J. Pharoah Doss: The congresswoman, CAIR, and the benefit of the doubt

SUMMER LEE On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack from Gaza on Israel. Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. A month later, Nihad Awad, the Council on America-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) executive director and co-founder, spoke at the American Muslims for Palestine’s (AMP) annual convention. That same month, Virginia’s Attorney General announced that his office would investigate allegations that AMP may have utilized funds received to support terrorist organizations. Awad told AMP that he was happy to witness the Palestinians breaking their shackles and freely walking into their land, a place they were previously forbidden to enter. He also stated that the people of Gaza have the right to defend themselves, but Israel, as an occupying power, does not have the right to self-defense. CAIR was heavily criticized for Awad’s speech. Awad issued a statement to clarify his comments. He stated that he did not condone Hamas’s strike. He merely praised “the average Palestinian who briefly walked out of Gaza and set foot on their ethnically cleansed land in a symbolic act of defiance.” Many didn’t believe Awad because of CAIR’s history. In 2004, when Al-Jazeera asked Awad about the US government’s designation of Hamas and...