Source: The Jewish Voice, By Chuck Ross, January 2024
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.
