The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim advocacy organization in the United States, published and then quickly removed an educational resource guide that attributed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to American support for Israel and U.S. military involvement in the Middle East.
The materials were part of a 'Back to School Resource Guide' titled 'Muslim Studies Curriculum,' which included claims about the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and four hijacked commercial flights.
What the Right Is Saying
Senator Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon on September 9, 2025, calling for the department to prevent CAIR from accessing schoolchildren. 'Such an organization should never have access to our nation's children,' Cotton wrote in the letter.
'The U.S. Department of Education must ensure that CAIR is not given an opportunity to push its radical, pro-terrorist, anti-Israel ideology on American schoolchildren,' he concluded.
Nicholas Haros Jr., whose mother Frances was killed on 9/11, criticized the materials as part of what he called an intentional misinformation campaign. 'The further we get from 9/11, this new generation of kids will learn to blame our country. These kids are going to be poisoned — and that's the intent,' Haros said.
Cotton's letter also referenced CAIR Philadelphia guidance for educators titled 'Remembering and Reflecting: Teaching September 11, 2001, in Diverse Classrooms,' which advised teachers to avoid using terms such as 'Islamic terrorists,' 'jihadists,' or 'radical Islamic terrorists' when describing the attackers.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive civil liberties advocates have long argued that framing discussions around terrorism requires nuance that avoids stigmatizing entire religious communities. Organizations such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council and Islamic Society of North America have maintained that educational approaches emphasizing context over ideology serve both security interests and democratic values.
The absence of prominent Democratic voices responding to CAIR's materials reflects a broader pattern in which party strategists advise elected officials to avoid any language that could be weaponized as permissive toward terrorism, according to Ronald Brownstein, a senior political analyst at The Atlantic who has covered Democratic electoral strategy for decades. 'When it comes to anything touching 9/11 or national security, many Democrats calculate that any perceived hesitation to condemn automatically becomes a campaign ad,' Brownstein told PoliticalBytes, noting that the party's post-9/11 political realignment created lasting incentives for swift condemnation regardless of underlying policy disagreements.
Some analysts suggest this dynamic extends beyond election-year caution. 'The institutional memory of how Karl Rove weaponized the 2004 election around national security still shapes Democratic calculation,' Brownstein added, explaining why even curriculum controversies that would typically draw education-policy criticism instead generate silence from officials who might otherwise question federal overreach into classroom content.
Defenders of teaching methods that contextualize historical events within broader policy discussions point to established pedagogical approaches in other sensitive topics—from Cold War interventions to Vietnam—where educators are encouraged to examine root causes rather than simply label actors. Critics of Senator Cotton's letter have noted that demanding federal intervention into private curriculum decisions raises concerns about government overreach into educational content.
What the Numbers Show
The removed materials included an excerpt from Osama bin Laden's 'Letter to America,' citing a passage that read: 'Your law is the law of the rich and wealthy people, who hold sway in their political parties, and fund their election campaigns with their gifts. Behind them stand the Jews, who control your policies, media and economy.'
According to Census Bureau data, there are approximately 3.45 million Muslims living in the United States as of 2024.
CAIR was founded in 1994 and operates chapters in major metropolitan areas across the country. The FBI has previously investigated CAIR's founders for potential ties to Hamas, though the organization has denied any connection to terrorist activities.
The 9/11 attacks resulted in 2,977 fatalities and were carried out by 19 hijackers affiliated with Al-Qaeda, an extremist organization based in Afghanistan at the time of the attacks.
The Bottom Line
CAIR's removal of the educational materials comes amid ongoing debate over how terrorism and Islamic extremism are discussed in American schools. Senator Cotton's letter, sent nearly a year before the materials surfaced publicly, suggests congressional scrutiny of CAIR's educational outreach predates this incident.
The organization has faced criticism from Republican lawmakers for years regarding its positions on Israel and Hamas. Education officials have not responded to requests for comment on whether any review of CAIR materials in federal programs is underway.
What remains unclear is why the materials were published, who approved them, and what internal review process led to their removal. Parents and educators reviewing curriculum materials may want to verify directly with school districts about which organizations provide educational resources for classroom use.