In late July, I contacted Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman and director of communication at the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). When he returned my call, he presented his point of view about the Arab-Israeli conflict and militant Islam. When I reminded him about CAIR's record of openly supporting Hamas, Hizbullah, and other organizations deemed by the government to be terrorists, he replied by telling me that "CAIR does not support these groups publicly." But Hooper must have realized that he had said too much: he lost his composure and I suddenly found myself listening to a dial tone!

To make sure that I had not misunderstood him, I called him back. His response? ''Call me tomorrow morning.'' Then he hung up the phone again.

Instead of calling Mr. Hooper the next day, however, I sent him an e-mail and told him that his comment kept haunting me and that I believe I was owed an explanation. In my quest to comprehend CAIR's position regarding the Middle East peace process, I posed the following six questions, hoping for a clear response:[...]