An attempt is made to share the truth regarding issues concerning Israel and her right to exist as a Jewish nation. This blog has expanded to present information about radical Islam and its potential impact upon Israel and the West. Yes, I do mix in a bit of opinion from time to time.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Jewish group pays PR firm co-owned by its president
Ben Birnbaum
The Washington Times
The Middle East lobby J Street — a tax-exempt 501(c)4 organization — paid tens of thousands of dollars to a consulting firm co-owned by its founder and president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Times.
The documents, including invoices sent to J Street, show that Ben-Or Consulting — the Tel Aviv-based public-relations firm Mr. Ben-Ami co-founded in 1998 while living in Israel — charged J Street at least $56,000 over a roughly six-month period. Though Mr. Ben-Ami ceased a day-to-day managerial role with Ben-Or a decade ago, he remains a 15 percent shareholder in the company, according to the May 2010 Dun and Bradstreet listings, as well as current filings with the Israeli Ministry of Justice.
According to nonprofit analysts, Mr. Ben-Ami's stake creates a conflict of interest that runs afoul of ethical — if not legal — restrictions on acts of "self-dealing," in which an officer in a tax-exempt organization receives undue benefit from that organization's transactions.
"Even if it's technically legal, it gets very messy when you have these sorts of deals going on because, if you're going to benefit on the other end of it, be it 100 percent or 5 percent, it raises questions about objectivity and the arms' length in the transaction," said Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator.
"If you want your organization to use a particular company, ideally there would be a clean break one way or the other. So you would either sell off your interest in that company or step down from the board during the period of time when this is going so that there would be no question as to what's going on in the boardroom."
Mr. Ben-Ami declined repeated interview requests, but provided a statement through a spokesman:
"I founded Ben-Or together with Oriella Ben-Zvi in 1998. When I left in 2000, I relinquished all rights to ongoing compensation from Ben-Or in any form. I have received no payments from the company in the past 11 years and have had no role in the management or operation of the firm.
"At the time of my departure, as a token of my role as a co-founder, we left 15 percent of the shares of the firm in my name — an agreement that has no financial implications for me personally, for J Street or for the firm."
Organizations that file with the IRS as 501(c)3's and 501(c)4's must be run as not-for-profit groups. Groups that are 501(c)4 groups, however, are permitted to use more of their time for lobbying and political activities and are not required to disclose their donors the way that 501(c)3 organizations do.
J Street, which bills itself as the progressive alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel groups, has been under fire recently, after The Times reported in September that, contrary to Mr. Ben-Ami's long-standing denials, the group had received $750,000 from billionaire George Soros and $811,697 from Hong Kong donor Consolacion Esdicul.
The full extent of J Street's business relationship with Ben-Or is unclear, but a sample of Ben-Or invoices establish that it involved several transactions.
One marked May 1, 2010, requests payment of $32,581.77 for service fees and expenses associated with the April 2010 visit of a J Street delegation to Israel and the West Bank.
A Feb. 8 letter from Mr. Ben-Ami to Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon requesting a Feb. 16 meeting for a congressional delegation sponsored by the J Street Education Fund — J Street's 501(c)3 arm — indicates that Ben-Or was hired for that trip as well. "Your office can contact [senior Ben-Or staffer] Shiri Ourian … at any time to discuss the details of the sponsored trip and our organization," it says.
On Nov. 1, 2009, J Street was charged $4,194 for an unspecified "project."
Another invoice, dated Oct. 26, 2009 — the date of J Street's inaugural conference — appears to charge the group 73,310.80 new Israeli shekels ($19,292.32 at the time) for expenses and service fees associated with "public relations and event coordination."
James Abruzzo, co-director of the Institute for Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School, said that aside from a nonprofit's obligation to vet multiple firms in a "competitive-bidding process," someone in Mr. Ben-Ami's position would at a minimum have to disclose his stake in the firm and recuse himself from any decision to hire it.
Even if those conditions were met, Mr. Abruzzo said, "it still doesn't feel right."
"There's a certain amount of trust that is one of the assets of a nonprofit," he said. "And if you undermine that trust by doing something that even seems like it's self-dealing, that's injurious to the organization."
501(c)4 and 501(c)3 organizations are required to report "business transactions involving interested persons" on their annual Form 990 tax returns. On J Street's most recent form — covering the fiscal year from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 — one J Street official was designated an interested party, though it was not Mr. Ben-Ami.
According to the form, J Street paid $61,000 in the reporting year to Gerstein Agne, the consulting firm of Jim Gerstein, vice president of J Street's board.
"The payment was at fair-market value," the form says, though it does not indicate whether other firms were explored before Gerstein Agne was hired.
Charity Navigator's Mr. Berger said that without a competitive-bidding process, "you're getting into some very gray area, and you don't want to have a look back from the IRS later that's going to bite you."
"In other words," he said, "if you have a financial interest in the company and then the IRS checks and sees that the decision was based without looking at any other options — because you said it was the best, then there's exposure there."
The documents also hint at an added level of collaboration between J Street and Ben-Or.
In a March 1, 2010, e-mail from senior Ben-Or partner Didi Remez to Noam Lekach — communications coordinator for Amnesty International's Israel branch, a Ben-Or client — Mr. Remez suggested a fundraising vehicle through which they could "raise the necessary amount" to buy drums for an anti-settler demonstration in the disputed East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah: "Maybe via the J Street student list," he wrote.
When reached by e-mail, Mr. Remez declined comment on whether he had used the list or had J Street's permission to do so.
Ben-Or's website lists 91 (mostly Israeli) clients, including peace groups, human rights organizations, international figures, such as former President Jimmy Carter, and campaigns for Israeli politicians from the center-left Labor Party and the more leftist Meretz party. Though the client list included Americans for Peace Now — J Street's leading organizational ally in the U.S. — J Street was absent as of press time.
A statement from Ben-Or, facilitated by a Ben-Ami spokesman, echoed Mr. Ben-Ami's statement that he received "no compensation" for the past 11 years. But it called into question his claim that his stake in the company had no financial implications for him, saying "he would receive 15 percent of the proceeds if the firm is ever sold."
Mr. Ben-Ami declined requests to explain his arrangement with Ben-Or or to provide evidence that he had forfeited all dividends upon leaving the firm. His spokesman promised The Times a letter from the lawyer who oversaw the agreement, but no letter was ever received.
Mr. Ben-Ami has earned plaudits for his managerial skills — since its 2008 inception, J Street has built itself into a political force on the Jewish left — but he also has drawn fire for a string of misleading and evasive statements regarding J Street controversies.
He had long denied the Soros funding, telling Moment magazine earlier this year that "we got tagged as having his support, without the benefit of actually getting funded!" He later apologized for being "less than clear" on the matter.
The Times subsequently reported that J Street had helped facilitate meetings between members of Congress and Judge Richard Goldstone, author of a U.N. report that accused Israel of systematic war crimes in its three-week 2008-2009 war against Hamas in Gaza. The information was gleaned from former Israeli Knesset member Colette Avital, who told The Times that she had stepped down as J Street's Israel liaison in part because of the group's "connection to Judge Goldstone."
"When Judge Goldstone came to Washington, [J Street leaders were] suggesting that they might help him set up his appointments on Capitol Hill," Ms. Avital said.
In a statement to the Times, Mr. Ben-Ami said J Street "reached out to a handful of congressional staff to inquire whether members would be interested in seeing Judge Goldstone," thinking it would "be a good idea for him and for members of Congress to meet personally."
According to a follow-up report by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "Jeremy says that, after that info-sharing and those calls, J Street solicited Avital's advice on whether to make such appointments. She said Goldstone was at that time regarded as something akin to the devil in Israel, and that it would harm J Street's brand. Jeremy says he took the advice."
But a day earlier, in a conference call with The Times, Mr. Ben-Ami said emphatically that there had been no such discussion: "The entirety of our communication with Ms. Avital concerning Judge Goldstone was her inquiring of me, whether e-mail or by phone, I don't remember — whether or not J Street was in fact helping with Judge Goldstone's visit to Congress, and me telling her, 'No, we're not.'"
Hizbullah and the Information War
Caroline Glick
On January 15 the UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon is scheduled to issue indictments against a number of Hizbullah operatives for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. All of Lebanon and much of the region is waiting in suspense that grows with each passing day.
The news that Hizbullah would be fingered by the prosecutors was first made public in July. Since then, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah has threatened repeatedly to set fire to Lebanon and perhaps Israel if Daniel Bellemare, the chief prosecutor dares to go forward. Given Hizbullah's track record of war, murder and intimidation, no one doubts that the Iranian-proxy force will keep its promise if it comes to that. Almost immediately after Hizbullah was named as the central suspect in Hariri's assassination, Hizbullah's ally Syria began negotiating a deal with Saudi Arabia, which serves as the patron of Lebanon's Sunni community. The goal of these talks is to get Hizbullah off the hook, "in order to preserve stability."
Bellemare made clear this week that he will not be influenced by politics in dispatching his duties to the law. If he is true to his word, then Hizbullah members will certainly be indicted for assassinating Hariri next month.
What this means is that the most attractive option for Hizbullah and its allies right now is to discredit the tribunal. To this end, Hizbullah has repeatedly characterized the UN tribunal as an Israeli and American plot. Syria has insisted that the Lebanese who testified before the tribunal gave false testimony.
While these allegations may have convinced their supporters, both Syria and Hizbullah know that the only effective way to discredit the tribunal is to coerce Hariri's son, Prime Minister Saad Hariri to disavow the tribunal and withdraw Lebanese governmental support for its proceedings.
Although such a move would probably have little impact on the tribunal's ultimate judgment, it might reduce the political impact of the indictments for Hizbullah in Lebanon.
And so according to Ha'aretz, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and Saudi King Abdullah reached a deal in which Hariri Jr. will disavow the tribunal. In exchange, Hizbullah will agree not to murder him.
Hizbullah has not surprisingly announced its support for the deal. Hariri has given a series of contradictory statements that lend to the sense that he is trying to run down the clock. This week he met with Abdullah in New York where the Saudi despot is undergoing medical treatment. On Wednesday he travelled to Saudi Arabia for further talks.
