According to a CAIR press release issued today, the office manager for its Arizona chapter, Bushra Khan, was shopping along with two other head-scarved young Muslim women on April 29 at the Desert Ridge Marketplace in Scottsdale when a middle-aged couple approached them calmly and asked if they were Muslim. After an affirmative reply, the couple indicated they had just watched the film United 93, became enraged, and told the women, "Take off your f**king burqas and get the f**k out of this country. We don't want you in this country. Go home."
Now, I was not present at the Desert Ridge Marketplace when the alleged incident took place, but I do have my doubts about Bushra Khan's reliability, for CAIR's staff has a history of making claims about "hate crimes" and "Islamophobia" that do not stand up to scrutiny. It has also played loose with the facts in other ways. Here is a bibliography, to be updated as needed, of this problem:
- "CAIR's Unscientific Poll." DanielPipes.org, 26 September 2003.
- "CAIR's "Library Project" and Veracity." DanielPipes.org, 20 October 2003.
- "A CAIR Miscellany." DanielPipes.org, 25 March 2004. See specific items: "CAIR makes up a 'hate crime'": "CAIR leader: 'Nothing immoral' about Palestinian Islamic Jihad"; "CAIR allegations proven false"; and "CAIR over-reaches."
- "CAIR's Phony Petition." New York Sun, 13 July 2004.
- "'Islamophobic Prejudice' and CAIR." FrontPageMag.com, 25 August 2004.
- "More Muslim 'Hate Crime' Myths." DanielPipes.org, 25 August 2004.
- "CAIR's Hate Crimes Nonsense" (with Sharon Chadha). FrontPageMag.com, 18 May 2005.
- "CAIR: Islamists Fooling the Establishment." With Sharon Chadha. Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2006.
- "CAIR's Twisted Stand on Academic Freedom." FrontPageMag.com, 1 September 2006.
- "CAIR's Dirty Tricks against Me." FrontPageMag.com, 7 September 2007.
- "More CAIR Dirty Tricks against Me." DanielPipes.org, 15 November 2007.
- "CAIR Can Expel You 'For Any Reason'." FrontPageMagazine.com, October 1, 2012. Note the contrast between CAIR reserving the right to expel participants in its events and the fury when another organization throws out its staff.
- "CAIR Again Lies About Me." DanielPipes.org, Jan 18, 2022. CAIR makes up what happened between Tariq Nelson and me.
Plus, there is the unforgettable episode uncovered by Robert Spencer at "Stalinism at CAIR: photo doctored for Islamic correctness" that has to be factored in to any discussion of believing what CAIR says. (May 12, 2006)
May 13, 2006 update: Douglas J. Hagmann of the Northeast Intelligence Network notes two points about the alleged incident at Desert Ridge Marketplace. First, it grew and grew in CAIR's propaganda against United 93, to the point that the director of communications for its Sacramento Valley office, Dina El-Nakhal, claimed on the basis of this incident alone that the movie "has affected Muslim communities across the nation." Second, Hagmann investigated what happened at the store and found no confirmation for it. Here is his conclusion: "Although it might well have taken place as described, my investigation found no police report, no incident report on file with mall security, and no independent confirmation of this incident of verbal assault."
Comments: (1) CAIR appears to be up to its habitual tricks. (2) CAIR is more certain about the movie being the cause of harm than Osama bin Laden causing 9/11. (It defended him before 9/11 and for months afterwards would not blame him for the attacks.)
"Savage Nation".
Dec. 11, 2007 update: CAIR tried to get sponsors of the radio show "Savage Nation" to pull their ads from the show to protest Michael Savage's statements about Islam. CAIR claimed on Dec. 3 that a number of major corporations ended their advertising on the show:
Advertisers that have already stopped airing, or refuse to air commercials on "Savage Nation" include AutoZone, Citrix, TrustedID, JCPenney, OfficeMax, Wal-Mart and AT&T.
But WorldNetDaily.com today shows, at "AutoZone: CAIR wrong about Michael Savage ads," that at least one company claimed by CAIR did not heed its wishes.
AutoZone has told WND the CAIR campaign had nothing to do with its advertising decision, and it had chosen not to advertise on any radio talk shows – of all parts of the spectrum – years before the CAIR effort