Muslim American Civil Rights Activist Gets Death Threat
January 12, 2007
In November, he received a certificate of merit from Senator Barbara Boxer.
But then on January 3, Boxer rescinded it.
Two days later, he says he got a death threat.
Muslim American Civil Rights Activist Gets Death Threat It’s been a seesaw couple of months for Basim Elkarra.
In November, he received a certificate of merit from Senator Barbara Boxer.
But then on January 3, Boxer rescinded it.
Two days later, Elkarra says he got a death threat.
Elkarra is the executive director of the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group.
“The threat was contained in an e-mail message,” CAIR announced on January 5.
Elkarra says he’s in touch with the FBI on this, and that it’s investigating the threat.
The Sacramento office of the FBI did not return a phone call for comment, but AP ran a story that day confirming that “the FBI is investigating a death threat sent to a Muslim group leader after U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer rescinded a certificate awarded to him by her office.”
According to the Sacramento Bee, Boxer had given Elkarra the award “in recognition of (his) outstanding service.”
But after pressure from rightwing bloggers, Boxer dissociated herself from Elkarra. (Boxer’s office did not return a phone call on this story.)
“We made a big mistake not researching the organization,” Boxer told the Bee. “My organization created this problem. I caused people grief, and I feel terrible, yet I need to set the record straight.”
Among the problems with CAIR that Boxer cited to the Bee was her claim that CAIR had not condemned Osama bin Laden by name after the 9/11 attacks.
But after Osama bin Laden released his first videotape, CAIR did denounce him.
“For anyone who was not convinced of Osama bin Laden's complicity in the events of September 11, the content of this videotape should remove all doubt,” it said on December 13, 2001. It added that “Bin Laden seemed to revel in the death and destruction in Washington and New York” and that “he made the sickening statement that the attacks ‘benefited Islam greatly.’ ”
CAIR had denounced the 9/11 attacks the very day they happened, saying: “American Muslims utterly condemn the vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. We join with all American in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment of the perpetrators. No political cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts."
Boxer also said that several CAIR officials “have been indicted,” the Bee said. “Boxer’s communications director, Natalie Ravitz, cited news stories detailing the convictions of two individuals, Ghassan Elashi and Ismail Royer. Elashi, a founding board member of the Texas chapter of CAIR, was sentenced in October to 80 months in prison for engaging in financial transactions with Hamas leader Musa abu Marzook. Royer, a CAIR communications specialist between 1997 and October 2001, was indicted in 2003 on charges that he and 10 others were part of a conspiracy to support jihad overseas and sentenced to 20 years.”
CAIR’s national executive director said neither individual was working on behalf of the organization. This is “guilt by association,” Nihad Awad said. “CAIR has tens of thousands of members, hundreds of volunteer board members, and several dozen paid staff members nationwide. It would be unfair and un American to hold any organization responsible for the actions of every individual, especially when such actions originate outside the scope of their employment or association.”
Rightwing bloggers had called on Boxer to dissociate herself from the organization.
Joe Kaufman, founder of Americans Against Hate and CAIR Watch, kicked off the campaign with a posting on FrontPageMagazine.com on December 18. Under the subtle title “Senators for Terror,” he said Boxer, by praising Elkarra, has chosen to work with America’s enemies. “CAIR is connected to Islamic extremism,” wrote Kaufman, who wants the U.S. government to ban the organization. And he added: “There is evidence to suggest that Elkarra, himself, is a radical, apart from his connection to CAIR.” One piece of that evidence: “Elkarra has described Israel as an ‘apartheid’ and a ‘racist’ state.” Kaufman also wrote that Elkarra had defended two anti-American imams.
“He was cutting and pasting my quotes in a way to make me look bad,” Elkarra says. “I was highlighting concerns about government tactics, such as not allowing people to speak to their attorneys.”
Meanwhile, Ginger Rutland, associate editor of the Sacramento Bee, has come to Elkarra’s defense.
“I know Elkarra,” Rutland wrote in a column. “I don’t believe he supports terrorism. The personable young University of California, Berkeley, graduate assumed the helm of the local CAIR chapter at a perilous time for Muslims in this country. He has gone to extraordinary lengths to reassure his fellow Americans while defending fellow Muslims.”
Elkarra has lost faith in Boxer. “It is sad to see that Senator Boxer succumbed to pressure from those who would marginalize American Muslims using smears and guilt by association.”
On January 8, Boxer’s office told CNN that the FBI deemed the death threat “not credible,” though Elkarra says the FBI is still talking to him about it.