In the meantime, just to underline its willingness to make good on its threats, last week Hizbullah had its affiliated trade union, the National Union for Labor Syndicates stage a protest against the government. As Hanin Ghadar at the NOW Lebanon news portal noted, in the days leading up to the terror group's coup in May 2008, it had its labor affiliates stage similar protests.
AND THAT brings us to the basic question of why is Hizbullah taking the tribunal so seriously?
What does it care if its members are indicted for murdering Hariri? This is a terror group that has always been perfectly willing to kill in order to get its way. And everyone knows it.
Hizbullah operatives killed Hariri because he was irritating Nasrallah and Assad with all his talk about Lebanese sovereignty. Then they killed parliamentarian after parliamentarian to deny Hariri Jr.'s parliamentary majority the power to form a government or do anything else without Hizbullah agreement. When even that was insufficient to force the government to slavishly do its bidding, Hizbullah carried out its bloody coup in May 2008 in order to take over effective control of the government and the Lebanese army.
So too, after the June 2009 elections, Hizbullah coerced members of Hariri's coalition to change sides and so prevented him from forming a coalition without Hizbullah receiving veto power over all government decisions.
And even if Hizbullah did care about what its fellow Lebanese think of it, the fact is that Hizbullah is not an independent actor. It is an Iranian proxy. And the Iranians have made clear that they do not care what the tribunal does. Iran's supreme dictator Ali Khamenei announced earlier this month that as far as Iran is concerned, the tribunal's judgments are null and void. In his words, "This court is a kangaroo court and every verdict it issues is rejected."
So again, why is Hizbullah so concerned about this tribunal?
Hizbullah is concerned because Hizbullah understands the power of symbols. No, its operatives will probably never be jailed for their crimes. But the tribunal is a symbol. If Bellmare dares to defy Hizbullah, then others might consider doing so.
On the other hand if Hizbullah is able to coerce Hariri to withdraw the Lebanese government's support for the tribunal and disavow its work, it will have demonstrated its strength and authority in a way that will deter others from challenging it.
Hizbullah's response to the specter of the Special Tribunal is not only interesting for what it tells us about prospects for Lebanon's future and for regional stability and peace. Hizbullah's response to the threat that its members will be exposed as Hariri's assassins teaches us interesting lessons about the nature of information warfare.
Information warfare is not simply a question of competing narratives, as it is often characterized in the West. Information war is a form of warfare whose aim is to use words, symbols and images to force people to take real action. These actions can involve everything from war to terrorism to surrender.
In closed societies, information warfare is used to cause people to rally around the side of the group conducting the information operation and to mobilize supporters to act against the chosen enemy. For instance, when its leadership is interested in inspiring terror attacks against Israel, the Palestinian Authority broadcasts around the clock incitement against Israel.
koby mandell.jpg
yosefishran.jpg
On May 8, 2001 a group of Palestinians from a village adjacent to the Israeli community of Tekoa in Gush Etzion got their hands on two Jewish children Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran from Tekoa. The two boys were bludgeoned to death with stones. The details of the butchery are unspeakable.
The question is what can make human beings butcher children? How can a person hurt a child the way that their killers hurt them?
The answer is Palestinian television.
In the weeks before the murder, PATV (funded by foreign donors) broadcast doctored footage around the clock of what they claimed were atrocities carried out by Israel. They showed doctored images of mutilated corpses and claimed that Israel had mutilated and abused them. Israel and Jews were so demonized by these false images that after awhile, the Palestinians watching these shows believed that Jews, including Jewish children, were all monsters who must be destroyed and made to pay for their imaginary crimes.
This was an act of information warfare that in the event, led Palestinians to butcher Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran.
As for information warfare aimed at Westerners, here too, the Palestinian Authority, like Hizbullah has a long track record of success. Journalists know that the PA has no compunction about kidnapping, arresting and beating up reporters. They do it to Palestinian reporters routinely. With their sure knowledge, Western reporters who come in to the PA recognize that if they want to be safe, they have to report stories that will make the PA happy.
For instance, after a television crew from Italy's Mediaset network broadcast footage of the PA police-supported lynch mob murdering and dismembering IDF reservists Vadim Nozhitz and Yosef Avrahami in Ramallah in October 2000, Ricardo Cristiani, deputy chief of Italy's RAI television network's Jerusalem bureau published an apology in the PA's newspaper Al Hayat al Jadida.
Among other things, Cristiani wrote, "We [RAI] emphasize to all of you that the events did not happen this way, because we always respect (will continue to respect) the journalistic procedures with the Palestinian Authority for (journalistic) work in Palestine and we are credible in our precise work."
Fearing Palestinian revenge attacks, Mediaset was forced to shut down its offices.
ramallah-lynch1.jpg
This week, Swedish and Danish police announced the arrest of four Muslim terrorists who were en route to carrying out a massacre at the Jyllands Posten newspaper. The attack was supposed to avenge the newspaper's publication of cartoons of Muhammed in 2005.
A US diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks and published Monday by Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper reported that Syria's Assad himself directed the information operation in 2006 that led to rioting against Denmark and Jyllands Posten throughout the Muslim world in 2006. Assad reportedly ordered Syria's Grand Mufti to incite his fellow imams to attack Denmark for publishing the pictures.
The Arab world's response to WikiLeaks shows just how powerful the incitement against Israel and Jews on the Arab psyche is. According to Hazem Saghiyah from the NOW Lebanon news portal, the Arab world was beset by confusion by the leaked US cables because Israel was not exposed as demonic.
As Saghiyeh put it, for Arabs who have come to believe that Israel controls the world through its satanic power, "these documents should have provided the decisive argument" against Israel.
The fact that it is the Arab leadership, rather than Israel that has been exposed as lying and two-faced, makes the Arab world writ large view the WikiLeaks operation as a huge Zionist conspiracy.
WHAT ALL of this shows is that information wars are not just about getting out the facts. Like kinetic warfare, they involve power plays, intimidation and the use of subconscious and visceral manipulation.
Israel has recently awoken to one aspect of information warfare. It has recognized the consequences of years of demonization of Israel in Europe and international organizations. But Israel has yet to awaken to the fact that it is a type of warfare and has to be countered with counter-information warfare.
Obviously this doesn't mean that Israel should begin acting like its enemies. But what it does mean is that Israel must begin using more hard-knuckle techniques to defend itself. It must begin targeting people's emotions as well has their minds.
For instance, when Israel is confronted by threats of lawsuits for acts of self-defense, it responds with defense attorneys. When the US was threatened with lawfare by Belgian courts, then secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld responded by threatening to remove NATO headquarters from Belgium.
When Israel is accused of targeting Palestinian civilians, it responds by attaching legal advisors to combat units. What it should be doing instead is providing film footage of Palestinian children being trained as terrorists and exploited as human shields.
War is a dirty business. Information warfare is a dirty form of war. And if we don't want to lose, we'd better start fighting.
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.
Top Ten Reasons America Won't Miss the 111th Congress
Heritage Foundation
The 111th Congress is officially over, and according to Gallup, it’s also officially the worst Congress in the history of polling. Yet despite its 13% approval rating there are those who are hailing the 111th Congress for its myriad legislative “accomplishments.” Not surprisingly, many of those touting those “accomplishments” are the very members of Congress who voted for the legislation in the first place. Starting at the top with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), you find a woman who is not at all ashamed of the legislation she has passed, despite the disastrous poll numbers. Pelosi says she is “very, very proud of the work that was accomplished by this Congress.” The American people, though, think differently, and they have already issued their verdict on the 111th Congress by way of an earthshaking election in November. If you take a look at some of Congress’ big-ticket “accomplishments,” you might understand where they’re coming from. Here’s a look at 10 major pieces of legislation coming out of Congress the last two years and why Americans might not be so pleased:
1. Obamacare: Billed as the panacea for America’s health care woes, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare,” is a 2,700-page behemoth that “portends a massive transfer of power, dollars and decision making to the federal government,” says Heritage’s Nina Owcharenko. Heritage also finds that under the law, workers and families will face increased costs, seniors will lose access to care, and American taxpayers will take the hit for a trillion dollars in new federal spending. (3/2010)
2. The Failed Stimulus (a.k.a., the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act): President Obama promised that his stimulus would save or create 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010. The result? America saw a bunch of orange and green “ARRA” signs sprout up like dandelions all over America, touting the slogan “Putting America to Work,” but here we are in December 2010 with a 9.8 percent unemployment rate, a national debt of $2.9 trillion, and 7.3 million jobs shy of President Obama’s promise. Some stimulus! (2/2009)
3. The 9,000-Earmark Omnibus Bill: Never mind the $1.4 trillion budget deficit facing America in 2009. Congress went ahead and passed an omnibus spending bill containing 9,287 pork project earmarks costing $13 billion. Included in the earmarks were a $200,000 tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, Calif., and more than a million dollars to combat Mormon Crickets in Utah. (3/2009)
4. Mountains of Debt: You can’t pin it on one piece of legislation alone, but the 111th Congress has piled heaps upon heaps of new debt — a massive $3.22 trillion. That comes out to $10,429.64 for every man, woman and child counted in the 2010 census. That’s more debt racked-up than in the first 100 Congresses combined, according to CNSNews.com. The total national debt as of the 111th Congress’ last day? $13.859 trillion.
5. The Government Union Bailout: As if one massive bailout weren’t enough, President Obama and the 111th Congress delivered another $26.1 billion bailout in the summer of 2010. The beneficiaries? Government unions and big-spending states that wouldn’t know a balanced budget if it smacked them in the face. The bill was supposed to “save” jobs, but the reality is that most jobs were never in jeopardy. (8/2010)
6. Wall Street Reform? Think Again: While President Obama touted the Dodd-Frank bill of 2010 as a reform of Wall Street and America’s financial rules, the resulting law is a boon for lawyers and lobbyists, thanks to its creation of 243 new formal rule-makings by 11 different federal agencies. What’s more, the bill “does nothing to stop future government bailouts,” makes a TARP-like bailout system permanent, and does nothing to reform two of the biggest culprits behind the financial crisis: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (7/2010)
7. The “Neighborhood Destabilization Act”: Speaker Pelosi would refer to it as the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act,” but in reality the law does the opposite by “putting millions of homeowners or potential buyers at greater risk of an unstable credit and housing market and creating high interest rates in the future.” And if you’re a responsible homeowner, you lose big time.
