm their strategic position as the US is the strongest and most prominent state in the world, whose foreign policy affects the issues of the Islamic world.

Hence, the Muslim voice has an impact not only on domestic politics, but even on correcting the approach of foreign policy, and this is remarkably witnessed in Muslim appointments in the Foreign Ministry and sovereign ministries, as well as among all political levels.

As President Joe Biden promised us when he was a candidate, that American Muslims will be partners in decision-making in all political forums and councils in his administration.

The UAE Tricks

• What is the truth about the reports confirming the UAE’s support for institutions promoting Islamophobia, anti-Islam, and spreading hatred against it in the United States and the West?

Dr. Awad: There are numerous, clear and unanimous reports among those who monitor anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim institutions confirming the existence of strings linking the current political leadership of the Emirates with the support of these institutions that challenge the Islamic presence in Europe and in the United States, hosting them in Abu Dhabi and supporting them financially, and consistent with their political orientations and there are several reasons for this.

First, the leaders of the Emirates believe that any success of Muslims in the United States, Europe, or even Arab and Islamic societies represents a threat to their authoritarian regime. They also consider that the success of the societal, institutional, or even individual Islamic model is a threat to their personal interests.

They also want to fortify their seizure of power in a holistic way that denies society freedom of thought and expression, democracy, political pluralism and parties, all of this is forbidden as long as they are in power, and the success of any model bearing an Islamic identity within Arab societies in their view must be fought and eradicated, and that all money must be paid, and weapons sharpened to fight this.

We saw this through their miserable attempts to destroy hope in the Arab Spring, the attempts to liberate the citizen through the movements and revolutions of peoples who have been deprived their political rights for generations, but the existence of a large space for Muslims in the West and the United States for political expression and political participation is sees as a threat by the UAE.

And Muslims in the West defend the values ​​of Islam that see everyone equal before the law, which is what Abu Dhabi’s leaders consider a threat to them and seek to thwart them, and try to demonize them and strengthen their enemies against them as a strategic and fateful goal.

Unfortunately, this is an unfortunate and new shift in the policy of the Emirates imposed by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on all other emirates, they are trying to control the political discourse and Muslims in Europe and America are affected by this, and there are prominent figures in the Islamophobia system hosted and funded by the UAE.

These anti-Islamic institutions target the influential American Muslim figures and their institutions in American society, as well as Muslim candidates and representatives are subjected to fierce and focused political attacks that monitor their movements, statements, and alliances, to distort them.

And these UAE-backed institutions always come out with repeated reports targeting them to discredit them, and they have no interest in that except that the UAE supports and finances them to spite Muslims in the United States, because they consider that political action based on Islamic values ​​is something that they must stand against strongly.

In order for Abu Dhabi to succeed by dictatorial methods of obliterating and robbing the freedoms of others, these institutions in the United States are directed to confront the human rights institutions that criticize the UAE and the totalitarian governments that arrest journalists and reformers in Arab societies in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Egypt.

Indeed, it wages smear campaigns funded by the UAE because it defends human rights in the Arab world, fosters democracy, and monitors all violations, and so Abu Dhabi tries to fund these human rights institutions in order to delegitimize them and question the credibility of their reports later.

The UAE has gained a very bad reputation in political and human rights circles around the world, and there is no doubt that Muslims in the West and the United States realize that without the UAE’s funding of these institutions and those people who hate Islam and Muslims, their suffering in this painful reality will be diminished.