The Biden administration has faced criticism after it was revealed that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization with a history of antisemitism, was included in its strategy to counter antisemitism. Nihad Awad, the director of CAIR, recently delivered a speech in which he described Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis as an act of “self-defense” and expressed happiness at seeing Gazans "walk free into their own land." These statements were denounced by a White House spokesman as "shocking antisemitic statements."

The inclusion of CAIR in the strategy raised eyebrows, and the White House quietly removed the reference to the organization from its website. However, this removal did not go unnoticed thanks to tools like the Wayback Machine, which allows users to view older versions of web pages. The question remains as to why the White House initially chose to partner with CAIR despite its long history of antisemitism and warnings from critics.

CAIR has consistently condemned Israel for real and imagined crimes against Palestinians while ignoring human rights abuses in other Muslim-majority countries. Awad's support for Hamas and his distorted view of Islam, which implicitly praises martyrdom, highlight CAIR's problematic stance. Zeinab Chaudary, appointed to Maryland's hate-crime task force, also faced controversy after she dismissed the deaths of Israeli infants as a figment of imagination.

This incident reflects a larger problem of American institutions failing to recognize and address antisemitism. The obsession with intersectionality and microaggressions has overshadowed the dangers of antisemitism, leading to a lack of condemnation and action. Even the presidents of prestigious universities like Harvard, Penn, and MIT struggled to acknowledge calls for the genocide of Jews as violations of university policy.

The inclusion of CAIR in the fight against antisemitism was likely an attempt by the Biden administration to create a united front against both antisemitism and Islamophobia. However, this move undermines the seriousness of antisemitism and fails to address the issue adequately. It is crucial for the Biden administration to unequivocally reject antisemitism and take concrete actions to combat it if they truly want to fight against this form of hatred.