8. Cash for Clunkers: Stuck with an old car or truck? Under this plan, the U.S. government would have paid you $3,500 to $4,500 to trade it in for a new, more fuel efficient vehicle. Though the program boosted sales for the two months it was in place, a study showed the clunker program was a clinker. It didn’t bring new buyers into the market; it merely accelerated purchases. The cost to the taxpayers? $3 billion. (According to an Edmunds analysis, it came to $24,000 per car.) (6/2009)
9. New START: President Obama sold this nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia as an effort to reduce nuclear weapons. Conservatives, though, criticized it for being “useless in limiting proliferation, detrimental to missile defense, and counter to the purpose of defense treaties — defending and protecting America from her enemies.” (12/2010)
10. Cap-and-Trade: The Waxman-Markey climate bill that passed the House was intended to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions with the goal of curbing global warming. Were it enacted (which it wasn’t), the plan would have increased gas prices by 58%, and average household electric rates would increase by 90% by 2035. (Passed House in 6/2009; stalled in Senate)
Americans should expect better results from the 112th Congress, that is, if the newly-elected representatives heed their electoral mandate: less spending, lower taxes and limited government. But Americans should also be aware that even if Congress stays in line, President Obama can still pursue a big government agenda with more regulations from unelected bureaucrats. As the president said when the Democrats lost the House and failed to enact cap-and-trade, “I’m going to be looking for other means to address this problem.” America, look out.
Quick Hits:
* According to New York City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), Sanitation Department union bosses ordered their drivers to slow the New York blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts.
* More banks failed in 2010, 157 in all, than any year since the savings-and-loan crisis ended in 1992.
* Gary Shilling of A. Gary Shilling & Co. predicts housing prices will drop another 20%.
* Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) worries that Ohio’s loss of two congressional seats means his district will be eliminated.
* Since Election Day, 25 members of state legislatures have switched from the Democrat party to Republican.
The 111th Congress is officially over, and according to Gallup, it’s also officially the worst Congress in the history of polling. Yet despite its 13% approval rating there are those who are hailing the 111th Congress for its myriad legislative “accomplishments.” Not surprisingly, many of those touting those “accomplishments” are the very members of Congress who voted for the legislation in the first place. Starting at the top with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), you find a woman who is not at all ashamed of the legislation she has passed, despite the disastrous poll numbers. Pelosi says she is “very, very proud of the work that was accomplished by this Congress.” The American people, though, think differently, and they have already issued their verdict on the 111th Congress by way of an earthshaking election in November. If you take a look at some of Congress’ big-ticket “accomplishments,” you might understand where they’re coming from. Here’s a look at 10 major pieces of legislation coming out of Congress the last two years and why Americans might not be so pleased:
1. Obamacare: Billed as the panacea for America’s health care woes, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare,” is a 2,700-page behemoth that “portends a massive transfer of power, dollars and decision making to the federal government,” says Heritage’s Nina Owcharenko. Heritage also finds that under the law, workers and families will face increased costs, seniors will lose access to care, and American taxpayers will take the hit for a trillion dollars in new federal spending. (3/2010)
2. The Failed Stimulus (a.k.a., the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act): President Obama promised that his stimulus would save or create 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010. The result? America saw a bunch of orange and green “ARRA” signs sprout up like dandelions all over America, touting the slogan “Putting America to Work,” but here we are in December 2010 with a 9.8 percent unemployment rate, a national debt of $2.9 trillion, and 7.3 million jobs shy of President Obama’s promise. Some stimulus! (2/2009)
3. The 9,000-Earmark Omnibus Bill: Never mind the $1.4 trillion budget deficit facing America in 2009. Congress went ahead and passed an omnibus spending bill containing 9,287 pork project earmarks costing $13 billion. Included in the earmarks were a $200,000 tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, Calif., and more than a million dollars to combat Mormon Crickets in Utah. (3/2009)
4. Mountains of Debt: You can’t pin it on one piece of legislation alone, but the 111th Congress has piled heaps upon heaps of new debt — a massive $3.22 trillion. That comes out to $10,429.64 for every man, woman and child counted in the 2010 census. That’s more debt racked-up than in the first 100 Congresses combined, according to CNSNews.com. The total national debt as of the 111th Congress’ last day? $13.859 trillion.
5. The Government Union Bailout: As if one massive bailout weren’t enough, President Obama and the 111th Congress delivered another $26.1 billion bailout in the summer of 2010. The beneficiaries? Government unions and big-spending states that wouldn’t know a balanced budget if it smacked them in the face. The bill was supposed to “save” jobs, but the reality is that most jobs were never in jeopardy. (8/2010)
6. Wall Street Reform? Think Again: While President Obama touted the Dodd-Frank bill of 2010 as a reform of Wall Street and America’s financial rules, the resulting law is a boon for lawyers and lobbyists, thanks to its creation of 243 new formal rule-makings by 11 different federal agencies. What’s more, the bill “does nothing to stop future government bailouts,” makes a TARP-like bailout system permanent, and does nothing to reform two of the biggest culprits behind the financial crisis: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (7/2010)
7. The “Neighborhood Destabilization Act”: Speaker Pelosi would refer to it as the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act,” but in reality the law does the opposite by “putting millions of homeowners or potential buyers at greater risk of an unstable credit and housing market and creating high interest rates in the future.” And if you’re a responsible homeowner, you lose big time.
8. Cash for Clunkers: Stuck with an old car or truck? Under this plan, the U.S. government would have paid you $3,500 to $4,500 to trade it in for a new, more fuel efficient vehicle. Though the program boosted sales for the two months it was in place, a study showed the clunker program was a clinker. It didn’t bring new buyers into the market; it merely accelerated purchases. The cost to the taxpayers? $3 billion. (According to an Edmunds analysis, it came to $24,000 per car.) (6/2009)
9. New START: President Obama sold this nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia as an effort to reduce nuclear weapons. Conservatives, though, criticized it for being “useless in limiting proliferation, detrimental to missile defense, and counter to the purpose of defense treaties — defending and protecting America from her enemies.” (12/2010)
10. Cap-and-Trade: The Waxman-Markey climate bill that passed the House was intended to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions with the goal of curbing global warming. Were it enacted (which it wasn’t), the plan would have increased gas prices by 58%, and average household electric rates would increase by 90% by 2035. (Passed House in 6/2009; stalled in Senate)
Americans should expect better results from the 112th Congress, that is, if the newly-elected representatives heed their electoral mandate: less spending, lower taxes and limited government. But Americans should also be aware that even if Congress stays in line, President Obama can still pursue a big government agenda with more regulations from unelected bureaucrats. As the president said when the Democrats lost the House and failed to enact cap-and-trade, “I’m going to be looking for other means to address this problem.” America, look out.
Quick Hits:
* According to New York City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), Sanitation Department union bosses ordered their drivers to slow the New York blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts.
* More banks failed in 2010, 157 in all, than any year since the savings-and-loan crisis ended in 1992.
* Gary Shilling of A. Gary Shilling & Co. predicts housing prices will drop another 20%.
* Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) worries that Ohio’s loss of two congressional seats means his district will be eliminated.
* Since Election Day, 25 members of state legislatures have switched from the Democrat party to Republican.
Optimism Israeli Style
RubinReports
Barry Rubin
Israelis are known for being gloomy about the political situation. In fact, they generally enjoy criticizing things (themselves above all). As a result, Israel's enemies often make the mistake of underestimating the country's ability to endure, struggle, and prevail.
A typical example came in a recent Arab newspaper article that claims the serious fire in northern Israel was a sign of the country's collapse. Not so fast! So when very positive economic figures are released for 2010, Haaretz, the left-wing newspaper, has to put its own spin on them.
Actually, the numbers are really impressive: Israel's economy did better than predicted. It grew by about 4.5 percent in 2010 compared to only 2.7 percent for all of the other OECD (the club of developed) nations. While living standards went down in most of the West, in Israel they rose by 2.7 percent in Israel.
Pretty good, right?
So naturally, at the bottom of this article, Haaretz had to have the following:
"More on this topic: Researchers: Israel's economy is headed for disaster."
Why? Because of some rather questionable projections that the Arab and Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") population will continue to grow until they compose three-quarters of the country's population.
Now, the quiz for the day: Which story received major coverage in the New York Times? Israel is doing very well economically (based on facts) or the prediction of doom (based on, well, not based on facts)? No prizes for this one. Too predictable! LOL
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org and of his blog, Rubin Reports, http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com.
Barry Rubin
Israelis are known for being gloomy about the political situation. In fact, they generally enjoy criticizing things (themselves above all). As a result, Israel's enemies often make the mistake of underestimating the country's ability to endure, struggle, and prevail.
A typical example came in a recent Arab newspaper article that claims the serious fire in northern Israel was a sign of the country's collapse. Not so fast! So when very positive economic figures are released for 2010, Haaretz, the left-wing newspaper, has to put its own spin on them.
Actually, the numbers are really impressive: Israel's economy did better than predicted. It grew by about 4.5 percent in 2010 compared to only 2.7 percent for all of the other OECD (the club of developed) nations. While living standards went down in most of the West, in Israel they rose by 2.7 percent in Israel.
Pretty good, right?
So naturally, at the bottom of this article, Haaretz had to have the following:
"More on this topic: Researchers: Israel's economy is headed for disaster."
Why? Because of some rather questionable projections that the Arab and Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") population will continue to grow until they compose three-quarters of the country's population.
Now, the quiz for the day: Which story received major coverage in the New York Times? Israel is doing very well economically (based on facts) or the prediction of doom (based on, well, not based on facts)? No prizes for this one. Too predictable! LOL
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org and of his blog, Rubin Reports, http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com.
Do You Believe In Headlines?
My Right Word
It translates:
"In the year 2000, Israel won't be Jewish"
The person who uttered that prognostication is Prof. Arnon Soffer. He's to Geula Cohen's right.
