Hamas-tied CAIR Top Dog Eulogizes Osama bin Laden’s ‘Spiritual Leader’

Nihad Awad, CAIR’s cofounder and longtime executive director, recently came under fire for saying of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians: “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in.”

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Related: Hamas-Tied CAIR Urges Attorney Generals, Prosecutors to Lock Up Journalists Exposing Hamas Supporters

Hamas-linked CAIR top dog eulogizes Osama bin Laden’s ‘spiritual leader’

Jun 4, 2024 5:00 pm By Robert Spencer:

Despite consistently revealing what it is really all about, the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) continues to enjoy mainstream acceptance, and even intelligence and law enforcement agencies consult it, assuming it is a “moderate” group. This revelation won’t change that, either.

“CAIR Leader Eulogizes Bin Laden’s ‘Spiritual Leader,’” by John Rossomando, Focus On Western Islamism, May 28, 2024:

It’s happened again. The leader of one of the premier pro-Hamas Islamist organizations in the United States has lionized an anti-American Islamist who, in addition to serving as the spiritual leader for the man responsible for 9/11, ordered the attack on the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors in 2000. It’s almost enough to make you think that Islamist leaders in the U.S. don’t like America or Americans very much.

Nihad Awad, founder and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), eulogized a Muslim Brotherhood cleric whose al-Qaida ties put him on the United Nations Security Council’s list of specially designated terrorists. The U.S. Department of the Treasury likewise proscribed the late Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani for his connections with Osama bin Laden and Hamas fundraising.

On April 22, 2024, Awad eulogized al-Zindani in Arabic, saying: “We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. The Islamic nation has lost one of its biggest emblems and men with the passing of Sheikh Alam and worker Abdul Majeed Al-Zindani after he dedicated his life to the service of the Quran and the manifestation of its miracles that never cease. He remained tall and firm in the face of challenges, tribulations, pressure, and rankings until he met the Almighty Allah. Our condolences to his family, Yemen, and our nation. We ask Allah, the Merciful, the Merciful and the Forgiving, to have mercy on him, forgive him and reward him with the best of rewards.”

Awad and CAIR national spokesman Ibrahim Hooper ignored a request for comment from Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) about Zindani’s designation as a terrorist and well-documented affiliations with jihadists who have killed U.S. citizens.

A 2013 U.S. Treasury Department press release reported that al-Zindani delivered religious fatwas on behalf of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), most notoriously known for having been led by U.S.-born jihadist leader Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki.

The U.N. Security Council designation noted that “al-Zindani had a role in providing advice and views to Usama bin Laden (deceased) and others during the formation of Al-Qaida in the period 1993 to 1998.” According to that body, Al-Zindani “continued to provide support to Al-Qaida, in particular Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, including through his public statements and role as a highly influential Yemeni cleric.”

Individuals linked to the October 2000 USS Cole bombing alleged in published reports that al-Zindani ordered the al-Qaida attack on the American warship as it stood in the port of Aden, Yemen….