{"id":2703644,"date":"2026-11-10T12:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T17:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignflorida-offers-blueprint-for-other-states-to-shutter-islamist-terrorist-orgs-like-cair\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T12:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T17:24:14","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignflorida-offers-blueprint-for-other-states-to-shutter-islamist-terrorist-orgs-like-cair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignflorida-offers-blueprint-for-other-states-to-shutter-islamist-terrorist-orgs-like-cair\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Offers Blueprint To Shutter Islamist Terrorist Orgs Like CAIR"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignflorida-offers-blueprint-for-other-states-to-shutter-islamist-terrorist-orgs-like-cair%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2703644&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Tampa office of CAIR closed after posting an orange notice, following Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019s designation of CAIR as a terrorist organization. His December 2025 executive order, later backed by state law, spurred lawsuits and appeals.Critics point to Senate testimony alleging ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a 1993 FBI\u2011recorded meeting linked to Hamas fundraising, prior UAE and Texas designations, and reports of $7.7 million from the Islamic Advancement Bank. A George Washington University report warns of efforts to influence K-12 education. CAIR rejects these claims and says it will appeal.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations \u2014 better known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cair.com\/about_cair\/cair-who-we-are\/\">CAIR<\/a> \u2014 taped an <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/StopAntisemites\/status\/2118396326715228655\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">orange notice<\/a> to its doors Thursday and ceased operations, making sure to take a parting shot at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis while invoking the Constitutional right to free speech.<\/p>\n<p>CAIR\u2019s prickliness with Florida\u2019s conservative governor is unsurprising. He\u2019s been a massive thorn in the organization\u2019s side for almost a year. Back in December of 2025, DeSantis, following in the footsteps of Texas and, interestingly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before them, issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/12\/09\/council-on-american-islamic-relations-cair-florida-governor-ron-desantis-terrorism\/87682690007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">executive order<\/a> that designated CAIR a terrorist organization, making it susceptible to executive action in the state. CAIR and its Florida affiliate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cair.com\/press_releases\/cair-ldf-mlfa-splc-and-akeel-valentine-sue-florida-governor-ron-desantis-over-blatantly-unconstitutional-executive-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">immediately sued<\/a> on the grounds that the order violated free speech and due process protections, something they claimed as a U.S.-based organization.<\/p>\n<p>By the spring of 2026, a federal judge had attempted to block the order, but Florida\u2019s legislature quickly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wusf.org\/politics-issues\/2026-07-02\/desantis-designates-groups-including-cair-terrorist-organizations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed legislation<\/a> that codified DeSantis\u2019 right to make such designations. CAIR <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/ip-law\/muslim-group-challenges-florida-terrorist-designation-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued<\/a> again. But by October 2026, DeSantis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/news\/u-s-news\/florida-designates-cair-as-domestic-terror-group\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">had reaffirmed the terrorist designation<\/a>, CAIR\u2019s lawsuit had been dismissed, and, a day ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/politics\/articles\/florida-cair-terrorist-designation-takes-164805173.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the designation took effect.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>CAIR, defeated, shut its doors and signaled it planned to appeal. For now, however, the controversial Muslim group is done in the state of Florida.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Lest anyone feel inclined toward sympathy for CAIR, believing it to be the innocuous civil rights group it vociferously claims to be, there\u2019s plenty of evidence the organization has never operated completely transparently, and, more concerning, that its ties to known terror organizations are more than ephemeral or simply partisan.<\/p>\n<p>At issue is the organization\u2019s ties to known terror networks like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. These ties, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/32e71de0-b60c-cbdc-34ca-61b92452aacc\/2026-08-05-PM_Testimony_Burns_09f08b11-4cf2-497f-b353-e6856be449ca.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">testimony presented to the U.S. Senate in 2026<\/a>, Lara Burns, senior research fellow on extremism at George Washington University, present as nearly incontrovertible.<\/p>\n<p>In that testimony, Burns describes the now-infamous \u201c1993 Philadelphia Meeting\u201d in which the FBI recorded a group of people affiliated with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood\u2019s Palestine Committee, the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation (HLF) (which would later be convicted in Texas of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archive\/opa\/pr\/2008\/November\/08-nsd-1046.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">providing material support to Hamas<\/a>), and the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) discussing how to continue supporting Hamas broadly, but also within the United States.<\/p>\n<p>According to Burns, the attendees of that meeting were interested in setting up a front group that would primarily defend other front groups from scrutiny by the U.S. government and American media. Documents revealed in the HLF trial, says Burns, showed that the new organization would turn out to be CAIR and would ultimately be established by two IAP leaders in attendance in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Those individuals were Omar Ahmad (IAP, CAIR) and Nihad Awad (IAP, CAIR). CAIR purports to be the largest Muslim civil rights\/advocacy organization in America, and Nihad Awad remains CAIR\u2019s Executive Director today. \u2026 Ahmad also discussed opening the new ostensibly independent organization in Washington D.C. (that would become CAIR) and identified a problem of staffing it with unexposed people and the difficulty in hiding their true agenda.