If you go here, htis Central Bureau of Statistics of Israel site, in Hebrew, you'lll find this information:
there are 7.7 million persons residing in Israel.of them, 5.8 million are Jews (75.4%)
1.57 million are Arabs (20.4%)
.320 million are other (4.2%)
How's that for academic professional ability?
Now, take into consideration that in Judea and Samaria live 1.6 million Arabs (the 'official figure' of 2.5 million is off as it includes a double-count of .200 million residing in jerusalem and .400 million who actually reside abroad (and do you know how many Israelis live abroad?), that leaves a Jewish majority between the River and the Sea of 66%.
After 23 years.
Not bad.
Comment: As an academic I can attest to the intentional combination of political ideology and "facts" combined in reports, articles, lectures that are, be design, meant to indoctrinate their listeners and/or their "followers". Gone is the notion of neutrality and skepticism required of bona fide researchers. Today's academic pretenders are driven (motivated) by the promotion of their opinions and being accepted within the "circle of accommodation" rather than seeking truth. They use their positions in a manner consistent with out of integrity actions. A pity as the society has trusted us to do better and they pay our salaries-we have failed them!
Is Settlement Growth Booming?
TOVAH LAZAROFF
The question sounds simple. And building has certainly resumed since the 10-month moratorium ended in September. But the true picture is far more complex.
Palestinian moves to censure Israel in the United Nations Security Council over settlement construction are the latest in a series of steps they have taken to place West Bank Jewish communities at the heart of the conflict. Now that the US has failed to sway Israel to continue forcibly curbing such activity, the Palestinian Authority has held fast to its stance that no talks can be held while West Bank Jewish building continues. The intensified focus on settlement construction has generated confusion and misunderstanding over what is actually happening in the settlements, particularly when it comes to growth. The following is a guide which answers some of the fundamental questions.
What exactly constitutes a settlement?
Settlements are communities located in any area over the Green Line – other than in east Jerusalem – that were given legal status by the government, in most cases through a cabinet decision. They were created between 1967 and 1999. Unlike other communities, settlements fall under the jurisdiction of the Defense Ministry, and all construction in them must be approved both by that ministry and by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The international community considers any West Bank settlement construction to be illegal and includes Jewish areas of Jerusalem over the Green Line when it speaks of settlements. Israel, however, does not speak of any part of the capital as a settlement, because it annexed the eastern part of Jerusalem after the Six Day War, a move which under Israeli law gave that section of the city same legal status as any other community within the pre-1967 borders. Unlike the international community, the US does not classify east Jerusalem as a settlement, although it has spoken out sharply against construction there.
And what exactly are outposts?
Outposts are communities over the Green Line and outside of Jerusalem – constructed between 1991 and 2004 – that were not authorized by the government.
Fledgling outpost sites created after this time lack the same level of infrastructure and support, and are often removed by the Defense Ministry.
How many settlements are there and how many people live in them?
According to provisional data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, as of June 2010, 303,900 people lived in 122 West Bank settlements. In 2009, the settlement population was 296,700. The CBS this year recalibrated its population data countrywide, a move that created changes in population data it had previously released in 2008 and 2009. Of those 122 settlements, 23 registered no population increase or had a declining population in 2009, when compared with 2008. Another 72 grew by fewer than 100 people, and 51 of them grew by fewer than 50 people. Only Modi’in Illit and Betar Illit grew by more than 1,000 people.
When it comes to the population of the settlements, 71 had a population of fewer than 1,000 in 2009 and of those, 48 had a population of fewer than 500.
Another 24 had a population of anywhere between 1,000 to 2,000. Only five settlements have a population of more than 10,000.
Is Israel still building new settlements?
No. Israel last approved a settlement, Negahot, in 1999, according to the CBS. All new legal settlement involves building within the boundaries of an existing settlement. Left-wing groups, such as Peace Now, however, have contended that some Jewish West Bank construction is akin to the creation of a settlement, even if technically it is within the boundaries of an already authorized community.
According to the CBS, 47 settlements were built between 1967 and 1979. Another 70 were constructed between 1980 and 1989. Only five were built between 1990 and 1999. Starting in 1990, most construction and population increases involved growth in already existing settlements. From 1967 until 1991, the settler population grew from 0 to 94,100. From January 1992 until June 2010, it tripled, growing by another 209,800.
How does Israel measure settlement growth?
Growth is measured both by population and construction increase. The CBS provides annual and sometimes biannual data on population growth. It also releases construction data on a quarterly and yearly basis. The CBS often updates its database to modify its numbers, which creates a number of minor discrepancies.
This data focuses solely on construction of permanent housing that is considered legal. It is broken down into three categories: housing starts, housing finishes and active construction. Out of the three, the finishes provide the most accurate construction assessment, because they represent completed apartments or homes that families can move into.
Housing starts, which indicate how many foundations have been laid, are a fairly good indication of what one can expect to see in the finishes, but they are not absolute as projects can get delayed for financial and legal reasons. Also, there is an increasing trend among settlers to lay false starts, whereby those who have permits but might not be ready to start building, break ground and lay a foundation anyway. They do this to ensure their ability to build, should a freeze be imposed, even though it might be a while before they can begin real work on the site.
The CBS figures for active construction indicate how much work is actually going on.
Often that number is twice as large as the finishes and starts. While CBS data is comprehensive in assessing settlement growth on an overall level, it only provides individual data on the five largest settlements.
The absence of this individual data, which the CBS refuses to release, makes it impossible to analyze present construction trends within settlements, although population statistics are fairly good indicators of where past construction has occurred.
The only significant alternative to the CBS is Peace Now, which does primary research on the settlements, both through on the ground research and aerial photographs.
Although it does not release consistent data, it provides information on construction in individual settlements. It also gives information on settlement activity not included by the CBS, such as illegal construction, modular housing and outposts.
What does the CBS measure when it looks at construction?
It measures only legal homes or apartment units in settlements. Illegal construction, outposts and caravans are broken out separately.
Public institutions, roads and commercial structures are also not included in the standard calculation. Since the moratorium ended, much attention has been paid to housing starts, rather than finishes, by way of assessing the moratorium’s immediate impact, if any, on construction trends.
What was the construction freeze?
The freeze was a 10-month moratorium on housing starts that lasted from November 26, 2009 to September 26, 2010. Work, however, was allowed to continue on 3,000 apartment units for which foundations had already been laid. According to the CBS, only 50 foundations were laid in West Bank settlements from January 1 through September 26 of this year.
How much construction has there been in the West Bank?
Since 1994, housing starts have ranged from a low of 1,320 to a high of 2,520, with the exception of a four-year blip from 1998- 2001 when the numbers almost doubled.
Housing finishes were similar. In 2009, housing numbers were slightly on the high end.
Starts were 1,920 and finishes were 2,070.
Has there been a construction boom in the settlements since the end of the freeze?
No hard data has been presented to indicate that the number of settler housing starts this year has increased. The best calculation of how many housing projects had broken ground since the freeze ended came from a November 13 Peace Now report based on aerial photographs. It showed that 1,126 new foundations had been laid in close to 60 settlements.
That number, which does not include data from the last seven weeks of the year, falls short of the CBS data of 1,920 housing starts in 2009.
Last week, Peace Now released a new number of 1,712 starts. That includes illegal construction, including in outposts, as well three factories and units for which foundations had yet to be laid, but it did not significantly update its database of housing starts. Peace Now has said that is likely to wait until at least January before reporting on additional starts, but it believes that its data is very conservative and that much more construction has occurred than even it has reported. CBS data for October, November and December will not be available until the end of February.
Why do NGOs such as Peace Now talk about a construction boom?
Peace Now is projecting a boom, but it is not reporting on an existing one. It is looking at the pace of construction and not at the existing data on actual starts. Based on the November report and additional monitoring, Peace Now has estimated that when it comes to housing starts, settlers have done in three months what in past years they did in 12. It believes this is the start of a new rate of settlement activity and this rapid pace will continue into next year. It is Peace Now’s contention that the next year’s data will show that a construction boom exists, even though it does not reflect that kind of hike now.
What is the backlog effect?
Peace Now’s argument does not take into account the possibility of false starts. Nor does it address the backlog effect. New foundations since the freeze ended are most likely the housing projects that would have been initiated at the normal pace throughout the year had the freeze not prevented such activity.
For there to be a construction boom above and beyond the backlog, one would have to have the standard number of projects plus extra ones. If this were occurring, the numbers of foundations would have to be significantly higher than last year. Numbers available to date show that this has not happened.
Peace Now has also not taken into account the 21 percent drop in the number of finishes for the first three quarters of 2010, as reported by the CBS. During the moratorium settlers had the ability to finish 3,000 homes, but they didn’t. If ideology was the determining factor in settlement building, settlers should have picked up the pace at which they finished construction on available houses.
It was the best and easiest way to continue to stake a claim to the land and to increase population. The fear of a total freeze should have pushed then to move as fast as they could.
But instead of picking up the pace, settlers slowed down. For the first nine months of this year, they finished work on 1,175 homes, even though nothing was stopping them from completing as many as 3,000.
Are the demographics of settlement construction changing?
Settlement construction is often lumped into one category, as if rampant building is happening in every settlement. In reality, construction is going on in fewer than half the 122 settlements. It occurs on a large scale in only a small number. From 1996 to 2009, for example, 33,591 houses were built. Exactly 16,999 of them, 51%, were constructed in the three largest settlements: Modi’in Illit, Betar Illit and Ma’aleh Adumim. In 2009, for example, there were 2,070 finishes. Out of those 1,217 were in those three settlements. The other 853 were in the other 119 settlements.
What is the silent freeze?
Since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu entered office in March 2008, settlers have warned of a silent freeze, a failure to approve new construction, that would halt settlement building. To date, Netanyahu has approved no public tenders and has given the go ahead to only 500 new units of private construction. As a result, 14 of the 19 largest settlements are out of permits.
Most significantly, Betar Illit, the second largest, and Ma’aleh Adumim, the third, are out of construction permits. This means they cannot start new projects. From 1996-2009, these two cities contributed 31% of all settlement construction.
