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→‎Career: NPOV see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view - removed paragraph on Congressman Frank Wolf's attack on Awad, lodged without context in section on "Career" and citing two Fox News reports. ~~~~
GXIndiana (talk | contribs)
258 edits
Blatantly biased and unsubstantiated accusation "Awad expressed support for the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel" was corrected. Also inserted Awad's full comment, such as there is, from a 3rd-party Youtube video; made White House comment at end of paragraph more factual. Placed entire paragraph under Controversies heading. ~~~~
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In June 1994, IAP President [[Omar Ahmad]] and Rafiq Jabir founded the [[Council on American-Islamic Relations]] (CAIR), and Awad was hired as the Executive Director. In a March 1994 speech at [[Barry University]], future CAIR Executive Director Awad said in response to an audience question about the various humanitarian efforts in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, "I am in support of the [[Hamas]] movement more than the [[PLO]]... there are some [Hamas] radicals, we are not interested in those people."<ref>Statement by Nihad Awad at a panel discussion, "The Road to Peace: the Challenge of the Middle East," Barry University, March 22, 1994.{{cite web|url=http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_center/subdocs/091003_epstein.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503035244/http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_center/subdocs/091003_epstein.pdf |archivedate=2012-05-03 }}</ref><ref name="fut">{{cite news |last=Kushner |first=Harvey W. |author-link=Harvey Kushner |year=1998 |title=The future of terrorism: violence in the new millennium |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5h6SJ1iWdvgC&pg=PA50 |accessdate=November 27, 2009 |isbn=9780761908692}}</ref> At the time Awad expressed support for Hamas, the group had not conducted suicide bombings and was not designated a terrorist organization by the US.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Creede |title=Republican calls CAIR a Hamas-linked 'terrorist group' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/republican-calls-cair-hamas-linked-terrorist-group-170210134359010.html |accessdate=16 January 2020 |work=Al Jazeera |date=February 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Glenn Greenwald |first1=Murtaza Hussain |title=MEET THE MUSLIM-AMERICAN LEADERS THE FBI AND NSA HAVE BEEN SPYING ON|url=https://theintercept.com/2014/07/09/under-surveillance/ |accessdate=3 March 2021 |work=The Intercept |date=July 8, 2014}}</ref> Awad said in 2006 that he no longer supports the group and has condemned suicide bombings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Frommer |first1=Frederic J. |title=Muslims Supporting Congressional Hopeful |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092200059.html |accessdate=16 January 2020 |work=The Associated Press |date=September 22, 2006}}</ref>[[File:Bush Islamic Center Washington.jpg|225px|right|thumb|Nihad Awad (second from right) stands to President Bush's left, when Bush said "Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged at last Tuesday's attacks [on Sept. 11, 2001]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html|title="Islam is Peace" Says President | publisher=Office of the Press Secretary|date=September 17, 2001}} Retrieved on Jan. 27, 2007</ref>]]A few days after the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, Awad was one of a select group American Muslim leaders invited by the [[White House]] to join president [[George W. Bush]] in a press conference condemning the attacks and acts of anti-Muslim intolerance that followed.<ref>{{cite web |date= |title="Islam is Peace" Says President |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html |accessdate=2010-04-18 |publisher=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov}}</ref>
In June 1994, IAP President [[Omar Ahmad]] and Rafiq Jabir founded the [[Council on American-Islamic Relations]] (CAIR), and Awad was hired as the Executive Director. In a March 1994 speech at [[Barry University]], future CAIR Executive Director Awad said in response to an audience question about the various humanitarian efforts in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, "I am in support of the [[Hamas]] movement more than the [[PLO]]... there are some [Hamas] radicals, we are not interested in those people."<ref>Statement by Nihad Awad at a panel discussion, "The Road to Peace: the Challenge of the Middle East," Barry University, March 22, 1994.{{cite web|url=http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_center/subdocs/091003_epstein.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503035244/http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_center/subdocs/091003_epstein.pdf |archivedate=2012-05-03 }}</ref><ref name="fut">{{cite news |last=Kushner |first=Harvey W. |author-link=Harvey Kushner |year=1998 |title=The future of terrorism: violence in the new millennium |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5h6SJ1iWdvgC&pg=PA50 |accessdate=November 27, 2009 |isbn=9780761908692}}</ref> At the time Awad expressed support for Hamas, the group had not conducted suicide bombings and was not designated a terrorist organization by the US.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Creede |title=Republican calls CAIR a Hamas-linked 'terrorist group' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/republican-calls-cair-hamas-linked-terrorist-group-170210134359010.html |accessdate=16 January 2020 |work=Al Jazeera |date=February 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Glenn Greenwald |first1=Murtaza Hussain |title=MEET THE MUSLIM-AMERICAN LEADERS THE FBI AND NSA HAVE BEEN SPYING ON|url=https://theintercept.com/2014/07/09/under-surveillance/ |accessdate=3 March 2021 |work=The Intercept |date=July 8, 2014}}</ref> Awad said in 2006 that he no longer supports the group and has condemned suicide bombings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Frommer |first1=Frederic J. |title=Muslims Supporting Congressional Hopeful |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092200059.html |accessdate=16 January 2020 |work=The Associated Press |date=September 22, 2006}}</ref>[[File:Bush Islamic Center Washington.jpg|225px|right|thumb|Nihad Awad (second from right) stands to President Bush's left, when Bush said "Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged at last Tuesday's attacks [on Sept. 11, 2001]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html|title="Islam is Peace" Says President | publisher=Office of the Press Secretary|date=September 17, 2001}} Retrieved on Jan. 27, 2007</ref>]]A few days after the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, Awad was one of a select group American Muslim leaders invited by the [[White House]] to join president [[George W. Bush]] in a press conference condemning the attacks and acts of anti-Muslim intolerance that followed.<ref>{{cite web |date= |title="Islam is Peace" Says President |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html |accessdate=2010-04-18 |publisher=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov}}</ref>


