Council on American Islamic Relations Threatens to Sue Over Jihad Watch Director's Speech

Jihad Watch Director Robert Spencer and the Young America's Foundation's remain united in their defiance of a self-described Muslim civil liberites organization, which has threatened to sue over "false and defamatory statements."  

Complete coverage is available at cnsnews.com. Spencer's talk at last week's YAF conference entitled "The Truth About the Council on American Islamic Relations" went forward as scheduled despite a legal threat issued through CAIR's lawyer Joseph Sandler on Aug 1. "You should be aware that Mr. Spencer, a well-known purveyor of hatred and bigotry against Muslims, has a history of false and defamatory statements," he wrote.

CAIR demanded that YAF either "cancel the session" or "take steps to ensure that false and defamatory statements are not disseminated." In his talk Spencer told audience members that it is actually CAIR that has made "false and defamatory statements about him. Spencer then proceeded to outline what he viewed as unsavory links between the organization and terrorist outfits like Hamas. He also claimed CAIR had hired people who are now imprisoned as a result of radical activity.

Sandler made it clear in his letter that legal action could result if CAIR's demands were not satisfied and set a deadline of "close of business" on Aug. 1 as a deadline for compliance. Thus far "we have not heard a peep from CAIR or their lawyers," Jason Mattera, a YAF spokesman said in an interview.

YAF, a conservative outreach group for college aged students has been holding annual conferences in Washington D.C. for the past 29 years. This is the first time an attempt has been made "to exercise prior restraint of a speaker," Ron Robinson the YAF president noted. "To say in very vague terms that they object to speaker without specifically outlining what those objections are speaks to a lack of professionalism in their organization," he continued.

"I doubt very much that CAIR would cancel one of their speakers if someone raised objections without getting into specifics and it’s very arrogant of them to expect us to run our conference that way, and it’s a sad commentary on their organization."