At the end of last month, the American Muslim organization CAIR (Council on American-Muslim Relations) joined President Joe Biden's anti-Semitism program, which was established to implement national strategies to combat hate crimes such as Islamophobia, first and foremost anti-Semitism.
Joining the anti-hate crime program is not surprising – it is one of the largest and most influential Muslim organizations in America, dealing with civil rights and legal support issues since its founding in 1994, and working to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims through extensive media and lobbying activities, as well as education and legal defense.
The organization's importance was especially evident in the era after the September 11 attacks, which intensified attitudes toward Islam and Muslims in the United States. For example, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad is considered one of the few Muslim leaders invited by the White House a few days after the attacks to a press conference with former President George W. Bush at the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., considered the oldest mosque in the capital.
The organization's joining the program to combat antisemitism symbolizes a trend of strengthening and influence of Islam in America in recent decades. In this context, it is important to understand that while the September 11 attacks were a severe blow to the American Muslim community, they created a window of opportunity with great potential for positive change. Before the attacks, many members of the Muslim community, especially the generation of immigrants, lived comfortably and saw no need to take part in the country's society and politics. The profound shock that struck them prompted many to break through social and political isolation in order to protect their religion and Muslim and American identity.
The reality after the attacks led to a broad consensus in the Muslim community in order to maximize involvement and promote American Muslim interests. Thus, for example, Muslim communities and various Islamic institutions, which for the first time felt a shared destiny, strengthened their cooperation and solidarity, and da'wah (call to Islam) served as extensive propaganda activities aimed at portraying the religion and Muslims in a positive light. In addition, extensive interfaith dialogue with Christians and Jews has been established in schools, universities and more, along with increasing the importance of social involvement in the media, politics or civil service, of which the first Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, was elected in 2006.
At the same time, the rise and rise of the new media, a few years after the attack, were well exploited by Islamic preachers and organizations for religious propaganda activities, and for branding Islam as a modern, tolerant and peaceful image. These activities have made American preachers, activists, and Islamic organizations now the most prominent Muslim voices in the West, with considerable influence on social media.
These trends have brought Jews and Muslims closer together in the United States, and even hold future collaborations. Senior American preachers have already called for a joint struggle between Jews and Muslims against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and interfaith meetings have been held between prominent Islamic and Jewish spokesmen to strengthen common interests. There is also potential for collaborations between Muslims and Orthodox Jews to strengthen conservative values in the face of progressive rise and the influence of the LGBT community.
Islam is considered the third largest religion in the United States after Judaism, but there are estimates that it will soon take its place and become the second largest religion after Christianity. The location and influence of the Muslim community in the most influential Western power in the world, its direct proximity to the world's largest Jewish community, and the fateful relations between Israel and the United States are facts with significant implications for the future of Islam in America, in the Jewish community, and perhaps even on the State of Israel.
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