Can smaller settlements make up for the anticipated silent freeze in Ma’aleh Adumim and Betar Illit?
A September Peace Now report claimed that settlers have permits for 11,047 homes in at least 48 settlements and there is nothing to stop them from building unless a new freeze is imposed. It also explains that its November report of 1,126 new foundations revealed a new pattern of construction, in which building increased in smaller settlements.
Only 30% of that construction was in the three largest settlements, compared with 70% last year. The drop was particularly sharp at Modi’in Illit and Betar Illit. There is some speculation that Modi’in Illit could soon be out of permits.
Peace Now is concerned that the number of available permits is higher than it reported, given that it was unable to determine the status of permits in 43 settlements. In the past, settlers have not rushed to make use of these permits, in part because they are in settlements where the need is not so great, and where leaders want growth to happen more slowly. The Megilot Regional Council in the Dead Sea has close to a thousand permits, but it plans to build at a staggered pace over at least the next decade. Even Tekoa, in a highly desirable location, which can build some 500 homes, is only working on 32. But Peace Now believes that settlers could decide to accelerate these plans.
Comment: I appreciate the reporting of data and explanations. However, left out of the discussion is: "settlers" is a politically driven term used to describe Israeli citizens. Yes, they are citizens with the same rights as those living inside the green line. In addition, they live, at the initial request of the government in disputed territories of Samaria and Judea and under international law have rights to these lands. Until the government refrains from using this term the political weapon will not only be used against Israel it will be ramped up to further divide the Israeli population and force policies detrimental to the safety of all Israelis.
Judaeophobia vs Islamophobia
Phyllis Chesler
Although he was loyal to a Middle Eastern country, the American military hired him as an intelligence officer and translator anyway—partly because he knew an important Middle East language. Nevertheless, he was a poor choice. This man passed classified documents to “insurgents” in Iraq who were battling American forces; he also had conversations with members of Al Qaeda and kept their documents on his computer. His name—one of five aliases—is Noureddine Malki. He pretended to be from Lebanon, the persecuted son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother, and on this basis allegedly sought and received asylum in America, naturalized citizenship, and a job as an Arabic translator for the Army. He received top secret clearance and was working in Iraq where he took bribes from various Sunni sheikhs and passed classified information on to them.
He was caught, tried and, in 2008, sentenced to—ten years. Currently, Noureddine Malki (if that is his real name) communicates with people from his jail cell. He claims that he was once held in solitary for six months and wants the ACLU to investigate.
Jonathan Pollard was held in solitary for seven years and has been held captive for twenty five years.
Pollard has absolutely no blood on his hands. He has been scapegoated for the considerable crimes of the non-Jewish American Soviet spy Aldrich Ames. Unlike Noureddine Malki and Ames, Pollard passed secrets to an American ally, not to a terrorist group with which America was or is now at war.
Since I published my first piece about Pollard, I have done some further research. The facts strongly suggest that Pollard is primarily guilty of being a Jew and a Zionist. The fact that he also behaved recklessly, criminally or, some might say, heroically on behalf of America’s ally, Israel, is almost beside the point.
Why was Pollard given so long a sentence? Why was Noureddine Malki given so short a sentence?
Is racial ( racist) profiling the issue? Is Judeophobia more of an issue than Islamophobia is?
Radio and television host Zev Brenner, who interviewed me recently about my previous Pollard piece, has been calling for congressional hearings on the “racial profiling of Jews in American military intelligence and in the CIA and FBI.” This is a hot issue and a hotly contested one. (I may return to this in another column.) Brenner called my attention to the cases of David Tenenbaum and Adam Ciralsky, both of whom were targeted as pro-Israel and/or as observant Jews.
In 1997, Tenenbaum was wrongfully accused of being an Israeli spy. According to the Defense Department’s own report, Tenenbaum was specifically targeted because he was an observant Orthodox Jew: “It was well known that Mr. Tenenbaum was Jewish, lived his religious beliefs and by his actions appeared to have a close affinity for Israel,” the report said. “We believe that Mr. Tenenbaum was subjected to unusual and unwelcome scrutiny because of his faith and ethnic background, a practice that would undoubtedly fit a definition of discrimination.” The 62-page report added: “Mr. Tenenbaum experienced religious discrimination when his Judaism was weighed as a significant factor in the decision to submit him for an increase in his security clearance.” The investigation failed to turn up any evidence against Tenenbaum.
The report also explains that one of the reasons Tenenbaum was hired in the first place was because he speaks Hebrew—obviously another Middle Eastern language.
Here’s another example of the kind of racial (and/or racist) profiling I’m talking about. In 1999, Adam Ciralsky was placed on unpaid leave because he had contacts with Israelis. His “ties” to Israel included supporting Jewish causes like the United Jewish Appeal and buying Israel bonds. Eleven years later, Ciralsky’s lawsuit still has not been resolved.
One of the CIA documents accusing Ciralsky said: “I think that it is important that he state openly [that] he and his family support…the Likud Party,” one document says. “He may simply be withholding on this issue, because it paints him and his family as extreme supporters of Israel’s hard-liners in the Likud Party, and he wishes to avoid being seen as such a lover of Israel.” Another accused him of having a “wealthy daddy” who supports Israeli causes.
2010: The Year of Islamist Infiltration
Patrick Poole
Pajamas Media
At the end of last year I reflected here at Pajamas Media that 2009 represented a “tipping point for domestic terror.” Grimly, that assessment has borne out — recall the terror attacks aimed at New York City’s Times Square and Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, the Baltimore recruiting station bomber, and the virtual host of homegrown terror arrests racked up this year. While the domestic terror trend has continued unabated, elements of pre-violent, or rather stealth, jihad are taking firm root in our government, military, judicial, and educational institutions, without the slightest opposition from the Obama administration and our homeland security agencies. In fact, if we’ve seen anything this year, it has been the willingness of government officials to lend their support to aid this stealth jihad.
The failure to recognize the “civilizational jihad” being waged against us is a bipartisan problem. Driven mainly by Muslim Brotherhood front groups and pushed by non-violent Islamist organizations in the West, the threat remains badly underrated by our national security establishment. But it was placed front and center by the report titled “Shariah: The Threat to America,” issued by the Team B II panel of national security experts including former CIA Director Jim Woolsey and former DIA Director Lt. Gen. Ed Soyster.
I was honored to participate in Team B II. To my dismay, this past year we have had an onslaught of examples demonstrating how far the stealth jihad outlined by Team B II has advanced:
* January: Maine drops fine against Christian group for “inflammatory anti-Muslim message” following federal lawsuit. In a June 2009 exclusive Pajamas Media article I reported that the state of Maine had issued a fine against the Christian Action Network (CAN) for a laundry list of violations, including the claim that one of their mailings contained an “inflammatory anti-Muslim message.” CAN, aided by attorneys from Liberty Counsel, took the state of Maine to federal court, where the case was heard by Judge D. Brock Hornby. According to the hearing transcript, Maine Assistant Attorney General Thomas Knowlton argued that CAN “is not entitled to First Amendment protection,” to which Judge Hornby immediately replied, “Say that again?” Eventually, the state of Maine abandoned their absurd anti-constitutional position, admitted that fining CAN for their exercise of free speech was an error, and settled out of court. This case demonstrated that not only would state officials act to enforce preferential shariah prohibitions on defamation of Islam and blasphemy in violation of the First Amendment, but that critics who run afoul of the sensibilities of politically correct bureaucrats must turn to the federal courts and expend considerable resources (in this case, more than the fine imposed) to defend their most basic First Amendment rights.
* January: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano meets with terror-tied groups. Based on internal DHS emails obtained through FOIA by Judicial Watch, DHS officials put together a two-day meeting including Secretary Napolitano with representatives from several groups named as unindicted co-conspirators in the largest terrorism financing trial in American history, and also groups that have openly supported terrorist organizations. One participant, Salam al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), blamed Israel for the 9/11 attacks in a Los Angeles radio station interview — on the day of the terror attacks. MPAC has also called for the U.S. government to delist Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations. After reviewing the 300+ pages of emails and documents obtained concerning the “interfaith” meeting, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said, “I fail to see how consorting with radicals helps the DHS protect the United States.”
* March: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca defends Hamas front CAIR before Congress. Testifying before a House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Terror Risk Assessment, Sheriff Baca was asked by Rep. Mark Souder about his appearances at fundraisers held by the Council on America-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and at what point such endorsement gives legitimacy to the group’s well-known activities in support of Hamas. Baca reacted angrily, saying that he would attend 10 more CAIR fundraisers. When Souder pressed Baca about FBI testimony that CAIR was a front for Hamas, Baca interrupted the congressman, claiming that his patriotism (rather than his judgment) was being questioned. He later told the Los Angeles Times, “When you attack CAIR, you attack virtually every Muslim in America.” Unfortunately for Sheriff Baca, not only has the DOJ confirmed CAIR’s Hamas support to members of Congress, but that assessment has been seconded by federal Judge Jorge Solis based on evidence submitted by the DOJ in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial.
* April: Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Hajjaj leads prayers on Capitol Hill for congressional Muslim staffers. As part of an ongoing investigation into a long line of extremists invited to preach on Capitol Hill by the Congressional Muslim Staff Association (CMSA), I reported here exclusively about the appearance of Anwar Hajjaj as a speaker at CMSA’s Friday jummah prayers inside the U.S. Capitol. Hajjaj is the former head of the Taibah International Aid Association, which was listed by the U.S. government in May 2004 as a designated global terrorist organization for its financial support of al-Qaeda. A video essay by Roll Call recorded Hajjaj leading the April 16th CMSA event. A subsequent report published by Fox News chronicled a long list of recent CMSA prayer leaders who cultivate terrorist ties, who have made statements in support of terrorism, and who are known foreign agents.
