Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) director Nihad Awad has given an interview for Al-Jazeera TV in which he says that the Democratic Party’s political platform with regard to the Middle East is “developing.” According to a MEMRI translation:
Following are excerpts from an interview with CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on September 5, 2012.
Reporter: Mr. Awad, let’s first talk about the Democrats’ removal of the sentence ‘Jerusalem is the capital of Israel’ from their political platform. What significance do you attribute to this omission?
Nihad Awad: This is an indication that the Democratic Party’s political platform with regard to the Middle East is developing. However, this does not digress from the usual commitment of both the Democratic and Republican parties to deal with Israel the same way as in the past. This reflects a development in the ideology of the cadres of the Democratic Party, some of which are new generations of American Jews who different from their parents and believe in peace and coexistence. The changes in the Middle East and the rise of new governments seem to be changing the rules of the game and the cadres of the Democratic Party appreciate that. “
U.S. media had widely reported that following criticism from Mitt Romney and Republicans, the Democrats reinstated language into their platform that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as well as the words “God-given” in a passage about employment, both of which had been removed in this year’s platform.
Documents released in the Holy Land Trial have revealed that the founders and current leaders of CAIR were part of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as identifying the organization itself as being part of the US. Brotherhood. A recent post discussed an interview with the Deputy leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in which he confirms a relationship between his organization and CAIR. Investigative research posted on GMBDW had determined that CAIR had it origins in the U.S. Hamas infrastructure and CAIR and its leaders have a long history of defending almost all individuals accused of terrorism by the US. government, frequently calling such prosecutions a “war on Islam.” In 2009, a US federal judge ruled “The Government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA and NAIT with HLF, the Islamic Association for Palestine (“IAP”), and with Hamas.”