Doc's Talk: LA Sheriff's Muslim Community Affairs Unit

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

LA Sheriff's Muslim Community Affairs Unit

Alan Kornman

On Sunday, May 15, 2011 the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC) hosted a Community Town Hall Meeting led by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

The LA County Sheriff’s Emergency Operations Bureau, the Muslim Community Affairs Unit (MCAU) - a taxpayer funded entity - was the presenting agency. The MCAU’s stated mission is to “build a stronger relationship with the Muslim community to build cooperation with law enforcement.” Being Muslim is not belonging to a race. Muslims are merely followers of Shariah Islam. The MCAU is a taxpayer funded religious group operating inside the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department at the behest of Sheriff Leroy Baca. Civil Rights Lawyers may argue the MCAU violates the Establishment Clause mandate of government neutrality toward religion.

Deputy Sherif Morsi, a volunteer, Sgt. Mike Abdeen, Officer Syed.

Steve Whitmore, LASD Senior Media Advisor, confirmed the Muslim Community Affairs Unit receives taxpayer funds approximating $128,400 per year for two full time Deputies. When I asked Mr. Whitmore if any other religions had a LASD Community Affairs Unit and received equal taxpayer funds, he replied, “There are no other religious Community Affairs Units in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.”

For the LASD to meet the Establishment Clause threshold for “government neutrality toward religion” Sheriff Baca would have two options. First, Sheriff Baca would have to establish and manage Community Affairs Units with two Deputies and a $128,400 budget, for each recognized religion under his jurisdiction. The second option would be to dismantle the Muslim Community Affairs Unit in accordance with the Establishment Clause.

Deputy Sherif Morsi and Sgt. Mike Abdeen

In 2006, Sheriff Baca established The Muslim American Homeland Security Congress (MAHSC), a non-profit organization. This was done with the help of the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and the Muslim American Society. Many of these groups have connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, as established in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorist funding trial. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Center of Southern California will be the focus of an upcoming documentary to be released in the very near future.

Sheriff Leroy Baca also started the Young Muslim American Leaders Group (YMALG) to engage and educate young Muslim professionals in the Los Angeles Area. Steve Whitmore said the YMALG and MAHSC are not taxpayer funded and managed by volunteers. Whitmore however, would not divulge who these volunteers are or what groups they represent.

The MCAU has another function:

“The unit also trains department members about Islam and Muslims, touching on issues such as religious beliefs and customs. Academy recruits also receive a two-hour class on Muslim cultures and background as part of the cultural awareness training program.”

This is a program tasked with teaching Shariah Compliant Islamic values to incoming police recruits, while excluding the values of every other religion in Los Angeles County.

In 2007, Sheriff Baca formed the LA Sheriff’s Muslim Community Affairs Unit (MCAU). In an interview with the Religious News Service, Sheriff Baca articulated the mission for the MAHSC and MCAU.

What's the philosophy behind the Muslim community outreach efforts?

Baca: Police need all the help they can get. When you have deputy sheriffs who are Muslims, and the Muslim community can identify with them, then it makes the Muslim community feel protected.

What progress have the community outreach efforts achieved so far?

Baca: The Muslim community trusts the sheriff's department. Successful law enforcement requires that the public trust law enforcement. And you're not going to get the public's trust if you're not going to trust the public.

The FBI broke off contact with the Council of American-Islamic Relations last year, while you've stayed in touch. Why are you right and the FBI wrong on this?

Baca: It would be like saying, ‘We found an extremist in Los Angeles and no one told us about him, so we're going to cut ourselves off from the entire Muslim society.’ You can't do that at a local law enforcement level. If there's a problem with crime-plotting, you have to get closer to the environment, not further. And if they think CAIR is out cavorting with extremists, then it behooves them to be more involved with CAIR.

Sheriff Baca has overreached his authority, states Carrie Storm. Muslims are people who practice the religion of Islam. Islam is a religious group, just like Christians, Jews, Buddhists, etc... The LA Sheriff’s Department violates the Constitution by creating special privileged treatment of Muslims over all other religious groups. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion but prohibits establishing a preference for any religion. Taxpayer funds spent to promote the interests of any religious group over another is prohibited through the ‘establishment clause’ of the First Amendment in the United States Constitution.

A 2008 Pew Research Center survey revealed that the citizens of California are comprised of 42% various Christian denominations, 31% Roman Catholic Christians, 2% Jewish, 2% Latter Day Saints, and 1% Muslim. The rest of the citizens are either non religious or of other minority faiths.

According to the latest hate crime report from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, 88 percent of all religiously based hate crimes in 2009 were against Jews. Hate crimes that targeted Muslims (3 percent) ranked slightly above those directed at Scientologists (1 percent). In fact, the commission found that attacks against Christians (8 percent) outnumbered attacks against Muslims.

It could be argued statistically, that if any religion needs a LA Sheriff’s special religious Community Affairs Unit, it is the Jews and Christians not the Muslims.

Terry Sanderson states,
“if there is one public service that absolutely must be secular it is the police force. There should be not one whisper of sectarianism in the force and all this talk of Muslim police officers must stop. They are police officers who are Muslim, but when they are at work they must be simply police officers full stop. They must serve the whole community without fear or favor. This goes also for police officers who are Christian, Hindu, Atheist or indifferent.”
Sanderson goes on to say,
“If bridges are to be built between the Muslim community and the police, it should be non-Muslim officers who should do it, to demonstrate that the police force in its entirety can be trusted, not just those who happen to share the Muslim religion.”
These religious sub-groups within the police are deeply undesirable and rather than encouraging them, the police hierarchy should start the process of dismantling them.
Sheriff Baca’s Muslim Community Affairs Unit is a civil rights abuse lawsuit waiting to happen. Contact LA City Council President Eric Garcetti by phone: (213) 473-7013 Email: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org and California Attorney General’s Office, Civil Rights Division, (800) 952-5225 to file a complaint.

Freedom and Liberty are fragile gifts from our Founding Fathers, and each U.S. citizen must be forever vigilant in protecting them.

Alan Kornman, One Team, One Fight.

Family Security Matters Contributing Editor Alan Kornman is the regional coordinator of The United West-Uniting Western Civilization for Freedom and Liberty. His email is: alan@theunitedwest.org.

COPYRIGHT 2011 FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS INC.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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