Islamophobia hoaxes and their cynical defenders.
That was the conclusion of at least one major media outlet after a Texas steakhouse waiter posted an image of a fake handwritten note on Facebook to convince Americans that racism "still exists." But if you can't trust everything you read on social media, how should readers respond when the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group nurtures the same unsubstantiated fiction?"You can't believe everything you read, especially if it's scrawled across a restaurant receipt."
With chapters in more than a dozen states, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) works to "promote a positive image of Islam" while defending Muslims "who have experienced religious discrimination, defamation or hate crimes." Therefore, when 20-year-old Khalil Cavil claimed to receive a "No tip for terrorist" message from a customer in lieu of gratuity, CAIR's activists and paid attorneys didn't hesitate to publicize the encounter, promoting Cavil's specious verdict that "this racism and this hatred still exists."
Although the United Arab Emirates designated CAIR as a terrorist entity in 2014, and the FBI has banned outreach with the group because of its suspected ties to terrorism, newspaper editors and broadcast journalists continue to seek out CAIR officials for public comment in the aftermath of both real and perceived anti-Muslim incidents.
Oldest Trick in the Book
CAIR had every reason to approach Cavil's allegations with skepticism and restraint, especially given the historical susceptibility these complaints have to forgery.
Consider the case of a Tennessee Red Lobster employee who posted a receipt online in 2013 showing that she was tipped "none" followed by a written racial slur; or the gay server working at a New Jersey restaurant who accused a couple of refusing to tip him and writing, "I'm sorry, but I cannot tip because I do not agree with your lifestyle" on a receipt. Cavill's spoof was remarkably similar to a 2017 case where a Virginia waitress presented a receipt which stated, "don't tip Black people." In each instance, follow-on investigations proved that the so-called victims were, in fact, defrauding the public.
While dozens of media outlets across the country were faithfully publishing virtual carbon copies of CAIR's story of racial and religious intolerance in Texas, the Saltgrass Steak House was busy conducting an internal investigation of their own. Terry Turney, the chief operating officer of Saltgrass, eventually concluded that "our employee fabricated the entire story." Turney remarked that while "Racism of any form is intolerable… Falsely accusing someone of racism is equaling [sic] disturbing."
Turney is right to denounce these deceptive acts so forcefully. When the media grants column inches to these fantasists, they only succeed in distracting from and diminishing efforts to combat genuine instances of bigotry.
Letting Go
Once CAIR becomes invested in a hate crime hoax, its representatives have trouble disengaging from the false narrative they so fervently defended.
After Cavil's delusional story began unraveling around him and his lies were exposed as a sham, CAIR refused to take down their supporting story. The article still appears under its original, condemnatory title, although a tiny disclaimer reads: "Waiter admits making up story about customer who called him a terrorist and didn't tip."
Refusing to correct the record regarding falsified hate crimes adequately has become an ugly tradition at CAIR. In December 2017, long after the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office ruled out religious animus and determined that a Muslim teen was beaten by three of her classmates in a fight "over a boy," CAIR-Florida Communications Director Wilfredo Ruiz said that he was "worried how in-depth the investigation was made."
In the same manner, CAIR's New York chapter refused to correct or unpublish an article supporting the discredited story of an 18-year-old Muslim woman who, in December 2016, alleged that three Donald Trump supporters tried to remove her hijab and called her a terrorist. The falsified report remains on CAIR's webpages and social media accounts, even after the offender pleaded guilty and was sentenced for falsely reporting an incident and disorderly conduct.
Stressed Out
As a member of the "Islamophobia lobby," CAIR's net function is to aggressively search for and punctuate any discernible act of discrimination against Muslims. Despite their controversial past, CAIR's representatives can preserve a modicum of legitimacy by orchestrating a comprehensively overblown Islamophobia crisis and convincing lawmakers that CAIR is uniquely empowered to expose and respond to this anti-Muslim bigotry.
Though CAIR's Islamists may have a complicated relationship with the truth, journalists should be held to a higher standard. By injudiciously promoting CAIR's worldview and accepting their Islamophobia narrative at face value, the establishment press does real and lasting damage to national unity and social cohesion in America.
Benjamin Baird wrote this article for Islamist Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.