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Cut to 2014 when, with Obama still in office, the UAE <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/us-group-cair-named-terrorist-organization-by-united-arab-emirates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">designated CAIR a terror group<\/a>, putting the organization in league, in their eyes, with al-Qaida and the Islamic State. \u201cWhile CAIR has previously been linked to Hamas, it has held hundreds of meetings with White House officials on a wide range of community issues and has sought to present itself as a mainstream Muslim organization,\u201d Fox News reported at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Then in November 2025, shortly before DeSantis made his move, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott named <a href=\"https:\/\/gov.texas.gov\/news\/post\/governor-abbott-designates-muslim-brotherhood-cair-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood<\/a> \u201cforeign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations\u201d and restricted their ability to buy property in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam\u2019s \u2018mastership of the world,\u2019\u201d Abbott said at the time. The nod to CAIR\u2019s goal of \u201cmastership of the world\u201d is compelling given that CAIR explicitly states a goal of electing more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cair.com\/press_releases\/cair-cair-action-to-release-2026-directory-of-elected-muslim-officials-documenting-muslim-civic-leadership-across-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Muslims to office in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The property restriction is especially interesting given reporting that CAIR, which has always claimed to eschew foreign funding of any kind, was found in July of 2026 to have been the beneficiary of $7.7 million from the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) \u2014 long accused, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meforum.org\/fwi\/cairs-7-7-million-of-foreign-financing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the Middle East Forum (MEF) reported<\/a>, \u201cof serving as a vehicle for the financing of Islamism around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The funding was part of a $30 million dollar project dating back to 2013 for \u201cCAIR Plaza\u201d in Washington, DC. The project is intended to \u201c\u2026provide income for the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to support its activities in the field of defending the civil rights and liberties of American Muslims and disseminating a true image of Islam and its principles of tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As MEF noted, The Foundation for Defense of Democracies calls ISDB a \u201cmultilateral bank in which Iran (a U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism) has a seven percent voting share\u201d and one that is credibly thought to have \u201cengaged in corruption, covered up money laundering operations, assisted Iran and its proxy Hezbollah to avoid U.S. sanctions, and supported Islamist terrorist organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These revelations, taken with concerns about what CAIR is planning next \u2014 one of George Washington University\u2019s latest extremist studies is called <a href=\"https:\/\/extremism.gwu.edu\/sites\/g\/files\/zaxdzs5746\/files\/2026-10\/The%20Long%20Game-%20CAIR%E2%80%99s%20Campaign%20to%20Influence%20K-12%20Education.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cThe Long Game\u201d<\/a> and details CAIR\u2019s plan to infiltrate and influence K-12 schools in the U.S. \u2014 suggest that CAIR\u2019s agenda has always been about more than simple civil and constitutional rights protections for American Muslims.<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis\u2019 moves in Florida, at the least, exposed an organization that hasn\u2019t been totally honest about its funding and goals. And, at best, the actions have opened the door for other states to feel free to examine whether CAIR is representing the American Muslim community in good faith or whether its ultimate agenda portends something much darker and much more international.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Sarah Lee is a longtime writer, policy wonk, and communications expert based in Washington, D.C,. and Atlanta, Georgia.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a concise paraphrase of the article, followed by a 55-character teaser as requested.<\/p>\n<p>Paraphrase:<br \/>\nThe Tampa office of CAIR posted an orange notice and shut down, firing a final jab at Gov. Ron DeSantis while citing free-speech rights. The friction with DeSantis stems from his 2025 move designating CAIR a terrorist organization, a move that Florida lawmakers ultimately upheld after a string of lawsuits and a federal judge\u2019s attempt to block it. CAIR and its Florida affiliate have argued the designation violates free speech and due process, but by October 2026 it remained in effect and the group planned to appeal after closing in Florida. Critics point to alleged opacity in CAIR\u2019s funding and ties to extremist networks like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Testimony cited a 1993 Philadelphia meeting where organizers reportedly discussed creating a front group to defend other front groups and ultimately establish CAIR, with CAIR\u2019s leaders tied to IAP. The piece notes past UAE and Texas actions labeling CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist or restricted groups, and mentions funding controversies, such as a reported ISDB investment in CAIR Plaza and broader concerns about ISDB\u2019s associations. It also references a George Washington University study on CAIR\u2019s long-term strategy to influence U.S. schools. The article concludes that DeSantis\u2019s Florida actions cast doubt on CAIR\u2019s funding and goals and may prompt other states to scrutinize whether CAIR represents American Muslims in good faith or pursues broader international aims.<\/p>\n<p>55-character teaser:<br \/>\nCAIR Tampa closes, taunts DeSantis with orange notice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4430,"featured_media":2703645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Screenshot-2026-11-09-at-11.36.28-AM-1024x576.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[68040,71383,87496,78736,6039],"class_list":["post-2703644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-cair","tag-civil-liberties-2","tag-florida-politics-2","tag-security-policy-2","tag-terrorism"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Screenshot-2026-11-09-at-11.36.28-AM-1024x576.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2703644"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2703647,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703644\/revisions\/2703647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2703645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2703644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2703644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2703644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}