CAIR Rushes to Defense of Anti-Semitic Employee
13th December 2021
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is defending one of its top officials who described mainstream Jewish groups and synagogues as “enemies” that “are working to harm you” in a recent speech to Muslim American activists, after Jewish organizations denounced her comments as anti-Semitic.
CAIR, which maintains close relations with some Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), and Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), praised its Bay Area director Zahra Billoo as a “widely respected civil rights activist” and said it was “so grateful for the courage she demonstrates in her civil rights work.” The group claimed her speech was being mischaracterized and called the allegations of anti-Semitism a “blatant lie” and “smear campaign.”