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The annual fundraising dinner for the Council on American Islamic Relations' (CAIR) national office has become a must-attend event for Washington DC area Muslims and Islamic activists. Attracting national speakers and leaders, politicians, and staff from the embassies of Muslim nations, the $65 per person event is sold out year after year.

This year, CAIR raised the bar, inviting arguably their most prominent speaker to date in civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Originally, Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies was listed as the keynote speaker. Mogahed is a resident of Northern Virginia and is a member of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, an advisory counsel appointed by President Obama.

Almost 800 people attended the October 24, 2009 CAIR dinner, themed “Leading the Change – 15 Years of Service”, held on a dreary and cold evening at the Marriott Crystal Gateway hotel in Arlington, Virginia.

Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation served as master of ceremonies and also received an award for “community mobilization”.

Also in attendance was former US Congressman Paul Findley, author of the 1985 ground-breaking best seller “They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby". For the last two decades, Findley has been an outspoken critic of a US foreign policy biased towards Israeli interests, and a proponent of Palestinian rights. Findley also supports Muslim-American efforts to dispel mis-information about Islam and Muslims.

“Are you proud to be Muslim,” Findley asked to roaring applause and yells of “yes!” He urged the audience to take the first step to present Islam to average Americans. “You should wear something that identifies you as a Muslim, maybe the star and crescent,” advised the 88-year old activist, who received CAIR's “Lifetime Service” award that evening.

Other recipients of CAIR's 2009 awards were Dr. Agha Saeed, head of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT), receiving the “Community Building” award, and Craig Phillips receiving the Rosa Parks Civil Rights Scholarship.

Many of the evening's speeches included references to the recent sensationalist press conference by four House Republicans — Paul Broun (R-GA), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Sue Myrick (R-NC) and John Shadegg (R-AZ) — who claimed Muslims were “infiltrating” Capitol Hill through placing Muslim interns in congressional offices. Increasing the number of Muslim interns on Captiol Hill is indeed a part of CAIR's agenda, but its an open program implemented by most advocacy organizations. Scores of mainstream newspaper and cable commentators ridiculed the press conference.

“Our children are not terrorists, they are America's brightest prospects,” Mahdi Bray said of the interns.

Dr. Esam Omeish, who vied for a place in the Virginia House of Delegates in last summer's elections, called on Muslims to embrace their citizenship, and said “being Muslim and American are one and the same” because they are “based on the same values.”

CAIR played the video of Rachel Maddow's MSNBC segment deriding the Muslim intern spy before Executive Director Nihad Award took the stage. Awad said the anti-CAIR campaign is rooted in Islamophobia, and told the audience most of the daily hate mail CAIR receives contain attacks on Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

“CAIR will prevail … because in God we trust,” said Awad.

CAIR National Board Chairman Larry Shaw introduced Revered Jesse Jackson.

“We must keep our eyes on the prize, and not get diverted by every attack,” advised Jackson after congratulating CAIR on their 15 years of activism. “We need to move Congress, not necessarily get their approval.” Relating his successful efforts to secure the release of imprisoned US citizens overseas, Jackson said a US “no talk policy” amounts “arrogance”.  The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition head also had the audience repeat certain phrases out loud in unison, like “we live in our faith” and “we live under the law”. He said if society worked like the Olympics, it would be easy to secure civil rights. With a level playing field and clear rules, the outcomes are accepted with fighting, Jackson said.

Imam Siraj Wahaj conducted the fundraising. Figures were unavailable as of this report.

Sponsoring the event were dozens of local and national organizations, businesses, families, and the embassies of Bahrain, Libya, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

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