Bob Buckhorn is the new Mayor of Tampa Bay, Florida, replacing long time incumbent Pam Iorio. At his swearing-in ceremony, he made sure to include as participants leaders of all faiths. However, one of the invited – a local imam named Al-Inshirah Abdel-Jaleel – is currently involved in a terror-related institution and has exhibited extremism, himself.

On April 1, 2011, Bob Buckhorn was sworn-in and became the city of Tampa’s 58th Mayor. The ceremony, which at least one reporter described as “impressive,” took place at the Tampa Convention Center.

Religion played a prominent role at the event, as a number of participants included clergy from various faiths as well as a four dozen-plus member gospel choir. What is of concern, though, is that one of these clergymen was radical Muslim Al-Inshirah Abdel-Jaleel.

Abdel-Jaleel is a teacher of Islamic studies at the American Youth Academy (AYA), a children’s school founded by convicted terrorist Sami al-Arian, which originally went by the name Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF).

When al-Arian was taken into custody for his involvement with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), IAF was named in the indictment as being part of the global “PIJ Enterprise” and a front for terrorist fundraising. After concerned lawmakers dropped the academy from Florida’s private school voucher program, IAF reincorporated under an innocent-sounding new name, American Youth Academy, using a street address directly adjacent to IAF.

One of the present directors of AYA, Ayman Barakat, was previously a director of IAF. As well, he is currently a director of the mosque al-Arian founded, the Islamic Community of Tampa (ICT), which is located on the same block as AYA. While it was incorporated as the Islamic Community of Tampa, the center also uses the name Masjid al-Qassam, the same name as Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s main mosque in the Gaza Strip.

A former director for AYA, Ibrahim Khader, co-founded with al-Arian a Tampa-area subsidiary of al-Baraka, a Saudi banking and investment corporation with reported ties to al-Qaeda financing. Former federal prosecutor John Loftus has alleged that funds from the local group might have reached the 9/11 hijackers. Khader and al-Arian dissolved the group less than three weeks after 9/11.

Last month, Bassem Alhalabi, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and leader of a radical Boca Raton mosque, pled guilty to two separate attacks taking place in Tallahassee, Florida in March 2010. This was not the first time Alhalabi had been on the other side of the law. Yet, according to the FAU website, he is still in good standing at the school. Will the taxpayers of Florida stand by, while this publicly funded institution continues to harbor and provide legitimacy to a violent, terror-related criminal?

On March 11, 2010, after exiting the office of then-Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, while in the lobby of the State Capitol Building, this author was physically attacked by Bassem Abdo Alhalabi, an individual I had written about a number of times in the past.

I was in Tallahassee to give a government briefing on the terrorism ties of Ahmed Bedier, the former Executive Director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa), who was bringing his new group, United Voices for America (UVA), to town to lobby the State Legislature. Despite its patriotic sounding name, UVA is nothing more than a political advocacy division of CAIR-Florida.

It was this author’s job, as well as others’, to convince the legislators not to meet with Bedier and/or any members of his group. For the most part, we were successful. Indeed, I was told by the Attorney General’s Chief of Staff Bill Stewart that information I had personally provided their office, previous to arriving in Tallahassee, had stopped AG McCollum from meeting with Bedier.

Alhalabi came to Tallahassee as a UVA Delegate. That is an important detail. So when he had attacked me – and one hour later, the cameraman I was with – he did so as a representative of the UVA. While one of his hands was grasped firmly around my arm, his other hand was clutching the blue UVA packet he received for his group’s event.

Following the filing of two separate police reports, Alhalabi was charged with one count of battery on me and one count of assault on the cameraman. A warrant was issued for Alhalabi’s arrest on March 19th; he was taken into custody on March 22nd; and he was released from prison, after posting bond, on March 23rd.

The trial was set to begin on January 31, 2011. However, days prior to trial, Alhalabi admitted guilt in a plea agreement to avoid a potentially tougher sentence. He pled guilty to both charges of battery and assault. By doing so, he was ordered to perform community service and to complete an anger management course.

This was not the first time Alhalabi had gotten himself in trouble with the law. In June 2003, the U.S. Department of Commerce found Alhalabi guilty of illegally shipping a $13,000 military-grade thermal imaging device to Syria, a state sponsor of terrorism.

As stated in the government’s ruling, “The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that, on March 12, 1998, Alhalabi caused the export of a thermal imaging camera to Syria in violation of the [Export Administration Regulations] EAR. Thermal imaging cameras are controlled for export to Syria for national security, regional stability, and anti-terrorism reasons.”

The Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak is about to fall, and the leaders of the nation’s most vocal Islamist group, CAIR, couldn’t be happier. Is this sudden euphoria all about the bringing of “freedom” and “democracy” to the region, as they say it is, or is their happiness built out of something sinister? Given the radical background of these individuals, and given the background of the group itself, it is this author’s opinion that the reason is the latter.

On top of the homepage of the national website of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the following headline is read: “CAIR Asks Americans to Support Freedom in Egypt, Muslim World.” The statement is an entirely innocuous one. However, it comes from a group that has known ties to terrorist organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, a group which stands to gain substantially from the unrest in Egypt.

CAIR was founded in June 1994 by three leaders from the then-American propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). Upon CAIR’s establishment, the group immediately fell under the umbrella of Mousa Abu Marzook’s American Palestine Committee, of which the IAP was already a member. Marzook, at the time, was based in the United States as the global head of Hamas and a main cog of the Palestinian faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Hamas sprang in 1987.

The hierarchy of CAIR has changed little from its IAP days. The original Executive Director, Nihad Awad, is still the Executive Director, and the original Communications Director, Ibrahim Hooper, is still the Communications Director. Considering this, one can surmise that the Islamist ideology of the group has remained intact as well, and no evidence has been provided to show that this is not the case.

This ideology is contained not only in the national organization, but also in its local chapters, where an innumerable amount of extremist statements and terror-related associations have been made and have been cultivated. So when leaders of these chapters discuss the riots in Egypt, as CAIR National has, in terms of “freedom” and “democracy,” we would be negligent if we did not question the sincerity of the statements and their true motives.

Ahmed Rehab is the Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, one of CAIR’s main local offices. According to him, for the next month he will be residing in the city which houses the global headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) – the place where CAIR gets its name from – Cairo.

While in Cairo, Rehab, who is originally from Egypt, has taken part in a number of demonstrations against the Mubarak government and has been blogging about his pseudo-peaceful experiences.

He wrote that he had joined the front lines of the protestors, during “Rage Friday,” and in at least one instance had, along with others, “broken through the police security line” and “pushed into the main square.” In another instance, he said that he and his friends “had to shake down a large iron fence to allow people to run for cover.” He saw armored vehicles that had been “torched,” and within one protest day which lasted eight hours, he “suffered two dozen tear gas fits.”

He said that his and others’ actions are “about reforming Egypt’s system of government.” He continued, “This is about the separation and independence of parliament and the judiciary from the executive branch and each other. This is about making the law supreme above and beyond whoever happens to command special powers or special interests.

“This is about ending corruption, incompetence, apathy, political monopoly and suppression of freedoms. This is about reclaiming the dignity of the Egyptian citizens. This is about transforming Egypt into a society that embraces political transparency and accountability, fair competition, merit, and opportunity.”

Rehab’s flowery language rings with the best of intentions. After reading his words, one could be left thinking that this individual dreams of an American-style liberty reaching Egypt’s shores. That is, unless he/she is aware of Rehab’s Islamist background, well past his association with the Hamas-related CAIR.

Last month, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) advertised on its website an event it was having calling on its followers to refuse to speak with the FBI. This action – a blatant attempt to hinder federal government investigative efforts – warrants a closer look into who’s running the chapter and their motives for committing such an offense, including their support for and involvement with terrorists.

On January 17, 2011, CAIR Spokesman and Legislative Director Corey Saylor appeared as a guest on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor to discuss how one of CAIR’s local chapters had placed on its website a graphic calling on its followers to refuse to talk with the FBI, an idea that CAIR has been promoting for at least the last three years (See ‘CAIR’s Anti-Law Jihad’).

The ad featured a shadowy figure, labeled “F.B.I.,” walking down the street, whilst doors of homes are slamming shut. The headlines on it read, “BUILD A WALL OF RESISTANCE” and “DON’T TALK TO THE F.B.I.” It was hastily pulled from CAIR-SFBA’s site, following a public uproar.

The ad was for an event to be taking place on February 9th, entitled ‘FBI Raids and Grand Jury Subpoenas: Know Your Rights and Defend Our Communities.’ Reportedly, the keynote speaker for the event will be Hatem Abudayyeh, a Chicago-based activist, who has been linked to a number of Palestinian terrorist organizations and whose residence was raided by federal agents last September.

Towards the end of the Fox News segment, the host of the show, Bill O’Reilly, asked Saylor if he could shut down CAIR’s San Francisco operation and suggested that this action does damage to the entire CAIR organization. O’Reilly stated that there are some “branches of CAIR” that are “more militant than others.”

In Saylor’s answer, he quickly caught himself, after he appeared to mention a female associated with the anti-FBI offense. He stated, “Y’know, it was already done, Bill. It was a minor mistake on her part – on the part of the chapter.”

Question: Was the mention of a “her” simply an error in speech or was there something more to it?

CAIR-SFBA is run by a her, a young Muslima who goes by the name Zahra Billoo. Billoo is the Executive Director of the group and epitomizes its radical agenda.

