Editorial written by The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s designation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, as a terrorist organization opens up a bag of real-world trouble for little more than political scoreboarding.
It’s not that there aren’t red flags around CAIR. There are. But Abbott’s designation carries heavy consequences, including the possibility that CAIR members could be barred from owning property in the state, without any evidence to back it up.
And his proclamation comes freighted with partisanship, timed as it was shortly after the governor began his reelection campaign. CAIR is now suing both Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton. The governor responded by ordering a criminal investigation of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter has a long history of radicalizing people and has been designated a terrorist group in several countries.
CAIR has long drawn allegations of being too close to radicals. During the 2008 trial of the Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation, prosecutors listed CAIR among dozens of people and organizations labeled as unindicted co-conspirators. Holy Land leaders were found guilty of providing material support to Hamas. But CAIR was never charged, and the group denies wrongdoing.
In 2023, the Biden White House distanced itself from CAIR after its national executive director, Nihad Awad, said he was “happy to see” Palestinians break out of Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The Anti-Defamation League singled out other statements by CAIR leaders that were supportive of Hamas.
These statements raise questions about the line CAIR treads between opposing Israeli policy and accepting or even embracing the actions of a terror group like Hamas. Still, there should be clear evidence presented before labeling an organization a terrorist group. CAIR’s advocacy is beyond the pale in some cases, but that is a long way from what Abbott is charging.
Abbott’s credibility on this is compromised, meanwhile. He has not pushed back against nasty anti-Muslim rhetoric from members of his own party like Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller or former Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French, both of whom have a pattern of Islamophobic messages on social media.
Recently, Miller posted a meme on his official Facebook account that depicts a cowboy or “Humanity” crushing a snake labeled “Islam” with his boot. Meanwhile, French posted a poll on X this summer asking users to answer who posed a bigger threat, Jews or Muslims.
CAIR has its own credibility problems. The group is extremely vocal in defending Muslims against discrimination and harassment, but when one of their own spouts antisemitic rhetoric, its leaders offer tepid responses, often appealing to historical or political complexities. The organization’s reputation suffers because it persists in using two different moral frames.
Abbott has been assertive in condemning religious discrimination in other instances. Were he willing to actually acknowledge the ugly bigotry among leaders in his own party, he might have a measure of greater credibility here. But, again, we must ask: Where is the evidence?
Texas is home to more than 400,000 Muslims. CAIR doesn’t speak for them all. But the governor seems unwilling to speak for any.