* May: White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan defends jihad as “legitimate tenet of Islam.” As documented in our Team B II report (p. 155), since the publication of the 9/11 Commission’s report, where “jihad” was invoked 126 times and Islam cited 322 times, both terms, along with “al-Qaeda,” “Hamas,” “Hezbollah,” “Caliph,” and “shariah” have been entirely purged from all recent national security documents at the request of Muslim Brotherhood-backed groups claiming that the use of such terms legitimizes terrorism. But White House counterterrorism czar John Brennan went a step further, claiming in a speech that jihad was a legitimate tenet of Islam. When questioned about his claim after reiterating it in a sit-down interview with the editors of the Washington Times, Brennan stormed out, saying, “I’m not going to go into this sort of history discussion here.”
* May: Boston-area public school children on a field trip to terror-tied mosque pulled from group to participate in afternoon prayers. An undercover video released by Americans for Peace and Tolerance showed students on a field trip to the extremist Islamic Society of Boston mosque being pulled out of their student group and being led in offering prayers to Allah during an ongoing prayer service. As reported by APT, the teachers did not intervene and the parents were never told. Only when the video was released and parents began complaining did school officials apologize for the event. Just days before the field trip, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick appeared at the mosque, despite video taken in March showing the mosque’s imam calling for supporters to “grab onto the gun, and the sword” in defense of local terror suspects Aafia Siddiqui and Tarek Mehanna. One founding trustee of the mosque is currently serving a 23 year prison sentence, and at least three others mosque attendees and supporters have fled the county to avoid prosecution.
* June: Ohio Homeland Security official fired for lying about previous job with Jordanian government. In March, Ohio Homeland Security community engagement director Omar Alomari was testifying before Congress on radicalization, notwithstanding his open support for terror-tied organizations in taxpayer-funded literature. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy described Alomari’s publications as “classic Islamist propaganda.” But just weeks after his appearance before Congress, Alomari was fired for lying to investigators about his previous work experience, including his prior tenure as a high-ranking official for the Jordanian government, which he conveniently failed to disclose in his background check documentation.
* August: State Department funds Ground Zero mosque imam’s tour of Middle East despite extremist statements and widespread public opposition. My Pajamas Media colleague Claudia Rosett broke the news that the State Department was sponsoring a trip of the Middle East by Ground Zero mosque imam Feisal Rauf despite reported statements made by Rauf comparing the United States to al-Qaeda. “We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al-Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims,” Rauf claimed during a 2005 conference in Australia. After inquiries had been made about the State Department’s sponsorship of Rauf’s tour, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told Fox News, “We are aware of those remarks.” Emails from New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s office released in just the past few weeks show coordination between the Ground Zero mosque developers and Bloomberg staffers, including drafting statements for mosque officials and pledges to “give political cover” to Landmarks Preservation Commission officials who greenlit the project. Bloomberg’s office still has not released all of the emails and documents requested by Judicial Watch and the American Center for Law and Justice.
* September: FBI gives U.S. Hamas official guided tour through top-secret NCTC and FBI Academy. During the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial, Chicago Imam Kifah Mustapha was named unindicted co-conspirator in the case by federal prosecutors, and FBI agent Lara Burns testified that Mustapha was part of a singing troupe that glorified Hamas and encouraged the killing of Jews. Earlier this year, Mustapha was removed as an Illinois State Police chaplain in the wake of media reports noting his terrorist support activities. That didn’t prevent the FBI Chicago field office from hosting Mustapha in a six-week Citizen’s Academy course, which included a guided tour of the top-secret National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and the FBI Academy at Quantico. After I first reported that Mustapha had been given the NCTC tour, including a picture of Mustapha standing in the NCTC lobby, the FBI initially denied my report and claimed the photo had been fabricated. Two days later, they admitted to Fox News that he had in fact participated in the program and the photo was authentic — but defended the decision, saying that he was “a prominent figure in the community.” One former FBI official told the Washington Times that Mustapha was “a known senior Hamas guy.” When FBI Director Robert Mueller was questioned about the Hamas figure’s participating in the program after a speech the following week, Mueller defended the program but said that “I am not going to talk about any particular individual.”
* September: Group raided by FBI in terror support probe had received nearly $500k in taxpayer funds and was invited to White House meeting in April. At the same time the FBI Chicago field office was attempting to explain their inclusion of a senior Hamas figure in one of their programs, they were raiding the home of Hatem Abudayyeh as part of a grand jury investigation into terrorism support for Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Just days after the raids, it was reported that Abudayyeh’s organization, the Arab-American Action Network, had received at least $457,000 in taxpayer funds from the city of Chicago for “after-school programs.” That news was followed by a Politico report that Abudayyeh had been invited to the White House earlier this year to participate in a meeting on immigration issues and civil rights. Abudayyeh had also been the subject of a glowing PBS Independent Lens program. Several of Abudayyeh’s associates who were subpoenaed by the federal grand jury in the case have refused to appear.
* October: DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano swears in radical Islamist Mohamed Elibiary to Homeland Security Advisory Council. On the same day that I submitted an article concerning Mohamed Elibiary’s participation in the DHS Countering Violent Extremism Working Group and a December 2004 conference honoring Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini (an event that the Dallas Morning News described as a “disgrace”), unbeknownst to me, DHS Secretary Napolitano appointed Elibiary to serve as the only Muslim member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Recently Elibiary has billed himself as a “deradicalization expert,” despite abundant evidence of his previous defense of terrorist support organizations, his praise for jihadist authors, and his threats made against a Dallas journalist who repeatedly exposed his extremist views.
* November: U.S. smbassador to UK visits extremist East London Mosque as part of Obama administration’s “Muslim outreach.” Stirring international outrage, Louis B. Susman, American ambassador to Britian, visited the East London Mosque, well known as a longtime hotbed of extremism and terrorist incubator (it produced Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, last year’s underwear bomber). In January 2009, the mosque hosted a conference featuring wanted al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi via telephone. Just a few weeks before Susman’s visit, the mosque chairman had defended Aulaqi’s participation in the conference, calling it an act of “fairness and justice.” The visit by the U.S. ambassador was slammed in the Wall Street Journal by Shiraz Maher of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College, who described the mosque as “among Britain’s most extreme Islamic institutions.” Maher concluded that “Mr. Susman’s visit illustrates the blunders Western politicians often make by reaching out to the wrong Muslim ‘dialogue partners,” and that the attendance of such a high-ranking diplomat to the mosque “emboldened robed reactionaries at the expense of their more moderate counterparts.”
This list is not exhaustive. Certainly more examples could be cited. The Obama administration’s failure to understand the problem of Islamic radicalization and terrorism is fundamental, fueled with an outreach-to-anyone-at-any-cost policy that is perhaps best typified by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s July statements that his foremost mission was to improve relations with the Muslim world. What these twelve examples demonstrate is that our national security, intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic establishment are utterly defenseless before the stealth jihad that is attacking the heart of our Western society.
If 2009 was the tipping point for domestic terror, 2010 is sure to be remembered as the year that the “civilizational jihad” continued apace. Hopefully in 2011, it will be clear to at least some of our political, civic, and religious leadership that a dramatic change in national policy is urgently needed.
Patrick Poole is a regular contributor to Pajamas Media, and an anti-terrorism consultant to law enforcement and the military.
Thanks to BR
Guest Comment from PM:However, Obama is well versed in Islam and what it entails and knows about its end-game.
“And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah”
Quran 8:39
The “civilizational jihad” is aided, abetted and planned in the White House.
Kareem Shora – Homeland Security Advisory Council
Dalia Mogahed – Homeland Security Advisory Counci
Rashad Hussain – envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference
Arif Alikhan – Assistant Secretary for Policy Development
Mazen Asbahi – Muslim Outreach Adviser
Islam A. Siddiqui – Chief Agricultural Negotiator Office of the US Trade
Huma Abedin – Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of State
Irfan Saeed – Department of Homeland Security
Shaarik Zafar – National Counter Terrorism Center
and another
IF people want to understand which way the Islamist wind is blowing, all they have to do is to look towards Europe.
The Maine case is a good place to start. In the same way in which appeasement Eurabians have muzzled public discourse on anything Islamic,(tarring and feathering all those who do so as inciters, racists, Islamophobes etc)so too are those who dare to state the truth within the US being silenced.Imagine that.The dangers are gathering warp speed from said Islamists, deep within the recesses of the US, and the leaders dare not utter Islamic terror as the origin of said dangers.Otherworldly….
Therefore, to read about the Maine case, and others which similarly silence ALL things Islamic,it is easy to conclude that the US will soon mirror Europe.
At the same time, the Infiltration of Islamists into the highest echelons of US power circles continues at warpspeed. While it was kept under the radar pre-9/11/01, the (Islamist) cat has been out of the bag since then. Paul Sperry’s masterpiece, ‘Infiltration’ is an eye opener, as is, ‘The Muslim Mafia’, by Sperry & Gaubatz.’Terrorist Cop’, by NYPD Detective Dzikansky & Slater, spells out in full detail what the US has to look forward to if the Islamists aren’t beaten back. It ain’t pretty….The above is just the tip….
At the end of the day, the Islamist fox IS deeply burrowed in the US,(cognitive dissonance notwithstanding)Hizbullah et al terror cells are in every ‘city USA’.
Pajamas Media
At the end of last year I reflected here at Pajamas Media that 2009 represented a “tipping point for domestic terror.” Grimly, that assessment has borne out — recall the terror attacks aimed at New York City’s Times Square and Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, the Baltimore recruiting station bomber, and the virtual host of homegrown terror arrests racked up this year. While the domestic terror trend has continued unabated, elements of pre-violent, or rather stealth, jihad are taking firm root in our government, military, judicial, and educational institutions, without the slightest opposition from the Obama administration and our homeland security agencies. In fact, if we’ve seen anything this year, it has been the willingness of government officials to lend their support to aid this stealth jihad.
The failure to recognize the “civilizational jihad” being waged against us is a bipartisan problem. Driven mainly by Muslim Brotherhood front groups and pushed by non-violent Islamist organizations in the West, the threat remains badly underrated by our national security establishment. But it was placed front and center by the report titled “Shariah: The Threat to America,” issued by the Team B II panel of national security experts including former CIA Director Jim Woolsey and former DIA Director Lt. Gen. Ed Soyster.