Both within and outside her capacity as CAIR representative, Billoo has accumulated a tremendous list of extremist statements and activities, as has been well documented on CAIR Watch. They include:

• January 2009 – Billoo wrote on her personal blog, Cwzy Muslima, that “one amazing reason to get married” is to “raise fighters” (children) to attack the nation of Israel.
• December 2008 – Billoo posted on her blog that she considered starting a website to recruit volunteers to attack Israel.
• October 2008 – Billoo posted an article on her blog stating that to celebrate Columbus Day was “the same as having Jews celebrate Hitler and the Holocaust.”
• March 2008 – Billoo refered to the United States troops as “scum.”
• June 2007 – Billoo proudly announced on her blog that her younger brother Ahmed was quoted in an article in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal – an article that discusses in length about how her brother supports suicide bombings.
• March 2007 – Billoo attended a fundraiser for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader, Sami al-Arian, and accused the United States government of “persecuting” him.
• February 2007 – Billoo instructed her blog readers to listen to speeches given at a conference, at least one of which contained praise for Hamas.
• January 2007 – Billoo wrote that she had thoughts of committing suicide, after she had viewed a pro-Israel advertisement on a San Francisco train.

As well, in March 2007, Billoo and a couple of other CAIR operatives launched a blog, entitled Muslamics. Within the links section of the blog was placed a link to the official website of al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki has been associated with a number of terrorists, including Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hassan, underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad.

Last month, at a gala held in Washington, D.C., U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated her wishes for the creation of a Palestinian state. While her feelings on the matter are no longer a subject of controversy, the group that she was speaking in front of, the American Task Force on Palestine – a group with past and present ties to the terrorist PLO – is.

The information about the gala’s sponsor was ignored by the government officials paying homage to it. Will we continue to ignore these officials’ pro-terror activities?

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a terrorist organization. That is according to the U.S. government, which states in its Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, signed into law by then-President Ronald Reagan, “[T]he Congress determines that the PLO and its affiliates are a terrorist organization and a threat to the interests of the United States, its allies, and to international law and should not benefit from operating in the United States.”

This bill is still law, although future Presidents have sought to circumvent it by signing six-month waivers of the bill, thus allowing for the operation of a PLO office within the United States. From President Bill Clinton to President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama, the privilege (or lack thereof) of signing this waiver (“Presidential Determination”) has been passed on and acted upon like clockwork. That, however, has recently changed.

April 7, 2010 was the last time that a U.S. President signed the waiver. On October 7th, when the waiver was set to expire, the new signatory did not bear the Presidential seal. The duty was handed over by President Obama to the State Department. The waiver was signed by Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg.

Interestingly, while the April 7th waiver has a large presence on the internet – mostly on government web pages devoted to it – until this author found a government official willing to retrieve it, the October 7th document was nowhere to be seen on the web and was virtually hidden from the public domain.

According to the official, the waiver’s non-public release was simply an oversight by the State Department. But regardless of the reason for the “mistake,” the change of signatures must be looked into, especially given the fact that it was Hillary herself who participated in a PLO-associated event only less than two weeks later.

On October 20, 2010, in Washington, D.C. where the group is headquartered, the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) held its 5th Annual Gala, entitled ‘Building Palestine – the Indispensable State for Peace.’

The event was attended by a number of dignitaries, including: former Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States Turki al-Faisal; former White House Chief of Staff and former Governor of New Hampshire John Sununu; and current member of U.S. Congress Darrell Issa.

The latter two were listed with various other current and former government officials as being part of the gala’s Honorary Host Committee, which included names like former U.S. Secretary of State and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright; U.S. Senators John Kerry and Carl Levin; and U.S. Representatives Keith Ellison, Howard Berman, Gary Ackerman, Nita Lowey, Bill Delahunt and Dennis Kucinich.

The keynote speaker for the event was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

During her speech, Secretary Clinton discussed her past call for a Palestinian state. She said, “[A]s First Lady, I may have been the first person ever associated with an American administration to call for a Palestinian state and the two-state solution. This goal is now the official policy of the United States.”

Indeed, in May 1998, speaking at a forum of Arab and Israeli youth, then-First Lady Clinton stated, “’Well, I think that it will be in the long-term interest of the Middle East for Palestine to be a state, to be a state that is responsible for its citizens’ well-being, a state that has responsibility for providing education and health care and economic opportunity to its citizens.”

And while, at the time, this was considered a significant controversy, it is also true that today this is the official policy of the U.S. government.

For the past month-and-a-half, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM) has been sponsoring a program attempting to whitewash the effect that Sharia law, if implemented, would have on American society. Teaching the courses was Zulfiqar Ali Shah, an individual tied to various radical Muslim groups, including a Hamas charity. Does the ISM really believe that a known extremist can put a good face on Sharia, and what does this say about those who advocate for Sharia?

Sharia or Islamic law is the legal code which determines how Muslims lead their lives – for many, every aspect of their lives. Like any judicial code, it is subject to interpretation. It could deal with simple matters, such as how one makes monetary investments, or it could be used towards the most horrific practices of barbarity, as seen in numerous areas throughout the Muslim world.

Zulfiqar Ali Shah is the Religious Director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM), located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born in Pakistan, he obtained his Masters degree in Sharia law from Islamic University in Islamabad. He is what is known as a “Sharia scholar.” In fact, he is the former President of the now-defunct Sharia Scholars Association of North America (SSANA).

As such, one would think that Shah would be the perfect person to discuss the benefits – if there are any – that Sharia law can bring to Americans.

From October through November, 2010, that was Shah’s goal, in a six-week course that he led held at the Men’s Masjid of ISM, entitled ‘Is Islamic Shari’ah a Threat to America?’ However, when one looks at Shah’s background, one might not only view Sharia law as a threat, but they may view Shah as a threat, as well.

Prior to his employment at ISM, Shah was involved with a variety of Muslim extremist groups. One of them was the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the American arm of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan.

Shortly before till shortly after the September 11th attacks, ICNA was using the web to urge its followers to give “material support” to groups connected to al-Qaeda. Attached to this call for material support was a link to the main website that was raising funds and recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Qoqaz.net, a.k.a. Jihad in Chechnya. Also, on this same web page were links to the official websites of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban.

Shah was the National President (Ameer) of ICNA, while this was going on.

This past September, Ashrafuzzaman Khan, an accused former leader of a South Asian death squad, joined a controversial group of American Muslim community leaders to speak out against what has been said to be the hatred of those who practice the religion of Islam. Was this very public showing indeed a sign of strength in opposition to a form of bigotry, or could it have been meant as a brazen message targeted at those who are convinced that Khan should receive justice for past unthinkable acts?

In 1971, as many as three million citizens of Bangladesh were systematically slaughtered at the hands of the Pakistani army in collaboration with Islamist groups linked to the international Muslim Brotherhood. The perpetrators included the paramilitary wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), al-Badr.

At the time, al-Badr was led by Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, the present Secretary General of JI Bangladesh. Mojahid, along with a number of other JI officials, was arrested this past June and is in prison facing charges stemming from his role in the 1971 massacres. According to the International Crimes Tribunal, the legal body that is handling the case, there is evidence which proves that Mojahid and his colleagues are guilty of “genocide and crimes against humanity.”

However, there are those beyond the arrestees that have been implicated in the same crimes. One of them currently resides in Queens, New York. His name: Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Khan, a.k.a. Ashrafuz Zaman Khan, a.k.a. Ashraf-uz-Zaman Khan.

Khan is the President of the North American Imams Federation (NAIF), a group based in Arizona whose membership consists of the most radical Muslim religious leaders located throughout the United States. The alumni of the group include: Wagdi Ghoneim, a former representative of a Hamas charity who was arrested and deported from the U.S. in November 2004, and Mazen Mokhtar, an al-Qaeda web designer who has made clear statements in support of suicide bombings and Hamas.

Recently, Khan came out of his private dwellings to share the stage with some fellow Islamist leaders in speaking out against, of all things, “Islamophobia,” a term usually used by radical Muslims to squelch the speech of those who speak out against radical Muslims. They did so at the location of the newly planned Ground Zero Mosque, as the structure has encountered much opposition from the community as well as from segments of the media and government.

These leaders included: Nihad Awad, the National Executive Director of the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); Siraj Wahhaj, the National President of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) and a U.S. government named “unindicted co-conspirator” of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; and Muzammil Siddiqi, the Chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and an individual who has, in the past, advocated the “killing, enslavement [and] ransoming” of non-Muslim males.

As well as: Mohamad Magid, the National President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a group co-founded by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist Sami al-Arian; Ahmed Elbendary and Mahdi Bray, the two national heads of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a group that has used the internet to spread violence against non-Muslims; and Zahid Bukhari, the National President of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a group connected to the financing of Hamas; amongst others.

One would have to question the reason why Khan would wish to place himself in the spotlight alongside this seedy collection of reprobates, while discussions grow louder about his alleged disreputable history.

During the massacres of 1971, Khan was stationed in Bangladesh as a commander of al-Badr.

A plethora of terror-related individuals surrounds the profile of Pastor Rick Warren on the “Speakers Corner” of the official website of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). He is fully aware of how he is being portrayed on the site (as this author has had correspondence with his office regarding the matter) but refuses to demand its deletion and offers no apology for its existence. Pastor Warren has become a shill for Islamic terror.

