|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Chuck Ross(Free Beacon)
California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) met Thursday with the state’s Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter (CAIR) just weeks after the group’s leader said he was “happy to see” Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel, a comment that even prompted condemnation from the Biden White House.
Newsom, a potential presidential contender, hosted CAIR officials, the group said in a press release. The activists called on Newsom to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and urged him to ensure freedom of speech for anti-Israel protesters at California schools. The White House, which selected CAIR to serve on a task force to combat anti-Semitism last year, distanced itself from the group in November after CAIR president Nihad Awad said he “was happy to see” Hamas fighters attack Israel on Oct. 7.
SCOOP @J_Insider / @GSDeutch: “Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom met with CAIR representatives in December”
“The meeting took place as the WH distances itself from the Muslim advocacy organization over its leader’s defense of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel”https://t.co/3TP4lp14jp
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) January 4, 2024
In the meeting with CAIR, Newsom provides a high-profile platform to an activist group with longstanding ties to Hamas. Federal prosecutors named CAIR an “unindicted co-conspirator” of Hamas front groups in 2009. Awad in November claimed Israel “does not have a right to defend itself.”
The head of CAIR’s California chapter, Hussam Ayloush, praised Newsom after the meeting for providing a “platform to request the administration be proactive in ensuring the dignity of Palestinians.”
“In his tenure, Governor Newsom has paved the path as a champion for civil rights, and we urge him to continue to use his voice as the leader of Californians who overwhelmingly demand a ceasefire,” said Ayloush.
The Jewish Voice is LIVE on the scene in Hallandale Beach for the heated meeting regarding Jewish Israeli- American Commissioner Annabelle Lima-Taub who is being targeted by Islamo-fascists for her factual comments about @RashidaTlaib.
The ADL has decided to stand with CAIR. 🤮 pic.twitter.com/A88k9EvhWa
— The Jewish Voice (@JewishVoice) January 23, 2019
Ayloush, too, has downplayed Hamas’s attack on Israel, the worst attack in the Jewish state’s history. He asserted in a sermon at the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco in November that it was “a lie” that Hamas’s invasion of Israel was an “unprovoked attack,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
“If I hear that term again, I’ll go crazy,” Ayloush said. “Unprovoked in what dictionary?”
CAIR Leader Says He Was ‘Happy To See’ Hamas Attack Israel https://t.co/q0cFV8LuXH via @The Jewish Voice
— Jjule85 Azzuro (@Jjule85A) December 8, 2023
Newsom gave $200,000 in 2022 to the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco through California’s Nonprofit Security Grant program, awarded to religious institutions to help protect against terrorist attacks, the Free Beacon reported. Newsom’s office awarded $135,000 to CAIR’s California chapter as part of the program.
— Climate_Farce (@climate_farce) December 30, 2023
The administration awarded grants to other mosques that cheered Hamas, including Sajjadia Islamic Society in Riverside, Calif. In a sermon in November, pro-Iran cleric Hamza Sodagar said “Allah” sent “the rockets from Hamas or Hezbollah” to strike Israel.
Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment.