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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Resolution 1
A resolution to strongly encourage all executive 2
agencies of the State of Florida, all law enforcement 3
agencies, and all local governments in this state to 4
suspend contact and outreach activities with the 5
Council on American-Islamic Relations. 6
7
WHEREAS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has suspended 8
all formal contacts with the Council on American -Islamic 9
Relations (CAIR) due to evidence demonstrating a relationship 10
between CAIR and Hamas, designated as a foreign terrorist 11
organization by the United States Department of State and the 12
monsters behind the brutal attack on the State of Israel on 13
October 7, 2023, indiscriminately raping, torturing, and kil ling 14
over 1,200 innocent persons, including Israelis, Americans, and 15
other nationals, among whom were babies and Holocaust survivors, 16
and taking 240 Israelis, Americans, and other civilians as 17
hostages, and 18
WHEREAS, since October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists and their 19
allies have launched over 11,500 rockets into southern and 20
central Israel, the sole goal of which was to kill Israeli 21
civilians and 22
WHEREAS, Hamas and Iranian leadership have called for the 23
extermination of Israelis, Americans, Jews, and Christ ians 24
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
around the world and the establishment of a global Islamic 25
caliphate, and 26
WHEREAS, the stated goal of Hamas and its allies is the 27
complete and total destruction of the State of Israel and the 28
Jewish people, and 29
WHEREAS, in the federal criminal prose cutions of persons 30
involved with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and 31
Development, the largest successful prosecution of terrorism 32
financing in our country's history, CAIR was identified as an 33
associate of the Muslim Brotherhood and was named an unindic ted 34
co-conspirator in the trial, and 35
WHEREAS, CAIR, soon after opening its first office in 36
Washington, D.C., received a grant from the Holy Land Foundation 37
for Relief and Development, a charitable organization that was 38
closed and was designated a Speciall y Designated Global 39
Terrorist by the United States Department of the Treasury for 40
funding jihadist terrorist organizations, and 41
WHEREAS, in 2009, Ghassan Elashi, who was a member of the 42
founding board of directors of the Texas branch of CAIR and a 43
leader of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, 44
was sentenced to a total of 65 years in prison after being 45
convicted of 10 counts of conspiracy to provide, and the 46
provision of, material support to a designated foreign terrorist 47
organization; 11 counts of conspiracy to provide, and the 48
provision of, funds, goods, and services to a Specially 49
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Designated Terrorist as determined by the United States 50
Secretary of the Treasury; 10 counts of conspiracy to commit, 51
and the commission of, money laundering; 1 count of conspiracy 52
to impede and impair the Internal Revenue Service; and 2 counts 53
of filing a false tax return, and 54
WHEREAS, in October, 2000, at a large CAIR rally in 55
Washington DC, featured speaker Abdurahman Alamoudi, later a 56
convicted terrorist and Al Qaeda financier, publicly expressed 57
support for both Hamas and Hezbollah as the crowd cheered him 58
on, and 59
WHEREAS, Randall Todd Royer, also known as Ismail Royer, 60
who served as a communications specialist and civil rights 61
coordinator for CAIR and train ed with and set up an Internet -62
based newsletter for Lashkar -e-Taiba, an al Qaeda-tied Kashmir 63
organization that is listed on the United States Department of 64
State's international terror list, was also indicted on charges 65
of conspiring to help al Qaeda and the Taliban battle American 66
troops fighting in Afghanistan and was sentenced to 20 years in 67
prison on April 9, 2004, and 68
WHEREAS, in September 2003, CAIR's former community affairs 69
director, Bassem Khafagi, pleaded guilty to 3 federal counts of 70
bank and visa fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt after he 71
had funneled money to activities supporting terrorism and had 72
published material advocating suicide attacks against the United 73
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States, illegal activities that took place while he was employed 74
by CAIR, and 75
WHEREAS, Rabih Haddad, the Ann Arbor, Michigan -based CAIR 76
fundraiser, was arrested on terrorism -related charges and was 77
deported from the United States due to his work as Executive 78
Director of the Global Relief Foundation, which in October 2002 79
was closed by the United States Department of the Treasury for 80
financing al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, and, 81
WHEREAS, in March 2011, Muthanna al -Hanooti, a director 82
within CAIR, was sentenced to a year in federal prison for 83
violating United States sanctions against Iraq under Saddam 84
Hussein, and 85
WHEREAS, United States ally, the United Arab Emirates, 86
officially designated CAIR as a terrorist organization in 2014, 87
and 88
WHEREAS, in 2014, CAIR honored convicted terrorist and 89
Palestinian Islamic Jihad f inancier Sami Al Arian and in 2020 90
CAIR-Florida featured Al Arian in its livestream interview 91
series. A former professor at the University of South Florida, 92
Al Arian was convicted in 2006 of providing material support for 93
a designated terrorist organizatio n, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 94
and was deported after serving his prison sentence, and 95
WHEREAS, Zainab Chaudry, Executive Director of the Council 96
on American-Islamic Relations – Maryland Office, was suspended 97
from the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and 98
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Prevention by Maryland's Attorney General on November 21, 2023, 99
following multiple social media posts, including one comparing 100
Israel to Nazi Germany with the comment, "That moment when you 101
become what you hated most," and 102
WHEREAS, On November 24, 2023, Speaking at the American 103
Muslims for Palestine convention in Chicago, CAIR Executive 104
Director Nihad Awad proclaimed: "The people of Gaza only decided 105
to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on 106
October 7. And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege 107
and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free 108
into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in. And 109
yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self -defense, have the 110
right to defend themselves, and yes, Israel, as an occupying 111
power, does not have that right to self -defense," NOW, 112
THEREFORE, 113
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Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of 115
Florida: 116
117
That all executive agencies of the State of Florida, all 118
law enforcement agencies, and all local governments in this 119
state are strongly encouraged to suspend contact and outreach 120
activities with the Council on American -Islamic Relations. 121