“As-salamu Alaykum. I come to you today deeply humbled and honored by this invitation. I truly mean that. I applaud your courage for inviting an Evangelical pastor. Thank you.” This was the opening statement of Rick Warren, the leading pastor of the influential Southern California Saddleback Church, as he stood in front of the attendees of ISNA’s 46th Annual Convention in July 2009.

He spoke these words as he stood at the podium emblazoned with ISNA’s logo, an image that, for many, is a symbol of terror and stealth jihad.

ISNA is an American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. It was founded in 1981 by a group of individuals which included the North American leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Sami al-Arian.

In 2007 and 2008, ISNA was named by the United States Justice Department as a willing participant in the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas.

All of this and much more had been made public prior to Pastor Warren’s invitation to speak at ISNA’s convention, but all of it was ignored.

At the convention, Warren’s fellow speakers included: Siraj Wahhaj, an “unindicted co-conspirator” of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; Zulfiqar Ali Shah, the former South Asia Director of KindHearts, a Hamas fundraising group that was shut down by the FBI in February 2006; and Naeem Muhammad, a U.S. staff member of Islamic Relief, a “charity” that the Israeli government has claimed is a front for Hamas.

Did Warren vet the other speakers at the event? If he did, like with ISNA’s terror-related past, the concerns were willfully ignored.

And today, he continues to ignore the problems with ISNA, as a photo of him along with his biography are featured prominently on ISNA’s official website, within what the group calls its “Speakers Corner.”

That makes Mr. Warren a current assigned speaker for ISNA, a designation that he seems to have absolutely no problem with.

In an e-mail addressed to this author, dated February 1, 2010, Warren’s Chief of Staff at Saddleback, David Chrzan, had the following to say regarding Warren’s status on ISNA’s site: “The website you reference lists Pastor Warren as one of the speakers at the 2009 ISNA Conference held in Washington DC this past July. Pastor Warren’s bio on the site does not represent an endorsement of ISNA or its activities, but rather as one of the speakers who was invited to address the conference.”

It has now been well over a year since ISNA had its 2009 annual convention. Indeed, ISNA concluded its 2010 convention this past July 5th. So if Warren’s portrait was just about the 2009 event, why is it still there?

Of course, having one’s picture on the ISNA site is more than just the remnant of a one-off speaking engagement. It’s an acknowledgement from those whose photos are displayed that ISNA is somehow a legitimate institution that should be supported.

J Street, the controversial brainchild of George Soros and friends, calls itself “pro-Israel,” but those whom it attracts to its functions paint an entirely different picture for the group. Case in point: Last week, during J Street’s “kickoff event” in South Florida, the former leader of a Hamas-related charity, Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout, showed up to attend the function and was welcomed by applause.

J Street was established in April 2008 by former senior domestic policy advisor to President Bill Clinton, Jeremy Ben-Ami, with the backing of left wing financier George Soros and other liberal interests. The group bills itself as an alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other Israel lobby organizations it (J Street) considers to be too aligned with the political right.

On Sunday, August 25th, Young Zionists (YZ), an organization this author is a spokesman for, held a demonstration in Sunrise, Florida against J Street, outside the Soref Jewish Community Center (JCC), where the group was holding its inaugural event.

The YZ demonstration, which focused on J Street’s anti-Israel activities, featured speeches made by this author and Dennis Brown, the former South Florida District President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). Signs read: “J Street – the Road to Israel’s Destruction,” “Jihad Street,” and “Terrorists Walk on J Street.”

As the demonstration was winding to a close, a dark minivan drove up and snapped a photo of the protest-goers. As the vehicle was driving away, this author thought he recognized the logo that was fastened to the outside of the driver’s door, so we took a small party to investigate the matter.

The minivan was located, and this author was correct. The logo on it was that of American Muslims for Emergency Relief (AMER), a North Miami Beach Islamist charity run by the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA).

AMANA was incorporated in September 1999. For years, the group has propagated, via its website and events, material attacking various entities, including Jews, Christians and homosexuals. A little over one month ago, an anti-Semitic video of white supremacist leader David Duke was placed atop the homepage of the AMANA site.

As well, AMANA has put a number of terror-related links on its site. These include links to Jihad in Chechnya (Qoqaz.net), one of the main websites that was raising funds and recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and the al-Haramain Foundation (AHF), an Islamic charity that has been banned worldwide by the United Nations for, as well, being a financing arm to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Today, on AMANA’s homepage, one can find a graphic link to Islam Online (IOL), a website that is run by the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an individual banned from entering the U.S. According to fatwas (religious rulings) currently located on IOL, it is “obligatory” for Muslims to attack American troops overseas, suicide bombing is not really suicide, and throwing homosexuals off of tall buildings is proper punishment for homosexuals.

Additionally, the former Executive Director of the South Florida chapter of the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Miami) and organizer of violent, anti-Semitic Palestinian rallies, Muhammed Malik, is a volunteer coordinator for AMANA’s “charity” AMER..

In May 2001, Adnan el-Shukrijumah, a high level al-Qaeda operative, left his residence of South Florida, where he had lived since 1995, and fled the United States. There is a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. Does his family have the information that authorities are looking for? A new development may suggest that they do.

Following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government worked to track down potential future terrorist threats to the nation. One identity which kept popping up was that of Adnan el-Shukrijumah or, as he was better known within the al-Qaeda movement, Jaffar al-Tayyar. Intel reports branded him as the heir apparent of 9/11 hijack leader Mohammed Atta, handpicked by the 9/11 mastermind himself, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

In March 2003, when reports were made public regarding el-Shukrijumah’s ties to al-Qaeda, all eyes became focused on his family. Both the government and the media descended on Adnan’s home in Miramar, Florida. At the time, a number of statements of interest were made by el-Shukrijumah’s father, Gulshair, concerning Adnan’s whereabouts.

Gulshair told the Miami Herald, “He graduated in 2001 [from Broward Community College (BCC)] and left for Arabia… The last time we saw him was in May 2001.”

According to Malcolm O’Brien of the Immigration Division of Trinidad and Tobago, in May 2001, Adnan had used a Guyana passport issued in the U.S. to enter Trinidad. Reports state that he entered Trinidad either by way of Guyana or by way of Panama.

Gulshair said that Adnan went to Trinidad to sell Islamic-oriented garments and books, as part of an import/export business that would eventually lead him to Saudi Arabia, where he and three of his siblings were born. Gulshair told the St. Petersburg Times, “He doesn’t tell us where he is but he normally goes between Florida and the Kingdom of (Saudi) Arabia.” Reports state that he did indeed find his way to the Middle East.

About the father’s statement that Adnan graduated in 2001, BCC spokeswoman Jillian Krueger Printz, has said that Adnan departed the school in 1999 and didn’t stay long enough to finish his degree.

Gulshair told the Herald, “He calls sometimes and sends letters, but not regularly… The last time we heard from him was about five months ago [December 2002]. He was in Morocco teaching English.” He said that Adnan had a wife and child in Morocco. He told the New York Times that Adnan is “not in contact” with the family.

Whether or not Adnan’s father was practicing obfuscation with at least part of his statements cannot be known, but to be sure, his mother, Zurah Abdu Ahmed, left nothing to imagination with hers. She stated to the Herald, “When he did call I told him the FBI was looking for him. He wanted to come home, but I told him to stay away… I tell him we don’t want to know where he is. We tell him to stay put.”

Of course, none of these statements mean that the family actually knew or know where Shukrijumah is located. It could very well be that Adnan took his mother’s advice and did not and will not tell them. That said, a recent change in Adnan’s sister Aidah’s website may be reason enough to reassess the situation.

Aidah el-Shukrijumah is a citizen of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was 17-years-old, when Adnan went missing. When she was 13, a police report was filed stating that Adnan had left her with a bite mark on her arm and had hit his other sister in the face. To excuse this, Adnan’s mother asserted that Adnan was acting as the “disciplinarian” of the household.

In March 2007, this author wrote a piece for FrontPage Magazine (‘Brother of Terror’), within which he discussed photographs that were found on Aidah’s MySpace web page. They consisted of various pictures of the family, including pictures with Adnan.

Since the Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR was founded in June 1994, while a handful of representatives from the group have been forthright in vocalizing their support for global terrorist organizations, the majority of the group’s hierarchy has worked hard to mask this support. One such CAIR operative, Affad Shaikh, has made and continues to make this duplicitous façade a large part of his life, blurring the lines of terror support by spouting anti-Western rhetoric and propagating terror-related fanatics.

Affad Shaikh is the Civil Rights Manager of CAIR-Los Angeles, the main chapter of CAIR-California. He has held this position since April 2006. Prior to that, he worked out of CAIR’s San Diego office.

During his time with CAIR, Shaikh has had his share of extremist activity. In September 2007, Shaikh mimicked lingo used by al-Qaeda, when he referred to American troops stationed in Iraq as “Crusaders.” And in July 2008, Shaikh was stopped at the U.S./Mexico border by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, who accused him of plotting with others to assassinate then-President George W. Bush.

These things have not done harm to his standing within CAIR. To the contrary, given their nature, they most probably have enhanced his status with the organization. However, as radical as he is, he knows his limits, and these limits are reflected on the weblogs he is involved with.

