CAIR’s week has gone from bad to worse.
Days after defending one of their resident Jew-haters Zahra Billoo, they’ve shared the news that they had a traitor in their midst.
A director for the Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) has been terminated for allegedly recording meetings and passing on information to an anti-Muslim group.
“It is a complete act of betrayal,” said Whitney Siddiqi, CAIR-Ohio’s community affairs director.
It was announced Tuesday that Romin Iqbal, the executive and legal director for CAIR-Ohio, was fired for ethical and professional violations committed over several years.
The organization reports an investigation by its national headquarters, which spanned months, uncovered evidence that Iqbal spent years recording CAIR network meetings and sending information regarding its national advocacy work to the group, The Investigative Project on Terrorism.
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“We want the community to know that our work transcends any one individual,” Siddiqi said. “We know this is heartbreaking. We know it’s shocking. We know it is honestly a feeling that many of us can’t describe right now.”
Iqbal was first suspended last week after CAIR-Ohio was informed of the results of the national investigation. Local leaders then reviewed the evidence and conducted their own investigation. On Saturday, the CAIR-Ohio Columbus-Cincinnati board passed a resolution to terminate Iqbal, and he was informed of his termination on Tuesday.
However, one day prior, on Monday, CAIR-Ohio reported to Hilliard police suspicious credit card purchases and the arrival of a package containing an AR-15 pistol grip.
According to the report, the organization’s credit card was used to purchase nearly $4,000 worth of items from gun and tactical websites. One employee told police she feared Iqbal was “gearing up for some sort of retaliation attack against CAIR.”
While Siddiqi pointed out that the organization cannot be sure who made the purchases with the company credit card, she made clear that Iqbal was the only one who had access to the card at the time.
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CAIR-Ohio also reached out to the FBI, but the FBI could neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.
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CAIR-Ohio is considering legal action against Iqbal.
The media – like 10 WBNS, whose report is linked above – is reporting as fact that the Investigative Project (IPT) on Terrorism is an “anti-Muslim” group. From what I have seen, they are anti-terror, and have shown links between members of the Muslim community and terrorism. For example, as a result of IPT’s vast archives on the activities of Hamas front groups in the United States, law enforcement officials commented that IPT had an instrumental role in prosecuting and convicting the Holy Land Foundation, a trial that resulted in sweeping convictions for all defendants in 2008.
One has to wonder what information Iqbal passed on to IPT, and whether it actually does implicate CAIR with terrorism. And was Iqbal motivated by money or was he genuinely desiring to fight against any alleged terrorism within his community?
The purchase of items from gun and tactical websites is also an interesting one. Is it true, as CAIR insinuates, that Iqbal was behind it, or was it someone else? And if it was someone else, could this in itself implicate CAIR with terrorism?
This could get real interesting.
Update: And of course they are blaming Israel
with this guy seemingly saying he was working for the “Zionists” (what else would “z” stand for?)
