As the Discover the Networks profile of CAIR and its founder and executive director Nihad Awad shows, they’re Hamas backers.

In 1993, Awad, who had developed into an increasingly outspoken advocate for the rights of Palestinians, became the public-relations director of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP)—a front group for Hamas.

With the help of a $5,000 donation from the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF)—yet another Hamas front group—CAIR opened up an office in Washington, D.C.

In his new position with CAIR, Awad’s affinity for Hamas became increasingly evident. At a March 22, 1994 symposium at Barry University in Florida, he declared: “I used to support the PLO, and I used to be the President of the General Union of Palestine Students which is part of the PLO here in the United States, but after I researched the situation inside Palestine and outside, I am in support of the Hamas movement more than the PLO.”

In an interview that same year with newsman Mike Wallace, Awad was asked if he supported the “military undertakings of Hamas,” to which he replied: “The United Nations Charter grants people who are under occupation [the right] to defend themselves against illegal occupation.”

Despite all that, CAIR became mainstreamed to such an extent that the Biden administration enlisted it to fight antisemitism.

After the Oct 7 Hamas attacks, Awad was one of the leaders whom the media, including CNN and NBC News, quoted in criticizing Biden’s response. The media failed to mention that Awad and CAIR were strong Hamas backers.

Now, Awad made it extremely public in this speech at the American Muslims For Palestine (AMP) convention. (Courtesy of MEMRI)

Nihad Awad: “The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7. And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in. And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves, and yes, Israel, as an occupying power, does not have that right to self-defense.”

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), as Discover the Network’s profile shows, was set up by Hatem Bazian, the co-founder of the campus hate group Students for Justice in Palestine, and has its own Hamas ties.

CAIR has once again shown what it is. Will Democrats and the media break their ties with it or double down on it?