On the top of Shaikh’s personal blog, This American Muslim, is found a cartoon boy holding two flags – one the Palestinian flag, the other the red Turkish flag – with what appears to be a rifle strap draped over his back. The boy, Handala, first appeared in a publication in 1969 and was created as a symbol of anti-Israel violence and, according to the artist, was a “rejection” of “the American way.”

Of course, placing the cartoon on his site was Shaikh’s way of defending the flotilla of six ships headed for Gaza from Turkey, last month, which Israeli troops boarded prior to being attacked by the ships’ passengers.

Reinforcing this point, on Shaikh’s Facebook page, on U.S. Memorial Day – which happened to land on the same day as the flotilla incident – he stated that, instead of celebrating the day as an American, he would rather be “an honorary Turk.” He then immediately posted a video on his Facebook page featuring the co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Huwaida Arraf, whom he referred to as “the organizer” of the flotilla.

Did it matter to Shaikh that the group that bankrolled the flotilla, Insani Yardem Vakfi (IHH), is said to have ties to Hamas and al-Qaeda? Apparently not. However, this is understandable given the fact that Shaikh’s organization, CAIR, was established as part of Hamas, and so if IHH was connected to Hamas and was out to provide assistance to Hamas in Gaza, Shaikh can just be seen as protecting his group’s roots and interests.

And that’s the only way he could have been seen, when he made a comment on his site, earlier this month, regarding the World Cup soccer tournament, where, much like he did on Memorial Day, he spat on his nationality and stated his allegiance to his Palestinian brethren over that of his own country, the United States. He said, “Who are you cheering for? Italy? The United States of Americaaaaaaaa… ah, no, actually I am cheering for Palestine.”

If Ahmed Bedier’s United Voices for America (UVA) was a peaceful organization, with the series of events which occurred earlier this month, you wouldn’t have known it. On the day termed by the group “Muslim Capitol Day,” one of UVA’s members, Bassem Alhalabi, attacked two individuals, this author included. A warrant was issued in his name, culminating in his arrest. This, among other things, leaves into question the true intentions of the UVA.

United Voices for America – United Voices for short – was the brainchild of the former Executive Director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa), Ahmed Bedier. According to Bedier, UVA was created to lobby Florida’s legislature on such issues as education reform, health care reform, and stimulation of the economy. Given Bedier’s long history of extremist activity, though, one would need to be skeptical about such motives.

Bedier began working for CAIR in February 2003, the same month that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader Sami al-Arian was arrested by the FBI. This was no mere coincidence. Bedier was just coming off a stint as Outreach Director of a radical mosque, the Islamic Society of Pinellas County (ISPC), and CAIR needed someone in the Tampa Bay area to defend al-Arian, one of the founders of CAIR’s parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). Bedier fit the bill.

As “unofficial spokesman” for al-Arian, Bedier held press conferences for al-Arian; he spoke at rallies for al-Arian; he organized the showing of a puff film belittling the government’s case against al-Arian; he defended al-Arian in the media; and he allowed the radio show he co-hosts, True Talk, to be used as a forum for al-Arian’s Islamic Jihad colleagues to speak and spew their hatred for Israel and the United States.

Besides shilling for al-Arian’s cohorts, Bedier has also used his radio show to promote Hezbollah. In July 2006, during Israel’s war in Lebanon, all three of Bedier’s radio show guests lauded Hezbollah, describing the terrorist group with such terms as “heroic.”

In May 2008, one year after the U.S. Justice Department named Bedier’s group, CAIR, a co-conspirator in the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas, he announced on his radio show that he was leaving CAIR and starting a new group. That group was UVA.

On Thursday, March 11, 2010, Bedier took his “lobby” group to Tallahassee for its 2nd Annual Florida Muslim Capitol Day. But while the group claimed that it was in town to discuss issues of importance to all Floridians, the event was overshadowed by two assaults that were perpetrated by one of UVA’s members, the first of which was an attack on this author.

I flew up to Tallahassee to join a group of concerned leaders, who were speaking out about Bedier and UVA. Over the years, I had written extensively about Bedier and his terrorist ties, so it was important for me to attend. While I was there, I had the pleasure of giving a PowerPoint presentation about Bedier at a government briefing held in the city’s IMAX Theater.

Following a meeting with a government official, our group found itself in the Rotunda (lobby) of the Capitol Building. While there, I thought I had recognized someone I had written about in the past, Bassem Abdo Alhalabi.

Alhalabi is an Associate Professor at the Computer Science and Engineering Department of Florida Atlantic University (FAU). He arrived at FAU in August 1996.

Prior to that, he had been an assistant to Sami al-Arian at the University of South Florida (USF), at a time when al-Arian was creating a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist network within the Tampa suburb of Temple Terrace. Alhalabi co-authored materials with al-Arian and used al-Arian as a reference, when he later applied for a position at FAU.

Apart from being a university professor, Alhalabi is also a director and co-founder of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR), a radical mosque that has ties to several terrorist-related individuals.

One of the co-founders of the mosque, Syed Khawer Ahmad, at the time an FAU student, was the creator of and webmaster for the official website of the Islamic Association, a.k.a. Islamic Society, the social services apparatus of Hamas in Gaza. The former imam of the mosque, Ibrahim Dremali, was placed on the federal no-fly list. And a member of the mosque, Rafiq Sabir, was convicted in May 2007 of providing material support to al-Qaeda.

The man who appeared to be Alhalabi was speaking to another individual, and so I got closer to take a picture with my camera. Evidentially, I was correct about his identity, as Alhalabi recognized me as well, and he soon made his way over to me.

Alhalabi put his finger in my face and asked me if I knew who he was. “Do you know who I am?” When I answered in the affirmative, he forcefully grabbed my arm, stated “I need to talk to you,” and began pulling me towards the hallway of the Rotunda. I said to him “Let go of me,” but he refused. Alhalabi just kept asking me loudly, “Why do you keep writing about me?”

I began shouting for Mark Campbell, the cameraman who I was with just minutes before all of this took place. I wanted him to get evidence of the assault on film. Mark came, but Alhalabi released me before Mark could get the camera rolling. Thankfully, another individual got a photo of Alhalabi grabbing my arm.

When it looked like things were getting too heated and Alhalabi could do something beyond the aggression he had already exhibited, his UVA colleague jumped in and ushered Alhalabi away.

I filed a police report and stated my wishes to press charges. Accompanying me were the witness with the photograph and the cameraman.

One of the officers, who had questioned Alhalabi, said that Alhalabi stated he had not touched anyone. It was a lie, as the photo (and potential Rotunda surveillance footage) proved, and later he would be charged by the Capitol police with battery.

Campbell left to get ready to attend UVA’s next event.

When we arrived in Tallahassee, our group had been told that we were allowed to be present at UVA’s events and we were, as well, allowed to videotape them. We were even told we could ask questions, as long as we acted in a respectful manner and did not make any attempt to disrupt anything.

I balked at going, as I felt I had already had enough excitement for one day.

It was about an hour following the attack on me, and Campbell was inside UVA’s event. With the camera running, he caught Alhalabi walking by. Alhalabi spotted him out of the corner of his eye and did a ‘double take,’ realizing that Campbell had been the individual accompanying me earlier.

Alhalabi then quickly moved to the side of Campbell and put a blue UVA folder filled with papers in front of the camera lens to stop Campbell from taping. A few moments later, Alhalabi violently lunged for and grabbed Campbell’s camera, jerking it, whilst startling a young Muslima standing next to him. The police seized Alhalabi, just as he appeared to be motioning to hit Campbell with his folder.

The entire scene was caught on tape.

Campbell, as I had done earlier, filed a police report and stated his intention to press charges. And once again, the police charged Alhalabi with battery – his second charge in one day – in one hour.

On Friday, March 19th, a warrant was issued in Alhalabi’s name for his attack on me. The charge concerning the attack on Campbell is still pending.

According to an official from the Leon County State Attorney’s office, Alhalabi was given the choice of either turning himself in or being subject to arrest. Alhalabi chose the latter, and was apprehended in Boca Raton on Monday, March 22nd, by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office. He spent the day behind bars and was released on March 23rd, at 2:15 in the morning, after paying the bond that was set at $500.

This was not the first time Alhalabi found himself on the other side of the law. In June 2003, he was found guilty of illegally shipping a $13,000 military-grade thermal imaging device to Syria, a state sponsor of terrorism.

Alhalabi’s violent actions and sinister pursuits show that he, no doubt, is a threat to society. Indeed, these things are indicative of the organization he has come to represent, UVA, a group that has as its leader, Bedier, someone who has a similar terrorist-related past, someone who proclaimed at UVA’s 2009 Tallahassee event, “We want the government to fear us.”

UVA uses political lobbying as a cover for bullying and intimidation, and in the case of myself and Mr. Campbell, violence. It claims to be a peaceful group with concerns about such important issues as education and health care, but the reality is that it is nothing but a dangerous ruse – a radical Islamic front – dressed in an innocuous name, using innocuous language.

While United Voices for America has met with some of Florida’s Representatives, the vast majority have thankfully kept away, in part as a result of information provided to them by people such as this author. With emissaries like Bassem Alhalabi and Ahmed Bedier, it is not hard to understand why the group would be shunned.

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate, the founder of CAIR Watch, and the spokesman for Young Zionists.

Beila Rabinowitz, the Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.

On February 9, 2010, the Pompano Beach, Florida city commission granted the imam of the Islamic Center of South Florida (ICOSB), Hasan Sabri, the honor of giving the invocation at one of its bi-weekly commission meetings. Given the extremist history of the imam and his mosque, one can only look upon this as a tremendous embarrassment for the city and an ominous sign for the future of its citizens.

“I ask you now to stand for the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Invocation tonight is given by Imam Hassan Sabri from our Islamic center.”

These were the words of Pompano Mayor Lamar Fisher, just prior to him rising out of his seat, clasping his hands, and bowing his head in prayer, as Sabri stood directly in front of him and commenced in the honor that was bestowed upon him. All but one of the city’s commissioners mimicked the Mayor with their clasped hands and bowed heads, as did much of the audience. If many of the onlookers knew of this imam and the institution he was representing, they might have walked out instead.

Sabri began his prayer, otherwise known as Salaat, with the words, “A’uudhu billaahi minash shaitaan ar-Rajeem,” which means “I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.” After he completed the Arabic, he attempted to translate for the audience his recitation. However, nothing close to the first statement would be found in the translation. Was this deliberate or merely an oversight?

Sabri, the imam of ICOSB, was previously affiliated with the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR), a radical mosque with a number of ties to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda. In March 2000, Sabri’s name was found on the homepage of the ICBR website as the teacher for ICBR’s new Wednesday tafseer (Quran interpretation) class.

Under Sabri’s name was an announcement that ICBR had added a new link to its site. That link was qoqaz.net or “Jihad in Chechnya,” a website that existed to raise funds and recruit fighters for al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The site was produced by Azzam Publications, named for the former mentor of Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam.

Later that year, ICOSB posted on its website a Friday sermon given by Sabri, where he denounced America as an enemy and threatened Muslims who assist the U.S.

Sabri stated, “Allah tells us, in the Quran, that the kuffar will continue to fight Muslims – will continue to put a plan after a plan and implement a plan after a plan – until Islam will cease to be and until Muslims are either liquidated or they have joined the Christian or the Jewish faith… And it is imperative upon us as Muslims belonging to the Ummah of Islam to understand exactly what’s happening to our brothers, not only for the sake of understanding alone, but so that we will know what the enemies of Islam are planning, and so that we will plan ourselves… [The United States] is calling its people and its army and its nation to rush to the help of Muslims, but in reality this is not what’s going on. In reality what’s going on is that they want to mobilize Muslims and to use the vigor and the vim that Muslims can generate – to use their money and to use their souls and to use their lives – so that they will further [the United States’] plans in that part of the world… [D]o not rely on the kuffar, because if you do so, you will suffer.”

This same type of animosity was present, when this author appeared on a South Florida radio show to debate Sabri in the beginning of 2003. During the show, Sabri said that Jews have no right to Jerusalem and that “Allah” should “rid Beit Al-Maqdis” (Jerusalem) of all of its Jewish inhabitants.

As well, during the show, Sabri said that it was “prophesy” that, in the future, Jews would go to war with Muslims and that inanimate objects, such as large rocks, will inform Muslims that Jews are hiding behind them and will tell the Muslims to kill the Jews. Sabri described this as “the final battle between right and wrong.”

With all of this in mind, it is very possible that, when Sabri mentioned in his Pompano commission invocation that he “seeks refuge” from “Satan, the accursed,” he actually was directing the statement at the audience and commission to which he was speaking in front of. This is disturbing in itself, but how much more so is it, given the fact that Mayor Fisher, in his introduction of Sabri, referred to ICOSB as “our Islamic center.”

It was an interesting choice of words for the Mayor to use. Indeed, he was one of the commissioners, in 2006, who voted in favor of giving ICOSB a permit to build, in the heart of Pompano, a brand new 29,000 square foot mosque – a structure whose construction is well underway – so in a sense, he is tied to the center’s prolonged existence. And being that this is the case, Mayor Fisher, on some level, needs to accept responsibility for the problems that go along with his Islamic center, specifically its terrorist connections.

According to the Broward County Property Appraiser’s office, ICOSB is owned by the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), a group that was recently named by the United States Justice Department as being a party to a criminal conspiracy to provide millions of dollars to Hamas. Aside from its ownership of various radical American mosques and children’s schools, NAIT also controls the finances of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), two of the largest Muslim Brotherhood entities in the U.S.

Of course, all of the above information had to be ignored, in order for Sabri to receive the honor of performing the commission meeting invocation. It had to be ignored, as well, for ICOSB to receive the permit for its radical mosque to be built.

The expense for these ignored threats to the community goes way beyond the millions of dollars in construction costs for the mosque. The expense is the security of the residents of Pompano and beyond.

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate and the founder of Young Zionists.

Beila Rabinowitz, the Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.

On February 14th, all of the major Palestinian terrorist factions met at the offices of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for peace talks. But this was not about peace with the Israelis. No, this was a meeting to reconcile differences, in order to direct all energies in a violent manner against Israel. While the West has been obsessed with locating a “peace partner” for the Jewish state, none would be found here.

The Palestinian people, for the most part, can be divided into two camps: one, a religious terrorist camp and two, a secular/nationalist terrorist camp. Members of Palestinian society usually side with one or the other, whether it’s through politics, community affairs or violence. There is little grey area, in this respect.

The religious terrorist camp is made up of organizations which spawned from the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, a group created in the 1920s that merged fundamentalist Islam with an extremist political agenda. Palestinian organizations that fit into this category include Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). PIJ, while deriving its existence from the Brotherhood, however, was established in 1979 with a greater attachment to the more violent methods of the Iranian Revolution of the same year.

The secular terrorist camp consists of groups that fall under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The two main groups that make up the PLO are the Palestinian National Liberation Movement or Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Unlike Fatah, though, which uses some Islamic imagery, the PFLP operates solely as a Marxist-Leninist organization.

All four of these organizations, in addition to nine others, held a joint meeting this month at the PFLP headquarters. The meeting came at the foot of an Egyptian initiative for reconciliation between the parties and what was being termed a “restoration of national unity.”

But according to the PFLP, this was less about restoring unity among the Palestinian groups and more about fighting Israel as a unified force.

As stated by PFLP leader Rabah Muhana, following the meeting, “An atmosphere of placing national interest ahead of factional interest had prevailed. All of the factions agreed on the urgent need to end division in order to confront the occupation.”

To be sure, there is no love lost between many of the groups, primarily Fatah and Hamas. In June 2007, Hamas launched a bloody coup against Fatah, throwing out the PLO group from the Gaza Strip, whilst brutally executing some 400 individuals associated with Fatah. And as this author writes, the homepage of Fatah’s official website contains a graphic of Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal, Mahmoud al-Zahar and Ismail Haniya with their faces covered in drops of blood.

Now, it appears the two are coming together, as it has been reported that all of the Palestinian terror factions have voiced support for the Egyptian plan.

Of course, this does not bode well for those who have been hell-bent on finding a “peace partner” for Israel. Regarding the United States and the European Union (EU), the only one that fits that bill, at least according to them, is Fatah.

The names of three of the four organizations mentioned previously as representing the Palestinian people, Hamas, PIJ and the PFLP, can be found on terrorism lists compiled by both the US and the EU. Fatah appears to be the only one that has been left off the lists – but that appearance is somewhat deceiving.

Toward the top of both lists is found the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AMB), the self-described “military wing” of Fatah. It was named to the US list in March 2002 and the EU list in October of the same year. Indeed, the group has a history of targeting civilians via such means as suicide bombings and has, in the past, worked with the likes of Hamas and PIJ.

While government agencies admit to an affiliation between AMB and Fatah, they also act to put distance between the two, in what seems to be an attempt to separate Fatah from the terrorism. But there is no separation between Fatah and AMB, for they are essentially the same organization.

AMB’s website addresses, kataebaqsa.org and kataebaqsa.ps, remain active, but the content from them has been entirely removed. That’s not a problem for AMB, because the group shares the official website of Fatah, fateh.org. On any given day, one can see the AMB logo on the Fatah site homepage along with a link to the AMB’s most recent terror communiqué, discussing its latest attack and referring to Israel as the “enemy.”

Atop all of the Fatah website pages, including AMB’s terror communiqués, is a large picture of the head of Fatah and the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas. This is the same Mahmoud Abbas who, less than two months ago, honored three fallen AMB murderers of 45-year-old Israeli Rabbi Meir Avshalom Hai as “Shahids” or holy martyrs. Hai, who was gunned down during a December 24th drive-by attack, left a wife and seven children. Abbas visited and offered condolences to the families of the dead perpetrators of the attack.

When the 13 Palestinian terrorist groups met at the PFLP headquarters, they did so with an understanding – that even though they might have personal differences with each other, they are all united by an intense hatred of Israel.

It is this understanding that drives them to choose violence over peace, and it is this understanding that will always foil those who act to downplay terrorist groups and who push Israel into a treaty with entities, like Fatah, that wish for her destruction.

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate and the founder of Young Zionists.

Beila Rabinowitz, the Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.

In 1981, future terrorist leader and spokesman Mousa Abu Marzook began building, within the United States, a network of violence supporting Palestinian-oriented groups, which would later become the basis for a well-financed Hamas infrastructure. Today, that network has been severely crippled. However, parts of it yet exist, all of which hail from the American propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), one of which is a chapter of the IAP itself.

On December 8, 2004, Joyce and Stanley Boim, an American couple, were awarded $156 million by a federal court jury for the murder of their teenage son, David, who had been shot and killed during a May 1996 Hamas terrorist operation in Israel. The four defendants who were found liable for the murder included three organizations, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and the Quranic Literacy Institute (QLI), and one individual, a Chicago resident named Muhammad Salah.

Of the three organizations, only the IAP was still in existence at the time of the trial. However, that would soon change, as then-Communications Director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) Ahmed Rehab, in January 2006, e-mailed this author declaring that the IAP was no more.

In the time that the IAP was operating, from the years 1981 to 2005, the group had created a number of local chapters throughout the U.S., using aliases as names. These included the American Middle Eastern League for Palestine (AMELP) and the American Muslim Society (AMS).

Like the IAP, most of these groups are gone. However, there is still one chapter that is in operation, the American Muslim Society of the Tristate Area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware (AMS Tri-State).

AMS Tri-State was established in December 2000 and incorporated the following month, in January 2001. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, the group’s corporation is still active.

The registered address of AMS Tri-State is 1860 Montgomery Avenue, located in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It is the same address as the Foundation of Islamic Education (FIE), a satellite campus for Cairo, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University.

Since it began, AMS Tri-State has held board meetings at FIE and has held annual conferences at FIE. These conferences, which were co-sponsored by FIE, featured a number of leaders from various radical Muslim groups, including the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).

The website address of AMS Tri-State was recently renewed, as the expiration date of it has changed from December 16, 2009 to December 16, 2010. The Registrant, Administrative Contact and Technical Contact of the site is Iftekhar Hussain. According to the website of CAIR-Pennsylvania, of which Hussain acts as Chairman of the Board, Hussain is “currently serving as Secretary General of the American Muslim Society of the Tristate Area of PA, NJ & DE.”

For Hussain to be involved with both groups is no strange coincidence, as the IAP was the parent organization of CAIR. CAIR was founded by three leaders of the IAP: IAP National President Omar Ahmad, IAP National Public Relations Director Nihad Awad, and AMS-Chicago President Rafiq Jaber, who later became IAP National President.

In fact, some can make the claim that AMS Tri-State is the parent organization of CAIR-Pennsylvania, which was established in 2004. AMS Tri-State founding Secretary General Iftekhar Hussain served as CAIR-Pennsylvania Chairman; AMS Tri-State founding President Zaheer Chaudhry served as a CAIR-Pennsylvania board member; and AMS Tri-State founding Chairman Masood Ghaznavi served as a CAIR-Pennsylvania advisor.

Remnants of Hamas, such as AMS and CAIR, exist as a cautious reminder of a violent movement that began in the 1980s and that persists to this day. Unfortunately, when the IAP was shut down in 2005, its offspring were left to flourish.

Unlike CAIR, though, which has grown to over 30 chapters across the United States, AMS Tri-State appears to be an oversight. The memory of David Boim, along with all the other innocents who have perished at the hands of Hamas, cannot be served by its continuance.

Why the IAP lingers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware is a mystery that can only be known to the group itself. And whatever the reason is, it cannot have anything but a sinister motive attached to it.

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate, the founder of CAIR Watch, and the spokesman for Young Zionists.

Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.

Omar Ahmad’s picture and bio have been removed from CAIR’s national website, but his likeness has turned up on another CAIR site, a local chapter’s one in California. Given CAIR’s publicly known history linking the group to Hamas and given the fallout from the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trials, one would think that CAIR would wish to shed its troubling past. With regards to Ahmad and some others, though, it seems the group has embraced it, proving that CAIR is willing to either sink or swim with its radicals.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR was founded in June 1994 by three individuals, Omar Ahmad, Nihad Awad and Rafeeq Jaber. At the time, all three were involved with the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), what was then the American propaganda wing of the terrorist organization Hamas.

According to Awad, Ahmad (a.k.a. Omar Yahya) was the driving force behind CAIR. In a February 2000 article, entitled ‘Muslim-Americans in Mainstream Media,’ Awad wrote, “Omar suggested to me that we leave the IAP and concentrate on combating anti-Muslim discrimination nationwide. He proposed that I move to Washington, D.C., where any effective national effort would have to be based, while he tried to raise the seed money for the project.”

However, there was something of a much grander scale going on, as CAIR was created as being part of a terrorist conspiracy to raise funds for Hamas from the United States. The conspiracy went by the name American Palestine Committee, and it was led by then-global head of Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook.

The committee consisted of CAIR, the IAP, a Hamas command center called the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), and a Hamas financing wing called the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). The “seed money” that Awad was talking about came from HLF in the form of a check for $5000.

Ahmad ended his term as IAP National President (1991-1994) and became CAIR’s Chairman of the Board. Awad, who was IAP’s Public Relations Director, became CAIR’s Executive Director. Jaber, who was the President of the IAP’s local chapter in Chicago (American Muslim Society) and later IAP National President, stayed on with CAIR as a director, according to him, till 1996. And Ibrahim Hooper, a colleague of Awad’s from the Minnesota-based Bosnian Relief Committee, agreed to come in as CAIR’s Communications Director.

To this day, Awad and Hooper still hold their respective positions. Ahmad, however, stepped down as CAIR Chairman nearly eleven years later and was replaced by Parvez Ahmed in May 2005. Ahmed had previously been involved with local CAIR chapters in Florida and Pennsylvania and is the Registered Agent of CAIR’s Independent Writers Syndicate (IWS), a now defunct newspaper and website commentary distribution service.

Soon after Ahmad’s departure from CAIR, the group changed his status on its national website from “Chairman” to “Chairman Emeritus,” a title usually given out of respect for someone who has retired from a sitting position. The title, along with his photo and bio – the same photo and bio that were there previously – remained untouched. That is, until recently.

Today, Omar Ahmad’s information is gone from the CAIR National site. Given that Ahmad was named by the U.S. Justice Department as a co-conspirator in the 2007/2008 HLF federal Hamas financing trials, this would appear to be a smart move for the group, even if CAIR itself was named an HLF trial co-conspirator. From CAIR’s perspective, why add to the problem?

Evidently though, this wasn’t the thinking behind the removal, because while CAIR National nixed Ahmad’s info, his photo was placed on another of CAIR’s websites – the one for its San Francisco Bay Area chapter (CAIR-SFBA) – as one of the group’s Executive Committee Members.

And really, CAIR couldn’t be too concerned about someone like Ahmad, when viewing the radical who is heading up its SFBA chapter, Zahra Billoo.

Billoo is the Executive Director and the Programs and Outreach Director of CAIR-SFBA. In December 2008, Billoo contemplated setting up a website asking for volunteers to sign up to attack Israel, and in January 2009, she said that “to raise ‘fighters’” against Israel is an “amazing reason to get married.” Well, now she’s getting married, as last month she posted on her blog that she just went in to get tested for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) for the wedding.

Yet Omar Ahmad is not the only HLF trial co-conspirator who CAIR is openly working with. CAIR-Chicago (CAIR-Illinois) has been showcasing a number of others.

Regarding Hamas in America, Chicago has been one of the ‘hot spots.’ The main hub of this activity is a radical mosque located in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, the Mosque Foundation (MF). From here, funds were raised for both HLF and IAP.

A number of individuals related to the Mosque Foundation were named co-conspirators for the HLF trials. One of them, Muhammad Salah, was a member of the MF Executive Committee. According to the U.S. government, Salah was recruiting and training Hamas members and was raising money for Hamas. In July 2007, Salah was convicted of obstruction of justice.

CAIR-Chicago used its website to urge people to attend court in support of Salah, whilst calling the case against him “political persecution.” Both CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab and CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Coordinator Christina Abraham took to the airwaves in defense of Salah. About Salah’s sentence, Abraham stated, “It’s a sad day for the Muslim community.”

CAIR-Chicago has sponsored different events at the Mosque Foundation, and as such has become very close with the center’s two main leaders, Jamal Said and Kifah Mustapha, each of which was named a co-conspirator for the HLF trials.

Jamal Said is the primary imam of the Mosque Foundation. Since taking the job in 1985, he has memorialized suicide bombers and helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for terrorists, such as IAP co-founder Sami al-Arian, and terrorist charities, such as the Holy Land Foundation. It was due to his leadership, that Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden’s spiritual mentor, paid the mosque a visit in the mid-1980s to recruit potential mujahideen to fight in Afghanistan.

None of this information has stopped CAIR from holding numerous functions with Said. At one such function in February 2006, CAIR-Chicago’s Second Annual Event, Said took on the role of CAIR fundraiser, telling the audience, according to CAIR, “about the work CAIR-Chicago has done for the Muslim Community and what it can do in the future.” In August 2008, CAIR-Chicago lauded Said in a press release stating, “Imam Jamal Said is a cornerstone of the Chicago Muslim community.”

Kifah Mustapha is an imam and the Associate Director of the Mosque Foundation. He is also the Registered Agent for the now defunct Illinois office of HLF, and during a March 2004 deposition of him, he admitted that he did much volunteer work for the IAP. But just like Said, this hasn’t stopped CAIR from working with him.

In May 2006, Mustapha shared the stage with Ahmed Rehab at a CAIR-Chicago forum to discuss citizenship delays. And in February 2007, Mustapha acted as the group’s cheerleader and “rallied” the crowd for CAIR, at CAIR-Chicago’s 3rd Annual Event.

CAIR-Chicago included both Said and Mustapha as lecturers for its April 2008 Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium (MYLS). The event was co-sponsored by the Mosque Foundation.

