Local media is reporting that the Florida chapter of the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, was expected to host a “summit” for Southern Florida Muslim leaders that will include the participation of County officials. According to the report:
For the first time, Muslim leaders from Broward, Palm Beach and other southern Florida counties will gather for a summit that will allow them to socialize, share safety concerns and find ways to make their voices heard in local civic life. Muslims from Miami, Homestead, Key West, Fort Myers and Naples are expected to be among those who attend. Twenty-eight Muslim leaders are expected for the brunch meeting today at Pembroke Lakes Country Club in Pembroke Pines. The leaders will fill out a survey that will answer questions about their mosques, their schools, their interfaith activities and voter registration drives. The meeting, organized by the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is intended to motivate Muslims to increase their participation in public life. “We are encouraging people to get more involved in their communities,” said Altaf Ali, CAIR’s executive director for Florida. “This is a good time for the leaders to express if they feel isolated.”…Roland Foulkes, chairman of the Broward County Commission’s Diversity Advisory Council, will be among the speakers exhorting the participants to raise their visibility. He said he will urge them to volunteer for county and city boards, create community newspapers, oppose racial profiling, apply for grants and run for office
There are reasons to distrust any surveys done by CAIR who in the past has been accused of playing fast and loose with other mosque surveys, manipulated hate crime statistics for its own political purposes, and wildly exaggerated the U.S. Muslim population.