CAIR
Official Who Slams Muslim Facilitators of Interfaith Dialogue Wins
Community Award
IPT News
November 13, 2018
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 Last month, Council
on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) leader Zahra Billoo said
that "pro-Israel work is pro-terror, pro-violence...and pro-apartheid."
Days later, Billoo received the Community Builder Award from People
Acting in Community Together (PACT) during the organization's annual leadership event.
Billoo's views, however, do not sound like she is someone who promotes
societal cohesion or inclusivity.
Originally rescinding Billoo's award in June, PACT caved to pressure
from religious and civic figures and reversed its decision.
But before agreeing to accept the award, Billoo said
that she forced PACT to "acknowledge that the Palestinian struggle is
inextricably connected to our collective liberation."
It's ironic that Billoo received public recognition as a "community
builder" given her history
of propagating radical Islamist and anti-Semitic remarks.
Earlier this month, Billoo openly stoked division by drawing a line in
the sand between who is a legitimate Muslim leader and who is not, in her
opinion.
"I'm really cautious of who I call a Muslim leader," Billoo said at a gathering with the
Ecumenical Peace Institute, warning others to be aware "as you see
countries in the Middle East, and even Muslim activists in the United
States, take problematic positions supporting the state of Israel or
opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement."
For Billoo, one cannot be a Muslim leader or activist while opposing a
boycott campaign targeting the world's sole Jewish state.
"I don't think of them as my leaders," Billoo said.
Advocating for sanctions and boycotts targeting Israel, while avoiding
similar calls against other states who violate human rights on a far larger
scale, is a double
standard that amounts to anti-Semitism.
This sentiment is expected of Billoo who, like other U.S. Islamist
figures, consistently
opposes any type of engagement or interfaith dialogue with
organizations that maintain ties to Israel.
In May, Billoo attacked
Muslims who engage in interfaith relations with the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL). She offered to provide her followers with a "list" of
"organizations who work with them [ADL], and half a dozen or so Muslim
individuals who take their stages."
During last year's Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention,
Billoo railed against supposed "Zionist influence" in the United
States and sponsored visits to Israel.
"I definitely don't agree with the brother that's willing to
participate in any Department of Homeland Security program, and don't agree
with elected officials or with Muslims who want to go on Zionist-funded
trips to apartheid Israel and say that that's going to build interfaith
relationships."
Billoo rarely refers to Israel without adding the word
"apartheid" in conjunction. That is Billoo's way of
systematically delegitimizing the Jewish state into an evil caricature,
despite Israel being the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
Billoo not only discourages interfaith dialogue involving Israelis – she
actively defends Hamas for firing rockets at Israeli civilians.
 "Blaming Hamas
for firing rockets at [Apartheid] Israel is like blaming a woman for punching
her rapist. #FreePalestine
v @KathlynGadd,"
Billoo tweeted in November 2014.
On Monday and Tuesday, Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups fired
over 400 rockets into Israeli communities, killing one person and
wounding at least dozens of others.
Israel retaliated with coordinated strikes targeting terrorist
infrastructure and weapons depots.
But no matter what Israel or the U.S. governments do to defend their
populations, U.S.-based Islamists – like Billoo – will defend
the terrorists.
In the past, she has repeatedly equated Americans in the Israeli army with ISIS
terrorists and accused the FBI of fabricating terrorist threats for public
consumption.
"Both ISIS and the IDF are violent, immoral gangs. They're
literally baby killers," Billoo wrote in May.
She has also urged Muslims to "build a wall of resistance"
between themselves and law enforcement, discouraging contact with the FBI.
Perhaps Billoo is a "community builder" – just as long as
"Zionists" or U.S. law enforcement personnel are not involved in
her sense of community. By singling out supporters of the Jewish state,
Billoo is engaging in bigotry and is actively working to breakdown
interfaith and community relationships. By discouraging contact with the
FBI, Billoo is promoting hostility against law enforcement personnel that
work to keep local communities safe.
Based on Billoo's divisive track record, she does not deserve public
recognition for anything related to community bonds.
Related Topics: Zahra
Billoo, Council
on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR,
Islamic
Society of North America, ISNA,
Hamas,
Israel,
terrorism,
FBI,
Islamist,
BDS
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