(ATLANTA, GA, 07/11/2024) On Thursday, July 11, 2024, the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia) issued a critical warning to the Georgia Muslim community to watch out for bad actors that target, defame, and harass Muslims, Arabs, and pro-Palestine activists. This warning is issued in light of a recent attack to silence and intimidate a local religious scholar in Georgia. Targeting may take the form of deception, filming, surveillance, entrapment, and doxing.
Muslim communities and their places of worship across the United States have often been targeted. In recent months, fair-right groups have used dishonest methods to defame and intimidate pro-Palestine activists, targeting professors and scholars in particular.
SEE: Undercover Messianic Jewish activist sought to entrap Muslim professors at UF (wuft.org)
SEE: CAIR-Georgia Warns Muslims Statewide After Far-Right Hate Groups Target Mosques –
As an example, last week a widely respected Muslim religious scholar, scientist and interfaith leader based in Atlanta was targeted by a far-right, anti-Palestinian hate group. The group posted a heavily doctored video of the scholar interacting with an individual who posed as an Emory student experiencing an emotional crisis.
Since the posting of the doctored video, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian extremists have sent hundreds of hateful and threatening messages to the scholar and his employer. Hate group members and extremists appeared outside his property twice yesterday, prompting the targeted scholar to contact the police and vacate his family home. Alarmingly, the individual pretended to be a graduate student at Emory University and attended at least one student event held on the Emory campus.
SEE: Emory University’s Muslim religious life scholar resigns (ajc.com)
SEE: Dr. Vaid’s resignation letter to Emory University
In a statement, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director Azka Mahmood stated:
“CAIR-Georgia is asking Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian community members to practice caution and remain vigilant of hate groups’ intimidation tactics through deceitful entrapment and targeting.
We condemn the defamation and harassment of a respected Georgia Muslim community leader using an unverified and heavily edited video shared by a hate group with ties to Israeli intelligence that routinely smears Americans who support Palestinian human rights.
“Attempts to spy on, secretly record and then defame Georgia Muslim community leaders are meant to distract from the horrors being inflicted upon the Palestinian people and silence anyone who would dare to criticize those war crimes.”
CAIR-Georgia urges community members to report any incidents of harassment, intimidation, or entrapment to law enforcement and to our organization immediately.
CAIR-Georgia’s mission is to protect civil rights, promote justice, empower American Muslims, and enhance the understanding of Islam.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: Azka Mahmood, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director, [email protected], 678-653-5822, Nazia Khanzada, CAIR-Georgia Communications Manager, [email protected], (404)-239-2086