== Controversies ==
Awad expressed support for the [[2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel]], saying that "the people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on October 7. I was happy to see people breaking the siege" at a speech at the [[American Muslims for Palestine]] convention.<ref name="TOIAwad">{{cite news |last1=TOI Staff |title=US Muslim leader: I was happy to see Gazans breaking the siege on Oct. 7 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-muslim-leader-i-was-happy-to-see-gazans-breaking-the-siege-on-oct-7/ |access-date=7 December 2023 |work=Times of Israel |date=7 December 2023}}</ref> Awad said that Palestinians in Gaza had a right to self-defense and that Israel did not.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Peter |date=2023-12-08 |title=White House Disavows U.S. Islamic Group After Leader’s Oct. 7 Remarks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/politics/white-house-cair-nihad-awad.html |access-date=2023-12-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He later said that these remarks were an endorsement of any Palestinians who may have crossed the [[Gaza–Israel barrier|Gaza–Israel border]] and then headed back without committing any crimes, while condemning the attacks on Israeli civilians.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement By Nihad Awad on Remarks at Palestine Human Rights Conference |url=https://www.cair.com/press_releases/statement-by-nihad-awad-on-remarks-at-palestine-human-rights-conference/ |website=CAIR |access-date=8 December 2023}}</ref> In response, a spokesman for president [[Joe Biden]] said, "We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms."<ref name=":0" />
Awad was accused by some news media and pro-Israel advocates of expressing support for the [[2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel]], saying that "The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7th. 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 lands that 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" in a Nov. 24, 2023 speech at the [[American Muslims for Palestine]] convention.<ref name="TOIAwad">{{cite news |last1=TOI Staff |title=US Muslim leader: I was happy to see Gazans breaking the siege on Oct. 7 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-muslim-leader-i-was-happy-to-see-gazans-breaking-the-siege-on-oct-7/ |access-date=7 December 2023 |work=Times of Israel |date=7 December 2023}}</ref> He later said that these remarks were an endorsement of any Palestinians who may have crossed the [[Gaza–Israel barrier|Gaza–Israel border]] and then headed back without committing any crimes, while condemning the attacks on Israeli civilians.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement By Nihad Awad on Remarks at Palestine Human Rights Conference |url=https://www.cair.com/press_releases/statement-by-nihad-awad-on-remarks-at-palestine-human-rights-conference/ |website=CAIR |access-date=8 December 2023}}</ref> In response to the criticism of Awad, a spokesman for president [[Joe Biden]] said, "We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Peter |date=2023-12-08 |title=White House Disavows U.S. Islamic Group After Leader’s Oct. 7 Remarks |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/politics/white-house-cair-nihad-awad.html |access-date=2023-12-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>