I was honored to participate in Team B II. To my dismay, this past year we have had an onslaught of examples demonstrating how far the stealth jihad outlined by Team B II has advanced:
* January: Maine drops fine against Christian group for “inflammatory anti-Muslim message” following federal lawsuit. In a June 2009 exclusive Pajamas Media article I reported that the state of Maine had issued a fine against the Christian Action Network (CAN) for a laundry list of violations, including the claim that one of their mailings contained an “inflammatory anti-Muslim message.” CAN, aided by attorneys from Liberty Counsel, took the state of Maine to federal court, where the case was heard by Judge D. Brock Hornby. According to the hearing transcript, Maine Assistant Attorney General Thomas Knowlton argued that CAN “is not entitled to First Amendment protection,” to which Judge Hornby immediately replied, “Say that again?” Eventually, the state of Maine abandoned their absurd anti-constitutional position, admitted that fining CAN for their exercise of free speech was an error, and settled out of court. This case demonstrated that not only would state officials act to enforce preferential shariah prohibitions on defamation of Islam and blasphemy in violation of the First Amendment, but that critics who run afoul of the sensibilities of politically correct bureaucrats must turn to the federal courts and expend considerable resources (in this case, more than the fine imposed) to defend their most basic First Amendment rights.
* January: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano meets with terror-tied groups. Based on internal DHS emails obtained through FOIA by Judicial Watch, DHS officials put together a two-day meeting including Secretary Napolitano with representatives from several groups named as unindicted co-conspirators in the largest terrorism financing trial in American history, and also groups that have openly supported terrorist organizations. One participant, Salam al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), blamed Israel for the 9/11 attacks in a Los Angeles radio station interview — on the day of the terror attacks. MPAC has also called for the U.S. government to delist Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations. After reviewing the 300+ pages of emails and documents obtained concerning the “interfaith” meeting, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said, “I fail to see how consorting with radicals helps the DHS protect the United States.”
* March: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca defends Hamas front CAIR before Congress. Testifying before a House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Terror Risk Assessment, Sheriff Baca was asked by Rep. Mark Souder about his appearances at fundraisers held by the Council on America-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and at what point such endorsement gives legitimacy to the group’s well-known activities in support of Hamas. Baca reacted angrily, saying that he would attend 10 more CAIR fundraisers. When Souder pressed Baca about FBI testimony that CAIR was a front for Hamas, Baca interrupted the congressman, claiming that his patriotism (rather than his judgment) was being questioned. He later told the Los Angeles Times, “When you attack CAIR, you attack virtually every Muslim in America.” Unfortunately for Sheriff Baca, not only has the DOJ confirmed CAIR’s Hamas support to members of Congress, but that assessment has been seconded by federal Judge Jorge Solis based on evidence submitted by the DOJ in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial.
* April: Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Hajjaj leads prayers on Capitol Hill for congressional Muslim staffers. As part of an ongoing investigation into a long line of extremists invited to preach on Capitol Hill by the Congressional Muslim Staff Association (CMSA), I reported here exclusively about the appearance of Anwar Hajjaj as a speaker at CMSA’s Friday jummah prayers inside the U.S. Capitol. Hajjaj is the former head of the Taibah International Aid Association, which was listed by the U.S. government in May 2004 as a designated global terrorist organization for its financial support of al-Qaeda. A video essay by Roll Call recorded Hajjaj leading the April 16th CMSA event. A subsequent report published by Fox News chronicled a long list of recent CMSA prayer leaders who cultivate terrorist ties, who have made statements in support of terrorism, and who are known foreign agents.
* May: White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan defends jihad as “legitimate tenet of Islam.” As documented in our Team B II report (p. 155), since the publication of the 9/11 Commission’s report, where “jihad” was invoked 126 times and Islam cited 322 times, both terms, along with “al-Qaeda,” “Hamas,” “Hezbollah,” “Caliph,” and “shariah” have been entirely purged from all recent national security documents at the request of Muslim Brotherhood-backed groups claiming that the use of such terms legitimizes terrorism. But White House counterterrorism czar John Brennan went a step further, claiming in a speech that jihad was a legitimate tenet of Islam. When questioned about his claim after reiterating it in a sit-down interview with the editors of the Washington Times, Brennan stormed out, saying, “I’m not going to go into this sort of history discussion here.”
* May: Boston-area public school children on a field trip to terror-tied mosque pulled from group to participate in afternoon prayers. An undercover video released by Americans for Peace and Tolerance showed students on a field trip to the extremist Islamic Society of Boston mosque being pulled out of their student group and being led in offering prayers to Allah during an ongoing prayer service. As reported by APT, the teachers did not intervene and the parents were never told. Only when the video was released and parents began complaining did school officials apologize for the event. Just days before the field trip, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick appeared at the mosque, despite video taken in March showing the mosque’s imam calling for supporters to “grab onto the gun, and the sword” in defense of local terror suspects Aafia Siddiqui and Tarek Mehanna. One founding trustee of the mosque is currently serving a 23 year prison sentence, and at least three others mosque attendees and supporters have fled the county to avoid prosecution.
* June: Ohio Homeland Security official fired for lying about previous job with Jordanian government. In March, Ohio Homeland Security community engagement director Omar Alomari was testifying before Congress on radicalization, notwithstanding his open support for terror-tied organizations in taxpayer-funded literature. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy described Alomari’s publications as “classic Islamist propaganda.” But just weeks after his appearance before Congress, Alomari was fired for lying to investigators about his previous work experience, including his prior tenure as a high-ranking official for the Jordanian government, which he conveniently failed to disclose in his background check documentation.
* August: State Department funds Ground Zero mosque imam’s tour of Middle East despite extremist statements and widespread public opposition. My Pajamas Media colleague Claudia Rosett broke the news that the State Department was sponsoring a trip of the Middle East by Ground Zero mosque imam Feisal Rauf despite reported statements made by Rauf comparing the United States to al-Qaeda. “We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al-Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims,” Rauf claimed during a 2005 conference in Australia. After inquiries had been made about the State Department’s sponsorship of Rauf’s tour, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told Fox News, “We are aware of those remarks.” Emails from New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s office released in just the past few weeks show coordination between the Ground Zero mosque developers and Bloomberg staffers, including drafting statements for mosque officials and pledges to “give political cover” to Landmarks Preservation Commission officials who greenlit the project. Bloomberg’s office still has not released all of the emails and documents requested by Judicial Watch and the American Center for Law and Justice.
* September: FBI gives U.S. Hamas official guided tour through top-secret NCTC and FBI Academy. During the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial, Chicago Imam Kifah Mustapha was named unindicted co-conspirator in the case by federal prosecutors, and FBI agent Lara Burns testified that Mustapha was part of a singing troupe that glorified Hamas and encouraged the killing of Jews. Earlier this year, Mustapha was removed as an Illinois State Police chaplain in the wake of media reports noting his terrorist support activities. That didn’t prevent the FBI Chicago field office from hosting Mustapha in a six-week Citizen’s Academy course, which included a guided tour of the top-secret National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and the FBI Academy at Quantico. After I first reported that Mustapha had been given the NCTC tour, including a picture of Mustapha standing in the NCTC lobby, the FBI initially denied my report and claimed the photo had been fabricated. Two days later, they admitted to Fox News that he had in fact participated in the program and the photo was authentic — but defended the decision, saying that he was “a prominent figure in the community.” One former FBI official told the Washington Times that Mustapha was “a known senior Hamas guy.” When FBI Director Robert Mueller was questioned about the Hamas figure’s participating in the program after a speech the following week, Mueller defended the program but said that “I am not going to talk about any particular individual.”
* September: Group raided by FBI in terror support probe had received nearly $500k in taxpayer funds and was invited to White House meeting in April. At the same time the FBI Chicago field office was attempting to explain their inclusion of a senior Hamas figure in one of their programs, they were raiding the home of Hatem Abudayyeh as part of a grand jury investigation into terrorism support for Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Just days after the raids, it was reported that Abudayyeh’s organization, the Arab-American Action Network, had received at least $457,000 in taxpayer funds from the city of Chicago for “after-school programs.” That news was followed by a Politico report that Abudayyeh had been invited to the White House earlier this year to participate in a meeting on immigration issues and civil rights. Abudayyeh had also been the subject of a glowing PBS Independent Lens program. Several of Abudayyeh’s associates who were subpoenaed by the federal grand jury in the case have refused to appear.
* October: DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano swears in radical Islamist Mohamed Elibiary to Homeland Security Advisory Council. On the same day that I submitted an article concerning Mohamed Elibiary’s participation in the DHS Countering Violent Extremism Working Group and a December 2004 conference honoring Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini (an event that the Dallas Morning News described as a “disgrace”), unbeknownst to me, DHS Secretary Napolitano appointed Elibiary to serve as the only Muslim member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Recently Elibiary has billed himself as a “deradicalization expert,” despite abundant evidence of his previous defense of terrorist support organizations, his praise for jihadist authors, and his threats made against a Dallas journalist who repeatedly exposed his extremist views.
* November: U.S. smbassador to UK visits extremist East London Mosque as part of Obama administration’s “Muslim outreach.” Stirring international outrage, Louis B. Susman, American ambassador to Britian, visited the East London Mosque, well known as a longtime hotbed of extremism and terrorist incubator (it produced Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, last year’s underwear bomber). In January 2009, the mosque hosted a conference featuring wanted al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi via telephone. Just a few weeks before Susman’s visit, the mosque chairman had defended Aulaqi’s participation in the conference, calling it an act of “fairness and justice.” The visit by the U.S. ambassador was slammed in the Wall Street Journal by Shiraz Maher of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College, who described the mosque as “among Britain’s most extreme Islamic institutions.” Maher concluded that “Mr. Susman’s visit illustrates the blunders Western politicians often make by reaching out to the wrong Muslim ‘dialogue partners,” and that the attendance of such a high-ranking diplomat to the mosque “emboldened robed reactionaries at the expense of their more moderate counterparts.”
This list is not exhaustive. Certainly more examples could be cited. The Obama administration’s failure to understand the problem of Islamic radicalization and terrorism is fundamental, fueled with an outreach-to-anyone-at-any-cost policy that is perhaps best typified by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s July statements that his foremost mission was to improve relations with the Muslim world. What these twelve examples demonstrate is that our national security, intelligence, law enforcement, and diplomatic establishment are utterly defenseless before the stealth jihad that is attacking the heart of our Western society.
