❓WHAT HAPPENED: A Muslim nonprofit awarded $1,000 checks to student activists disciplined for anti-Israel protests, as part of a fund that raised over $100,000 to support such individuals.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), student activists, and organizations like the Tides Foundation and Weingart Foundation.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The fund awarded $20,000 to students in October 2024, with incidents spanning multiple universities like Columbia, Penn, and Harvard.

💬KEY QUOTE: “CAIR’s financial support for disciplined protesters creates a reward structure for increasingly militant activism.” – Network Contagion Research Institute

🎯IMPACT: CAIR faces federal and state scrutiny, with calls for investigations into its ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and recent actions by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) designating CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization.

The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) has been thrust into renewed controversy after reports that it created a “Champions of Justice Fund” that collected more than $100,000 to support students disciplined for participating in anti-Israel protests. The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN) state that the fund was designed to assist students who lost housing, scholarships, or university backing as a result of their activism.

In October 2024, $20,000 was distributed to 20 students from institutions including Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard. Among the highlighted beneficiaries was former Harvard student Ibrahim Bharmal, who had been convicted of assaulting a Jewish peer during a 2023 protest. Following the incident, Bharmal secured a $65,000 fellowship and later joined CAIR’s Los Angeles office.

NCRI argued that the organization’s financial support for sanctioned protesters “creates a reward structure” that could encourage more radical activism. At the same time, CAIR-CA has faced federal and state inquiries into alleged financial irregularities, compounding longstanding criticism directed at CAIR for its historical ties to Hamas. During the Holy Land Foundation trial, the group was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, and prosecutors presented evidence linking CAIR’s early leadership to Hamas-connected networks.

The organization’s national leadership drew further scrutiny in November 2023 when CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad publicly praised Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel, in which more than 1,200 people, nearly all civilians, were killed. The remarks prompted the former Biden regime to cut off formal engagement with CAIR. Despite intensifying criticism, CAIR honored Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil as its 2025 “Champion of Justice,” even as critics accused him of involvement in Hamas-aligned activity.

Political pressure on CAIR escalated in Texas on November 18, 2025, when Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) designated both CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal groups, barring them from purchasing land in the state. National Republicans have also targeted the organization: Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced legislation aimed at revoking the tax-exempt status of groups he says have ties to extremist movements, specifically naming CAIR, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has urged the IRS to investigate the group for potential violations related to alleged connections with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

CAIR’s growing influence in electoral politics has also drawn attention. Activist Linda Sarsour claimed that a CAIR-funded political committee, the Unity and Justice Fund PAC, was the largest institutional contributor to a super PAC supporting New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, asserting that more than 80 percent of its donors were Muslim Americans.

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