CAIR has called its designation by the U.S. government as an HLF co-conspirator “unjust,” but by associating with other co-conspirators and by ignoring all of the evidence against people like Ahmad, Salah, Said and Mustapha, the group has done nothing to shake its label.

Of course, shaking the co-conspirator label would be an extremely difficult proposition for CAIR, as its entire existence is one that is rooted in terror. It would be nearly impossible to change the reality of the group without getting rid of the group entirely.

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate, the founder of CAIR Watch, and the spokesman for Young Zionists.

The issue of terrorism is broadcast every day over the airwaves. Yet, so many of our government officials are clueless about it. How else would a leader from the Islamic Society of North America and the Council on American-Islamic Relations – two groups singled out by the Justice Department for their involvement in the financing of Hamas – be invited to a sitting Governor’s State of the State Address? Regardless of the reason for the invitation, it was a dangerous oversight.

[For the purpose of this piece, I would like to state the definition of “unindicted co-conspirator,” per the Federal Courts Law Review (FCLR): “The term ‘unindicted co-conspirator’ refers to any person who allegedly ‘agreed with others to violate the law but who is not being charged with an offense and who, consequently, will not be tried or sentenced for his criminal conduct.’” An “unindicted co-conspirator” is exactly how it reads, a co-conspirator who has not been indicted.]

The Islamic Society of North America or ISNA held its most recent national convention – its 46th annual convention – in Washington, D.C., this past year in July. Participating at the event was the normal crop of Muslim radicals. They included Siraj Wahhaj, an “unindicted co-conspirator” of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; Zulfiqar Ali Shah, the former South Asia Director of KindHearts, a Hamas fundraising group that was shut down by the FBI in February 2006; and Naeem Muhammad, a U.S. staff member of Islamic Relief, a “charity” that the Israeli government has claimed is a front for Hamas. The latter two participated as “Moderators.”

Another “Moderator” at the event was an individual by the name of Safaa Zarzour. At the time, he sat on the Board of Directors of ISNA as the Chairman of ISNA’s Council of Islamic Schools of North America (CISNA) and served as the Program Chair of the ISNA Education Forum. Today, he holds the lofty position of ISNA National Secretary General, as he was named as such last month. This is certainly no ‘badge of honor.’

ISNA is a function of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood overseas. Amongst ISNA’s founders is convicted terrorist Sami al-Arian, who established the group with alumni from the Muslim Students Association (MSA).

From May 2007 through November 2008, ISNA was named by the United States Justice Department as an “unindicted co-conspirator” for two federal trials dealing with the transfer of millions of dollars to Hamas. The defendants consisted of leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), the now defunct American financing wing of Hamas created by then-global head of Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook. In the end, all of the defendants were found guilty of all charges.

ISNA is not the only co-conspirator from the HLF trial that Zarzour has associations with. He has also been involved with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); he was the founding Chairman of CAIR’s Chicago, Illinois office. CAIR-Chicago was established in November 2002, and Zarzour served the group as Chairman (President) through January 2009.

During the trial, the Justice Department showed proof that CAIR was one of four organizations that made up the American Palestine Committee, a Hamas umbrella organization set up and led by Marzook. The goal of the committee was to raise money for Hamas from American shores.

Through CAIR, Zarzour had come in contact with another of the HLF “unindicted co-conspirators,” the Imam and Director of the Mosque Foundation, Jamal Said. Located in Bridgeview, Illinois, the Mosque Foundation is the former spiritual center of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), CAIR’s parent organization that was shut down in 2005 after it was found liable for the May 1996 murder of American teen, David Boim, by Hamas.

It is because of CAIR’s connection to Hamas that the FBI recently made the decision to cut ties with the group – ties with CAIR’s national headquarters and all of its local chapters. According to reports, prior to the HLF trial, the FBI had “formal contact” with the group via “liaisons.”

However, regarding CAIR, it seems other government entities aren’t as concerned as the FBI. Indeed, just this past November, Zarzour received a community service award for “Outstanding Contributions to Chicago’s Arab Community” from the Mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley.

And it was only last month that Zarzour was invited to attend Indiana Governor Mitch Daniel’s State of the State Address. A smiling picture of Zarzour with the Indiana State Assembly in the background is currently being propagated on ISNA’s national website.

Groups and individuals tied to terrorism have no place in the American governmental process – locally, statewide or nationally. Unfortunately, some government officials have given them a place. This, despite the myriad of evidence that is readily available to the public, let alone these officials themselves.

If CAIR is shunned by the FBI, isn’t it common sense that all government agencies and entities would follow suit? And if a leader of CAIR is now the head of ISNA, shouldn’t ISNA be shunned as well?

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate, the founder of CAIR Watch, and the spokesman for Young Zionists.

Beila Rabinowitz, the Director of Militant Islam Monitor, assisted with this report.

While America is staunchly pro-Israel, there sits at the foot of the power base of the U.S. government a radical element that wishes to change that reality. The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) is that radical element. But as elected officials gladly jump to attend the group’s affairs, ATFP leaders connected to criminal and/or terrorist activity mysteriously vanish from the group without a word of their leaving, in hope that no one is paying attention.

On October 15, 2009, ATFP held its fourth annual gala – a black tie affair – in Washington, D.C. National Security Advisor James L. Jones gave the keynote address for the event; House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Representative Howard Berman provided a letter of support and commendation; and ten current United States Senators and Representatives were named as parties to the gala’s Honorary Host Committee.

This, while ATFP was allowing the participation at the gala of one of the leaders of a group the U.S. government has long considered a terrorist organization. The group was the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the leader was Chief Representative to the PLO to the United States Maen Ariekat. Ariekat was part of the Honorary Host Committee and he gave the introduction to General Jones. As well, Ariekat read a letter of support from global PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas. The letter, as well as Aiekat’s gala remarks, is found on ATFP’s website.

According to the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, which was signed into law by President Ronald Wilson Reagan in December 1987, “[T]he Congress determines that the PLO and its affiliates are a terrorist organization and a threat to the interests of the United States, its allies, and to international law and should not benefit from operating in the United States.”

The Act is still in effect today, albeit it’s been hampered by signed Presidential waivers circumventing its enforcement. The waivers provide convenient excuses for politicians who wish to attend such functions as what’s sponsored by ATFP and give cover to a group that wishes to affiliate itself with extremists.

But while the U.S. President can protect ATFP when it wishes to honor the PLO, he cannot protect the group from its own leadership, a leadership that has been comprised of terrorists and criminals.

ATFP was established in Washington, D.C. in 1995, under the name American Committee on Jerusalem (ACJ). It held its “inaugural public activity” in November of that year, a briefing given by the group’s then-President, Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi had previously been identified in news reports as “a PLO spokesman” and “a director of the Palestinian press agency, Wafa,” (Wikalat al-Anba al-Filastinija), which Khalidi himself has described as “the P.L.O.’s news agency.”

Eight years later, the group changed its name to the American Task Force on Palestine. On the ACJ site, in August 2003, the following message was found: “ACJ is now the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). Please visit our new website!” And the group provided a hyperlink to it, attached to a ‘thumb nail’ of the new ATFP site.

Immediately, though, the group would completely disown the ACJ. The same month, August 2003, the new website stated the following, “The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) was founded in 2003 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Washington, DC.” Yet, even the group’s current Washington, D.C. corporate status shows ATFP – as ATFP – incorporating in May 1995.

Why?

A number of the board members of the ACJ stayed on with ATFP. They included ACJ Chairman Ziad Asali and ACJ President Rashid Khalidi, who became respectively ATFP’s President and Vice President. But one name of particular interest was left off of the new board, that being Abdurahman Alamoudi.

At the time that ATFP was being “founded,” Alamoudi was coming to the end of a terrorist plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah using money obtained from foreign sources, including the Libyan government. On August 13, 2003, Alamoudi, while heading to Damascus, Syria, had $340,000 seized from him in London. On September 28, 2003, Alamoudi was arrested at Washington Dulles International Airport.

Alamoudi had been on the ACJ Executive Board for well over five years – of which a good part was spent involved in the terror plot – and the group’s name change could very well have taken effect due to the potential fallout from Alamoudi’s actions.

Another individual who suddenly left the ATFP’s board was Rafaat “Rafi” Dajani. Dajani was Executive Director of “both” ACJ and ATFP. That is, until he was caught robbing ATFP of over $100,000 in donations to the group and forging signatures on ‘thank-you’ letters to the donors. He was sentenced last May to eight years in prison.

And yet another was Tereq Salahi, who was named to ATFP’s Board of Directors in July 2005. Salahi served on the board for well over four years, and he and his wife, Michaele, attended functions for the group that included a number of high profile diplomats. In one photo, which was taken during a December 2006 ATFP delegation trip to the Middle East, Tareq is pictured, along with ATFP President Ziad Asali, shaking hands with Mahmoud Abbas.

However, Salahi’s bio has now been removed from ATFP’s site. Salahi and his wife are currently the subjects of a criminal investigation into how the two were able to breach security in a successful attempt to gain access to the White House this past November. If it is determined that the Salahis knowingly made false statements to the Secret Service – a felony – the two could face up to five years in prison. When questioned by the Congressional Homeland Security Committee on January 21, 2009, they refused to testify.

