How CAIR Accuses Israeli Intelligence of Spying on the Muslim Community in America?

Though the roots of Islamophobia are transnational and centuries old, it is possible to identify contemporary efforts to keep it alive by spreading misinformation about Islam and Muslims which helps in propagating Islamophobic ideas in the public sphere.

In the US for example, millions of people were being influenced by these ideas.

However, behind them, were many Muslim civil rights groups like the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) which promotes social, legal and political activism among Muslims in America.

The latter has recently accused the Israeli occupation of spying on members of the American Muslim community, as reported by Reuters.

Exposing his emails, the center of spying for anti-Muslim entities accused the former executive and legal director of CAIR, of giving secret information to Israeli Intelligence and that he had relations with an anti-Muslim hate group for years, according to the same source.

Betrayal

December 15, 2021, the largest US Muslim advocacy organization, CAIR, fired the head of its Ohio chapter, Romin Iqbal, after accusing him of sharing confidential information for 15 years with an anti-Muslim hate group, the Washington Post reported.

After being accused, Romin Iqbal had admitted on Tuesday, December 16, 2021, that he was working with the Investigative Project on Terrorism, IPT, a “data center on radical Islamist terrorist group.”

In a statement, CAIR-Ohio said that “a forensic investigation by an independent, third-party expert found conclusive evidence that Iqbal had spent years secretly recording CAIR network meetings and passing confidential information regarding CAIR's national advocacy work to a known anti-Muslim hate group."

The Columbus-Cincinnati Board of Directors for CAIR-Ohio decided to dismiss Romin Iqbal on Saturday, December 18, 2021 but informed Iqbal on Tuesday, the Reuters reported.

According to the American Public Media website, WOSU, CAIR-Ohio said that Roman’s lawyer refused to comment on the incident.

The same source reported that CAIR-Ohio declined to refer to the name of the group that Roman Iqbal allegedly worked with, saying that CAIR members did not want to “elevate their objective with publicity.”

What is For?

Another statement from CAIR's national organization recognized a group that was known as the Investigative Project on Terrorism, IPT, which the CAIR statement says was founded by Steven Emerson, who is "a far-right extremist described as an anti-Muslim activist by the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

In fact, the CAIR-Ohio’s spokesperson said that the Investigative Project on terrorism has been known for spreading hatred, stricture, and anti-Islamic rhetoric.

According to WOSU report published December 15, 2021, CAIR-Ohio said that the IPT has also shared falsified information and fake conspiracy theories that hold Muslims responsible for “at least one attack on the US” considering the Ohio organization a terrorist group that has ties with Hamas which CAIR denied.

During CAIR investigations regarding the issue, Emerson's group was accused by a national statement.

The charges were about infiltrating and spying well known mosques and Muslim American organizations for years, and this was by using “moles” among their staff and volunteers to give, then, the information to Israeli intelligence officials, as mentioned in the same report.

A statement issued by the investigation group confirmed that the key evidence received was quite authentic and that “an employee of a local CAIR affiliate had indeed been secretly working with a hate group. That employee was Romin Iqbal of CAIR-Ohio,” the statement says.

The organization says the expert's investigation proved that Iqbal was not supported by anyone else in CAIR and he was the only spy.

Proofs

After spending years of spying and secretly recording confidential CAIR network meetings, the Columbus-Cincinnati Board of Directors for CAIR-Ohio says it excluded Executive and Legal Director Romin Iqbal after being informed by the national headquarters of CAIR.

This came after hiring an outside forensic specialist to examine evidence received last year showed clearly that the IPT was seeking to infiltrate Muslim-American organizations included CAIR, Reuters reported.

According to the same source, the specialist investigation found out in November that Roman Iqbal had been sharing secret information, "including surreptitiously recorded conversations, strategic plans and private emails," with the IPT.

It is worth noting that the investigation exposed IPT assistance to Israeli intelligence “with the office of then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Whitney Siddiqi, community affairs director for CAIR Ohio said that after Iqbal's exclusion, “the CAIR-Ohio office in Columbus also discovered recent suspicious purchases from ammunition and gun retailers made on a credit card that was administered by Iqbal.”

However, Siddiqi said that “CAIR could not confirm Iqbal made the purchases, but said the group was considering taking legal action against Iqbal for his alleged breaches of duty.”