==Awards==
==Awards==

Revision as of 16:53, 9 December 2023

Nihad Awad
Born
Al-Wehdat, Jordan
NationalityPalestinian
American
EducationUniversity of Minnesota (BS)
WebsiteOfficial website

Nihad Awad (Arabic: نهاد عوض) is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Early life

Nihad Awad was born in Amman New Camp, a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. He studied at Second Amman Preparatory School for Boys, located at the camp and belongs to UNRWA, and at Salaheddine High School in Achrafieh in Jordan. He moved to Italy and later to the United States to pursue his university studies.[citation needed]

Career

After studying civil engineering at the University of Minnesota in the 1990s,[1][2] he worked at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. After the Gulf War, he was Public Relations Director for the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP).

In June 1994, IAP President Omar Ahmad and Rafiq Jabir founded the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Awad was hired as the Executive Director. In a March 1994 speech at Barry University, future CAIR Executive Director Awad said in response to an audience question about the various humanitarian efforts in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, "I am in support of the Hamas movement more than the PLO... there are some [Hamas] radicals, we are not interested in those people."[3][4] At the time Awad expressed support for Hamas, the group had not conducted suicide bombings and was not designated a terrorist organization by the US.[5][6] Awad said in 2006 that he no longer supports the group and has condemned suicide bombings.[7]

Nihad Awad (second from right) stands to President Bush's left, when Bush said "Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged at last Tuesday's attacks [on Sept. 11, 2001]."[8]

A few days after the September 11 attacks in 2001, Awad was one of a select group American Muslim leaders invited by the White House to join president George W. Bush in a press conference condemning the attacks and acts of anti-Muslim intolerance that followed.[9]

Controversies

Awad was accused by some news media and pro-Israel advocates of expressing support for the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, saying that "The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7th. 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 lands that 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" in a Nov. 24, 2023 speech at the American Muslims for Palestine convention.[10] He later said that these remarks were an endorsement of any Palestinians who may have crossed the Gaza–Israel border and then headed back without committing any crimes, while condemning the attacks on Israeli civilians.[11] In response to the criticism of Awad, a spokesman for president Joe Biden said, "We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms."[12]

Awards

  • The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre's "500 Most Influential Muslims 2009"[13]
  • Among 100 of the "World's Most Influential Arabs" for 2010 by Arabian Business magazine[14]
  • Recipient of the Phillip Brooks House Association's Robert Coles Call of Service & Lecture Award at Harvard College in 2017. [15]
  • Listed Among "19 of the Most Important Civil Rights Leaders of Today" by USA Today in 2020. [16]

References

  1. ^ [1] Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ [2] Archived February 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Statement by Nihad Awad at a panel discussion, "The Road to Peace: the Challenge of the Middle East," Barry University, March 22, 1994."Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2007-03-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Kushner, Harvey W. (1998). "The future of terrorism: violence in the new millennium". ISBN 9780761908692. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  5. ^ Newton, Creede (February 10, 2017). "Republican calls CAIR a Hamas-linked 'terrorist group'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. ^ Glenn Greenwald, Murtaza Hussain (July 8, 2014). "MEET THE MUSLIM-AMERICAN LEADERS THE FBI AND NSA HAVE BEEN SPYING ON". The Intercept. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  7. ^ Frommer, Frederic J. (September 22, 2006). "Muslims Supporting Congressional Hopeful". The Associated Press. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  8. ^ ""Islam is Peace" Says President". Office of the Press Secretary. September 17, 2001. Retrieved on Jan. 27, 2007
  9. ^ ""Islam is Peace" Says President". Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  10. ^ TOI Staff (7 December 2023). "US Muslim leader: I was happy to see Gazans breaking the siege on Oct. 7". Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Statement By Nihad Awad on Remarks at Palestine Human Rights Conference". CAIR. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  12. ^ Baker, Peter (2023-12-08). "White House Disavows U.S. Islamic Group After Leader's Oct. 7 Remarks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  13. ^ "Blogger: User Profile: Nihad Awad".
  14. ^ http://www.arabianbusiness.com/power100-2010/list?view=profile&itemid=150752[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Award recognizes Nihad Awad of the Council on American Islamic Relations". 19 October 2017.
  16. ^ "From Esmeralda Simmons to Laverne Cox, here are 19 of the most influential civil rights leaders of today". USA Today.
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