Thread by @CAIRNational

Bismillah. Important news: we have disrupted an anti-Muslim hate group's effort to spy on Muslim American organizations, including our Ohio chapter. We thank God for exposing this plot to us and we thank God for protecting the community from harm. Details in this thread.... 1/13

Last year, we learned extensive info about the inner workings of the so-called Investigative Project on Terrorism. IPT is an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate group founded by Steven Emerson, who largely faded from public view after a humiliating Fox News interview in 2015. 2/13

The evidence we received showed that Emerson’s hate group was flailing but active. Evidence indicated that IPT was monitoring speeches by Muslims & that Emerson was cursing, threatening and otherwise mistreating his staff for failing to produce enough Islamophobic content. 3/13

The evidence also indicated that Emerson’s hate group was communicating with and providing assistance to Israeli intelligence in the office of then-PM Benjamin #Netanyahu. You read that right. The #Israeli govt was collaborating with an anti-Muslim hate group in America. 4/13

Even more disturbing: we learned that IPT had spent years trying to infiltrate and spy on prominent mosques and Muslim organizations using “moles” among their staff and volunteers. One of the organizations targeted was the Columbus, #Ohio, chapter of CAIR. 5/13

A months-long forensic investigation concluded that #RominIqbal of CAIR-Columbus was secretly sharing information about our civil rights work—including secretly recorded conversations, strategic plans and private emails—with anti-Muslim extremists. 6/13

The local Board of Directors has terminated Mr. Iqbal, and secured all of their organization’s key data, assets and infrastructure. Iqbal never had access to CAIR National's data or the data of local chapters, which operate separately and maintain strong security protocols. 7/13

We are now working closely with the CAIR-Ohio team to hold Mr. Iqbal, this anti-Muslim hate group and those who worked with them—whether foreign or domestic actors—accountable for their conduct, which may have violated numerous state and federal laws. 8/13

We also previously alerted other Muslim community leaders whose groups were targeted so that they could perform their own investigations. 9/13

This hate group’s attempt to spy upon on mosques and Muslim orgs was not surprising. From Malcolm X in the 1960s to anti-apartheid activists in the 1980s, those who stand for justice have repeatedly been targeted by those who stand for injustice. 10/13

The fact that anti-Muslim bigots are so obsessed with our work is a badge of honor and a testament to the importance of our work. And the fact that they never found damaging info to use against us or other Muslim orgs is a testament to the integrity of our community. 11/13

There is more information that we cannot share publicly yet. But rest assured that we plan to do everything that we can to protect Muslim Americans from the harm of hate groups. As God says in the Quran, "...they plan, and Allah plans, and Allah is the best of planners." 12/13

We thank you for your support over the past 27 years. We encourage you to redouble your support for CAIR's work to fight anti-Muslim bigotry across the United States. Read more details about what happened here: cair.com/press_releases… 13/13

And we plan to keep the community updated on new developments, God willing. #Islamophobia