Imam Omar Tawil of Phoenix, AZ Calls Jewish Babies Kidnapped by Hamas “Settler Prisoners” and Labels Hamas “The Resistance”, thereby granting legitimacy to a terrorist organization whose charter openly calls for the murder of Jews and the eradication of the State of Israel.
Who Is Omar Tawil?
Omar Tawil, an imam at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe and religious adviser connected to Arizona State University, has a documented working relationship with CAIR-Arizona and has published conspiratorial claims about Israel, including an August 2026 post asserting that Israel is effectively the headquarters of ISIS.
Imam Omar Tawil has spent years as a religious figure in Arizona’s Muslim community, serving at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe and advising Muslim students connected to Arizona State University.
A review of court records, institutional documents, CAIR-Arizona publications, Tawil’s sermons and his own social-media activity provides a detailed picture of his public activities and organizational relationships.
Omar Tawil’s Role as ASU Muslim Chaplain
Tawil serves as an imam at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe.
His mosque biography says he graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Religious Studies and describes him as a university chaplain for Muslim students at Arizona State University.
ASU records list Tawil through the university’s Council of Religious Advisors as the representative of the Islamic Community Center of Tempe.
ASU describes members of the council as representatives of faith-based organizations who provide religious guidance, counseling, prayer and support to students.
Tawil is also listed as an adviser to ASU’s Muslim Students Association.
His connection to ASU is therefore best understood as an affiliated religious adviser and Muslim student chaplain rather than a faculty position.
Tawil’s Documented Relationship With CAIR-Arizona
Tawil has a documented working relationship with the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR-Arizona’s own website states that the organization and Tawil jointly created a three-part video series responding to material taught by Scottsdale Community College professor Nicholas Damask.
CAIR-AZ described the project as a series that “CAIR-AZ and Imam Omar Tawil from the Islamic Community Center of Tempe created.”
The videos were published on CAIR-Arizona’s official YouTube channel between December 2020 and January 2021.
In one episode, CAIR-AZ describes Tawil as explaining the meaning of jihad.
In another, the organization says Tawil discusses hadiths used in Damask’s course and questions included in an associated quiz.
The video series carried CAIR-Arizona branding and presented Tawil as the religious authority addressing the Islamic material at the center of the dispute.
Tawil Signed a CAIR-Arizona Coalition Letter
Tawil was also a named signatory on a June 2020 CAIR-Arizona coalition letter concerning the controversy at Maricopa County Community College District.
His name appears near the beginning of the signatory list as:
“Imam Omar Tawil, Islamic Community Center Tempe.”
The letter called on the college district to address material CAIR-Arizona and other signatories regarded as anti-Muslim.
Tawil Appeared in CAIR Communications Around Federal Litigation
The dispute later became part of the federal case Sabra v. Maricopa County Community College District.
The Arizona Republic quoted Tawil in reporting about CAIR-Arizona’s legal challenge.
“Damask misquotes and misuses [quotes] in order to show a distorted message of Islam in his classroom which is on political science, not religion,” Tawil was quoted as saying in material the newspaper identified as a CAIR video press release.
Tawil also argued that requiring a Muslim student to denounce his faith for a grade would be unacceptable and said the same principle should apply to Christian students and members of other religions.
Taken together, the video series, coalition letter and litigation-related communications establish a substantive working relationship between Tawil and CAIR-Arizona during the Damask controversy.
The Federal Case Behind the Campaign
CAIR-Arizona and student Mohamed Sabra sued Nicholas Damask and the Maricopa County Community College District.
Federal court records show that CAIR-Arizona said it diverted organizational resources toward a campaign responding to Damask’s course.
The complaint stated that CAIR-AZ had “contracted with a religious scholar” to create materials for that campaign.
CAIR-Arizona later publicly stated that it and Tawil jointly created the corresponding video series.
The lawsuit was dismissed in August 2020.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal in August 2022, ruling that Damask was protected by qualified immunity.
Tawil himself was not a plaintiff or defendant in the litigation.
CAIR’s Holy Land Foundation History
CAIR has faced longstanding scrutiny because of evidence introduced during the federal prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation.
The Holy Land Foundation and five of its leaders were convicted in 2008 of providing material support to Hamas, which is designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
During the case, the federal government included CAIR among organizations named on an unindicted co-conspirator list.
Federal Judge Jorge Solis later wrote that the government had produced “ample evidence” establishing associations between CAIR, the Holy Land Foundation, the Islamic Association for Palestine and Hamas.
CAIR itself was not prosecuted in the Holy Land Foundation case.
The Fifth Circuit later described inclusion on the unindicted co-conspirator list as an “untested allegation of the Government” and stressed that the district court findings did not amount to a criminal-conspiracy ruling against the organizations named.
The FBI also suspended formal outreach activities with CAIR following evidence presented during the Holy Land Foundation trial.
In correspondence reproduced in the Congressional Record, the FBI said evidence demonstrated relationships between CAIR figures, the Palestine Committee and Hamas.
The FBI simultaneously stated that its decision was “not intended to reflect a wholesale judgment of the organization and its entire membership.”
Tawil’s 2025 Sermon on Imperial Power and Blackmail
In July 2025, Tawil delivered a sermon at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe that was later highlighted by MEMRI.
In the sermon, Tawil discussed colonialism, imperial power, political control and blackmail.
He referred to France’s colonial rule in Algeria, Italy’s role in Libya and foreign intervention across Muslim-majority countries.
Tawil recounted a theory told to him by his father that foreign powers compromise Arab rulers and use embarrassing material to keep political leaders under control.
He connected those ideas to his understanding of imperial political power.
The sermon also moved into contemporary technology and politics.
Tawil criticized billionaire Peter Thiel, surveillance technology and artificial intelligence and accused powerful figures of attempting to use religion to advance political ideas.
He discussed Jeffrey Epstein as part of a broader argument about wealthy and politically connected people using secrecy and blackmail.
The sermon reflects a conspiratorial worldview centered on imperial powers, political elites, billionaires, surveillance and hidden mechanisms of control.
Tawil Claims Israel Is ISIS’s “HQ”
One of Tawil’s clearest recent conspiracy claims appeared on his X account on August 16, 2026.
Responding to a post concerning ISIS threats involving Spain and Latin America, Tawil wrote:
“ISIS has never and will never operate against Israel because that’s their HQ.”
The statement directly advances the claim that Israel is effectively behind, or serves as the headquarters of, ISIS.
Tawil offered no evidence in the post to support the assertion.
The post is part of a broader pattern of strongly anti-Israel commentary and conspiracy theories visible on his account.
On August 13, 2026, he responded to footage involving a Palestinian detainee by writing that it appeared to come from “some dystopian movie” before referring sarcastically to Israel as the “only democratic” nation in the Middle East.
On August 11, he wrote that “Israel is making big moves in China” while accusing others.
His recent public feed regularly focuses on Israel, Palestine and Middle Eastern politics.
Tawil’s Position in Arizona’s Muslim Community
Tawil holds a visible religious role in Tempe.
He serves as imam of the Islamic Community Center of Tempe, advises Muslim students and participates in religious life connected to Arizona State University.
He has also participated in organized advocacy alongside CAIR-Arizona, including educational videos, coalition communications and public arguments surrounding the Damask controversy.
His own public record also shows a willingness to promote sweeping conspiracy claims about geopolitical events, including the allegation that Israel is effectively the headquarters of ISIS.
These documented relationships and statements provide a substantial record for understanding the political and religious messaging of one of Tempe’s prominent Muslim religious figures.