Much has been made in the media of the Salahis being “gate crashers” and wannabe ‘reality TV’ stars, but little to no coverage has been given to their involvement with a group that associates frequently with a terrorist organization – a group whose own co-founder, Rashid Khalidi, was in the PLO himself. Though, as of March 2005, his bio and photo have been scrubbed from the ATFP website as well.

Question: Who else will leave the ranks of the radical ATFP?

In truth, it may not matter, because it seems, regardless of all the sinister individuals involved, the American Task Force on Palestine will continue to attract those sitting in the highest echelons of government, ready and willing to be used by the terror lobby.

Following the November massacre that took place at Fort Hood, Texas and the failed terrorist plane attack by the so-called ‘underpants’ bomber, all eyes have been focused on Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born al-Qaeda leader who had been in contact with the perpetrators of both acts. Statements from those involved show al-Awlaki’s influence played a key role in the violence. If indeed that is the case, how many other souls has al-Awlaki been able to fanaticize? And could one be a leader of a local branch of one of the largest Muslim groups in the U.S.?

Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki, a regional commander for al-Qaeda in Yemen, has been suspected of having direct participation in a number of past terrorist attacks against the United States and elsewhere. However, these attacks have not garnered nearly the amount of worldwide attention for al-Awlaki as that which occurred recently by the hands of two others.

On November 5, 2009, Nidal Hasan, a 39-year-old soldier in the U.S. Army, opened fire in a military processing center, murdering 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounding 30.

On December 25, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian national, attempted to blow up a U.S. airliner using explosives found hidden in his underwear.

Subsequent to the violence, reports surfaced that both perpetrators had formerly been in contact with al-Awlaki. According to al-Awlaki, prior to the Fort Hood attack, Hasan had e-mailed him to discuss the subject of murdering American troops. And according to Yemeni authorities, it is believed that Abdulmutallab was fitted with his bomb at a home being used by al-Awlaki.

Question: How many more people has al-Awlaki been able to inspire in this way?

Hasan and Abdulmutallab were not the only ones taken in by him. Abdulmutallab said there were 20 more like himself still at large, and al-Awlaki’s charisma reached thousands, as evidenced by his popular (now defunct) Facebook fan page.

One possible recruit of al-Awlaki’s is a leader from the Southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Los Angeles), Affad Shaikh. Shaikh has written about how, following the September 11th attacks, he began “listening to” al-Awlaki.

He wrote, “I would not say that I became practicing [sic] becasue the I felt bad for the treatment by, as you say it, “kafrs”… But the deal was that there was a lack on connecting and community for me there that shared or [sic] experianced what I went through after 9/11. It was not easy for me to brush it aside… At first I didnt want to be [the ‘token Muslim’], but gradually with the treatment and [sic] pervalent atmostphere, I just went from one book to another, started with Espisito and Armstrong, went to Kotob and reading classical translations of Ghazzali and Ibn Taymiyya, and listening to people like Anwar Awlaki and Suhaib Webb.”

The “Kotob” whom he is referencing is Sayyid Qutb, a Muslim Brotherhood icon who is considered by many to be the father of the modern Islamic extremist movement. Certainly, it is well known that it was his ideology that was adopted by al-Qaeda.

Suhaib Webb is a popular speaker at various radical Muslim functions throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Shaikh’s quote is in reference to a piece he had penned in September 2006 for his personal blog, entitled ‘Five Years Ago an American Muslim was born.’ In it, he discusses how 9/11 transformed him into a fundamentalist Muslim. He said that, prior to 9/11, he “had no desire to be involved in” radical Islamic groups such as “the Muslim Student Association or the Council on American-Islamic Relations.”

Indeed, soon Shaikh became involved with both organizations – the latter, CAIR, having major ties to Hamas and its global leader Mousa Abu Marzook.

At the time, Shaikh was residing in San Diego, a former stomping ground to al-Awlaki and two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, whom witnesses claim al-Awlaki became close with.

Another individual close to al-Awlaki was Edgar Hopida, the current Public Relations Director of CAIR-San Diego. Hopida attended al-Awlaki’s San Diego mosque, Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami, where al-Awlaki trained Hopida in the Islamic religion shortly after he converted from Catholicism. Hopida told a local television station that al-Awlaki was a “respected imam” and that people should not jump to conclusions regarding his terrorism ties.

However, if in fact al-Awlaki was involved in the above individuals’ lives more than merely knowing them, then those in charge need to jump to conclusions and quickly move to examine every individual that has ever had a connection to him.

Today, Affad Shaikh is the Civil Rights Manager of CAIR-Los Angeles, the main chapter of CAIR-California. He has held this position for nearly four years, since April 2006.

Within this time, in July 2008, Shaikh was stopped with others at the U.S./Mexico border by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. According to Shaikh, the agents, whom he described as “ignorant, incompetent and inhuman,” had reason to believe that Shaikh and his associates were plotting to assassinate President Bush. Shaikh complained that he was held for “three hours” at the checkpoint.

As well, Shaikh’s radical views tend to mimic those of violent extremists overseas. He has referred to Americans in Iraq as “Crusaders,” and he has said that “the United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world.”

Concerning Nidal Hassan, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and the 9/11 hijackers, warning signs and actual warnings (in the case of Abdulmutallab’s father), which could have possibly averted disasters, were overlooked. These signs must not be overlooked with regard to Affad Shaikh and the like.

In the name of national security, precautions need to be taken. About Anwar al-Awlaki, a.k.a. Abu Atiq, we cannot say we weren’t warned.

Today, while Christians around the world are celebrating Christmas, radical Muslims will be gathering in Atlanta, Georgia for the beginning of their annual hatefest. The irony of this cannot be overstated, as the group sponsoring the event, ICNA, and its followers openly denounce Christians and propagate material cursing and calling for violence against Christians.

ICNA or the Islamic Circle of North America was created nearly 40 years ago as the American affiliate to the terror-related Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan. But while JI has focused the majority of its faith-based ire on Hindus, the religious groups of choice for ICNA’s attacks have primarily been Jews and Christians.

One of the main functions of ICNA is the spread of Islam. The group does this via its dawah or religious outreach program, Why Islam (WI). Too many times, though, ICNA’s religious outreach is used as a venue for the worst of bigotry. Common targets include Jews, Americans, Israelis, homosexuals, fellow Muslims and Christians. The following quotes are presently found on WI’s web forum discussing the latter:

• “First of all, muslims do not believe in the G-d of the corrupted Bible, but we do believe in Allah… Anyone who says ‘la ilahe ilallah’ (there is not god but Him)… is guaranteed with eternal life in heaven… Abt penalty, there is no penalty to be done for our sins. This is [sic] wat u christians made up!!”

• “[T]he Americans don’t care about their Allies… Even though, speaking Islamically, they are our enemies and not allies… no Kaffir can be an Ally to a Muslim against a Muslim… Like Allah says in the Quran, Baqarah 2, ‘Never will the Jews nor the Christians be pleased with you… till you follow their religion’… [T]hey are not friends of anyone besides themselves… their friendship is an illusion.”

• “[T]he Christ that Christians believe will come before the Rapture is actually the anti-Christ who the Zionist-Jews will think to be their promised-Messiah… Most Christians don’t know this. They live in their capsule of ignorance that is hardened by the western main-stream media… [T]heir greed and covetousness for consumption is likened only with Satan in the Bible.”

These statements are horrific on their own, but what makes the situation even worse is that the moderators for the group have used similar – even worse – rhetoric themselves, defending Hamas and discussing committing violence against American troops.

Why Islam is not the only entity comprising ICNA. The organization also encompasses a youth group, an educational facility, a multimedia division, a magazine, and a number of smaller local chapters. One of the chapters, the Southern California office (ICNA-SC), uses religious materials to propagate hatred and violence against non-Muslims.

Hadiths for Muslims are vital, as they are only second to the Quran in importance with regard to Islamic religious texts. ICNA’s versions of the Hadiths contain rabidly anti-Christian bigotry. A current example of this is from a Hadith book entitled Malik’s Muwatta, found within ICNA-SC’s online library. It states, “May Allah fight the jews and the christians. They took the graves of their Prophets as places of prostration. Two deens shall not co-exist in the land of the Arabs.”

On its website, ICNA-SC has many other hate manuals as well. One, entitled Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase, is written by the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Yusuf al-Qaradawi. In Priorities, al-Qaradawi lauds Hamas as being “steadfast” and “brave.” In the text, al-Qaradawi also talks about his belief that Christians should give up their rights and be ruled by Islam. He writes, “Christians and other religious groups will not come to any harm if they give up their right so that their Muslim compatriots may rule themselves by their religion and effect the laws of Allah in order to gain His Grace.”

Another of ICNA’s chapters, its Atlanta, Georgia office, this weekend beginning today, will be celebrating its annual function, featuring its normal list of extremist speakers. It’s a major event for ICNA, as the organization is advertising it atop its national website. The theme for this year is ‘Save Family – Save Society.’

In reality, society needs to save itself from ICNA.

The above quotes are only a small illustration of the bigotry that is spread by ICNA against Christians (and others). And so it is ironic, if not offensive, that ICNA would use Christmas to launch its hateful affair.

While ICNA desecrates Christianity this day, its leaders and members will thrive off of the goodwill of a generous American public that is ignorant of ICNA’s sinister goals and terror-related history. Hopefully the government will be giving us all the best Christmas present we could ask for – an investigation leading to ICNA’s closure.

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate and the founder of CAIR Watch.