On January 28, 2014, NCCM Executive Director Ihsaan Gardee was interviewed by Evan Solomon on CBC Power and Politics about the notice of libel sent earlier that day by his organization to the Prime Minister Harper’s Office. The notice of libel was NCCM’s answer to a statement made by the PMO’s Director of communications earlier in January to the effect that the NCCM has “documented ties” with the terrorist organization Hamas.
The video of the interview is archived on Point de Bascule.
The portion of the interview transcribed by Point de Bascule relates to the relationship of NCCM / CAIR-CAN with Washington-based CAIR. Given that a Canadian court may have to decide on the nature of the links between CAIR-CAN / NCCM and Hamas, the relationship between CAIR-CAN / NCCM and its “parent organization” Washington-based CAIR becomes all the more important and relevant. In the past, American tribunals have confirmed the links between Washington-based CAIR and Hamas. In 2009 for example, in the case United States of America v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Judge Jorge Solis stated that: (Section IV) “The government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA, NAIT, with NAIT, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and with Hamas.”
This decision was archived and commented by the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
TRANSCRIPT BY POINT DE BASCULE
03:26 EVAN SOLOMON / CBC – “Your organization changed its name from CAIR-CAN to the National Council of Canadian Muslims in July of 2013. There have been allegations that the organization when it began was linked to the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR], and that organization has been subject to its own controversies. So, why did you change your name? Was it to disassociate yourself from the American organization?”
03:56 IHSAAN GARDEE / NCCM – “We evolved and the name of the organization, as you pointed out, changed last year, in July of last year. The name of the organization was originally CAIR-CAN because CAIR in the U.S. is a well-known, well-recognized Muslim civil liberties organization. But we are two separate and distinct organizations. We always have been, we always have…”
04:13 EVAN SOLOMON / CBC – “You don’t share Board members?”
04:15 IHSAAN GARDEE / NCCM – “We have separate Board members, separate staff, we’ve never had any funding relationship.”
04:20 EVAN SOLOMON / CBC – “So you have the same name but you say you never had a relation? But some say that they consider the Canadian version a branch plant?”
04:28 IHSAAN GARDEE / NCCM – “Well Evan, what I can tell you is that we’ve never had any funding relationship with them, never any operational relationship with them. We have always had two separate Boards of directors, constitutions, by-laws, employees.”
04:40 EVAN SOLOMON / CBC – “So, why do you call yourself a Council of American-Islamic Relations? I mean… Some people say there is Board member links or mentorship links or learning… There is no links but you chose the same name?”
04:51 IHSAAN GARDEE / NCCM – “Evan, the organization, as I mentioned and I just told you, went with that name because it was a well-recognized name within Muslim civil liberties movement. But this is not the issue today. The Office of the Prime Minister has today linked NCCM to a known terrorist entity and that is why we are taking this action today.
05:12 EVAN SOLOMON / CBC – “The [U.S.] Department of Justice, April 28, 2009. There’s a letter here from Richard Powers, assistant-director of the office of Congressional Affairs, to a Senator. And it is about CAIR in the U.S. and it says: ‘As you know, CAIR was named as a unindicted co-conspirator of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in United States v. Holy Land Foundation. During the trial, it says here, evidence was introduced that demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders, and a Palestine Committee. Evidence was also introduced that demonstrated a relationship between the Palestine Committee and Hamas, which was designated as a terrorist organization in ’95. In light of the evidence, the FBI has suspended all forms of contacts with CAIR and the FBI’. So, there’s a letter from the Justice Department linking CAIR, in this regard, to Hamas in this letter. What do you make of that?”
06:05 IHSAAN GARDEE / NCCM – “Evan, CAIR in the U.S. is recognized by the U.S. government as a tax-exempt organization. And I think that says a lot. If you have questions regarding CAIR, I would certainly direct you to them. They’re more than fully capable of defending their own record. We are a fully independent, autonomous organization that’s been active in Canada for the past fourteen years in the areas of civic engagement, anti-extremism, human rights and civil liberties. Our public record speaks for itself, Evan.”
06:33 EVAN SOLOMON / CBC – “Alright. John Baird [inaudible passage] to Google. There’s lots on Google, you know, and there are articles that say certain Board members have had links to certain organizations and there is a link back that can touch organizations like Hamas. Are you telling us… Let me just be clear, that no Board member, no member of your group has any links to organizations that have been linked to Hamas, nothing?”
06:57 IHSAAN GARDEE / NCCM – “Evan, we are two separate and autonomous organizations. It’s like Pepsi and Coke. They do Muslim civil liberties work in the U.S., we do it here in Canada.”
07:06 EVAN SOLOMON / CBC – “I mean… To be fair, until you changed the name, it wasn’t like Pepsi and Coke. It was like Coke and another Coke with the same name, but you’re saying that there was different stuff in the bottle.”
07:16 IHSAAN GARDEE / NCCM – “Evan, we are, as I told you, and always have been separate and independent and autonomous organizations. But the real issue today, Evan, is not that. The real issue is the Prime Minister Office making a defamatory statement against an organization with a known public track record. We have received statements of support from our civil society allies, including the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims, and it goes on… the Canadian Association of University Teachers… organizations who have worked alongside us, who know our record. And, we received letters, as well, from Canadians across this country concerned about this attempt to silence dissent, yet again, from the Office of the Prime Minister, and from this government.”
Two previous article by Point de Bascule demonstrated that the operational relationship between NCCM / CAIR-CAN and Washington-based CAIR is very clear:
Point de Bascule (July 18, 2013): National Council of Canadian Muslims: The new name chosen by CAIR-CAN helps cover its links with Washington-based / Hamas-linked CAIR
Point de Bascule (January 17, 2014): Prime Minister Harper’s director of communications slams the National Council of Canadian Muslims for “documented ties to a terrorist organization such as Hamas”