If 2009 was the tipping point for domestic terror, 2010 is sure to be remembered as the year that the “civilizational jihad” continued apace. Hopefully in 2011, it will be clear to at least some of our political, civic, and religious leadership that a dramatic change in national policy is urgently needed.
Patrick Poole is a regular contributor to Pajamas Media, and an anti-terrorism consultant to law enforcement and the military.
Thanks to BR
Guest Comment from PM:However, Obama is well versed in Islam and what it entails and knows about its end-game.
“And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah”
Quran 8:39
The “civilizational jihad” is aided, abetted and planned in the White House.
Kareem Shora – Homeland Security Advisory Council
Dalia Mogahed – Homeland Security Advisory Counci
Rashad Hussain – envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference
Arif Alikhan – Assistant Secretary for Policy Development
Mazen Asbahi – Muslim Outreach Adviser
Islam A. Siddiqui – Chief Agricultural Negotiator Office of the US Trade
Huma Abedin – Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of State
Irfan Saeed – Department of Homeland Security
Shaarik Zafar – National Counter Terrorism Center
and another
IF people want to understand which way the Islamist wind is blowing, all they have to do is to look towards Europe.
The Maine case is a good place to start. In the same way in which appeasement Eurabians have muzzled public discourse on anything Islamic,(tarring and feathering all those who do so as inciters, racists, Islamophobes etc)so too are those who dare to state the truth within the US being silenced.Imagine that.The dangers are gathering warp speed from said Islamists, deep within the recesses of the US, and the leaders dare not utter Islamic terror as the origin of said dangers.Otherworldly….
Therefore, to read about the Maine case, and others which similarly silence ALL things Islamic,it is easy to conclude that the US will soon mirror Europe.
At the same time, the Infiltration of Islamists into the highest echelons of US power circles continues at warpspeed. While it was kept under the radar pre-9/11/01, the (Islamist) cat has been out of the bag since then. Paul Sperry’s masterpiece, ‘Infiltration’ is an eye opener, as is, ‘The Muslim Mafia’, by Sperry & Gaubatz.’Terrorist Cop’, by NYPD Detective Dzikansky & Slater, spells out in full detail what the US has to look forward to if the Islamists aren’t beaten back. It ain’t pretty….The above is just the tip….
At the end of the day, the Islamist fox IS deeply burrowed in the US,(cognitive dissonance notwithstanding)Hizbullah et al terror cells are in every ‘city USA’.
Auschwitz and Hamas
Lee DeCovnick
History tells the story of men and women who make difficult choices, for both good and evil, which directly affects the lives of those around them. Often history repeats the same story, and yet we fail to recognize the patterns except after the harsh consequences of our passivity and inattention.
Here is real history, of men making choices that save and shatter uncounted human souls.
The truth about the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp was the best-kept secret of the Nazi architects of the Final Solution, guarded from discovery by more than 2,000 SS personnel, 200 vicious dogs, two lines of electrified fences, and a terrorised, fearful Polish population... Rudolf Vrba, was the most prominent escapee [from Auschwitz]. Among attempts to break down the wall of silence around the Auschwitz secrets, historians have no doubt that the escape of Vrba and his fellow prisoner, Alfred Wetzler, was by far the most important. After a perilous 11 days of walking and hiding, the escapees made it back to their native country, Slovakia. Almost at once, they managed to establish contact with the leaders of the remainder of the Jewish community. For three days Vrba and Wetzler conveyed in detail to the members of the Jewish Council the geographical plan of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the specifics of the Germans' method of mass murder - tattooing, gassing, and cremation - and the course of events they had witnessed at the camp.
The Vrba-Wetzler report had an immediate impact. The publication of portions of the report in the Swiss press in the final days of June 1944, and by the western allies shortly afterwards, produced a spontaneous international denunciation, which led to protests from the Pope, the US secretary of state, Cordell Hull, the British foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, the International Red Cross, and the King of Sweden.
Let's move forward to yesterday, December 29, 2010 and this report based on evidence provided by EveryOne, an Italian based human rights organization.
It has been known for some time that the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas is operating in the Egyptian Sinai. But Israel is not the only victim of this development. African migrants and refugees seeking asylum in Israel have reportedly been captured and grossly ill treated by the Palestinian militants.
The Italian-based human rights organization EveryOne reported at the weekend that it had petitioned the Egyptian government to intervene and save the lives of 250 Eritrean refugees who were taken by Hamas operatives in Sinai earlier this month.
The Eritreans were reportedly making their way to Israel when they came across Hamas men in the desert. The Palestinians offered to smuggle them into Israel for a payment of $2,000, but instead took them to a holding facility outside the Sinai-Gaza border town of Rafah.
The Africans have been kept in abysmal conditions. What's worse, EveryOne reported that eight of the migrants were murdered and four others disappeared. All of them are believed to be victims of organ harvesting and trafficking. About 100 of the Africans have been moved to another facility purportedly in preparation to have their organs harvested, too.
A statement released by EveryOne said that the women and children among the African captives are regularly beaten and raped, and many are contemplating suicide.
In this iPad era, we have a story of horrific barbarity that would make Dr. Mengele feel proud. So what is our responsibility, as a nation, as an individual? What would Rudolf Vrba and the 2 million ghostly souls of Auschwitz tell us to do?
234 year ago Our Founders wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Have we learned from history, that today, all men include nomadic Africans refuges?
I believe that each of us is God's appointed guardian for ensuring that a righteous humanity radiates from this small blue- green planet. We cannot say we didn't know, we must able to tell our children, and ourselves we did what we needed to do.
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/12/auschwitz_and_hamas.html at December 31, 2010 - 02:08:44 AM CST
History tells the story of men and women who make difficult choices, for both good and evil, which directly affects the lives of those around them. Often history repeats the same story, and yet we fail to recognize the patterns except after the harsh consequences of our passivity and inattention.
Here is real history, of men making choices that save and shatter uncounted human souls.
The truth about the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp was the best-kept secret of the Nazi architects of the Final Solution, guarded from discovery by more than 2,000 SS personnel, 200 vicious dogs, two lines of electrified fences, and a terrorised, fearful Polish population... Rudolf Vrba, was the most prominent escapee [from Auschwitz]. Among attempts to break down the wall of silence around the Auschwitz secrets, historians have no doubt that the escape of Vrba and his fellow prisoner, Alfred Wetzler, was by far the most important. After a perilous 11 days of walking and hiding, the escapees made it back to their native country, Slovakia. Almost at once, they managed to establish contact with the leaders of the remainder of the Jewish community. For three days Vrba and Wetzler conveyed in detail to the members of the Jewish Council the geographical plan of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the specifics of the Germans' method of mass murder - tattooing, gassing, and cremation - and the course of events they had witnessed at the camp.
The Vrba-Wetzler report had an immediate impact. The publication of portions of the report in the Swiss press in the final days of June 1944, and by the western allies shortly afterwards, produced a spontaneous international denunciation, which led to protests from the Pope, the US secretary of state, Cordell Hull, the British foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, the International Red Cross, and the King of Sweden.
Let's move forward to yesterday, December 29, 2010 and this report based on evidence provided by EveryOne, an Italian based human rights organization.
It has been known for some time that the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas is operating in the Egyptian Sinai. But Israel is not the only victim of this development. African migrants and refugees seeking asylum in Israel have reportedly been captured and grossly ill treated by the Palestinian militants.
The Italian-based human rights organization EveryOne reported at the weekend that it had petitioned the Egyptian government to intervene and save the lives of 250 Eritrean refugees who were taken by Hamas operatives in Sinai earlier this month.
The Eritreans were reportedly making their way to Israel when they came across Hamas men in the desert. The Palestinians offered to smuggle them into Israel for a payment of $2,000, but instead took them to a holding facility outside the Sinai-Gaza border town of Rafah.
The Africans have been kept in abysmal conditions. What's worse, EveryOne reported that eight of the migrants were murdered and four others disappeared. All of them are believed to be victims of organ harvesting and trafficking. About 100 of the Africans have been moved to another facility purportedly in preparation to have their organs harvested, too.
A statement released by EveryOne said that the women and children among the African captives are regularly beaten and raped, and many are contemplating suicide.
In this iPad era, we have a story of horrific barbarity that would make Dr. Mengele feel proud. So what is our responsibility, as a nation, as an individual? What would Rudolf Vrba and the 2 million ghostly souls of Auschwitz tell us to do?
234 year ago Our Founders wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Have we learned from history, that today, all men include nomadic Africans refuges?
I believe that each of us is God's appointed guardian for ensuring that a righteous humanity radiates from this small blue- green planet. We cannot say we didn't know, we must able to tell our children, and ourselves we did what we needed to do.
Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/12/auschwitz_and_hamas.html at December 31, 2010 - 02:08:44 AM CST
The Turkish IHH, which directed the flotilla led by the Mavi Marmara, continues at the forefront of an anti-Israeli hate and incitement campaign
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Overview
1. The Turkish IHH, which played a key role in the last flotilla, continues at the forefront of an anti-Israeli hate and incitement campaign waged in Turkey and elsewhere. IHH spokesmen make extensive use of myth of the Mavi Marmara's "heroism" and have adopted the maximalist Palestinian demands, including the return of the Palestinians "to Jaffa, Tel Aviv and Haifa." 2. IHH leader Bülent Yildirim continues using anti-Semitic themes to defame Israel.1 He recently claimed that "Zionists" controlled the United States and the global media and repeatedly accused Israel of deliberate "slaughter" aboard the Mavi Marmara. He also claimed that the takeover of the ship was meant to establish Israel's ownership of the oil and gas fields in the Mediterranean (and was carried out at a location where Israel wants to tap underwater natural gas reserves) and he defended the support IHH provides to Hamas.
3. The IHH approach was recently expressed at three additional events:
A. At the reception for the Mavi Marmara at the port of Istanbul on December 27: Thousands of people participated in the reception. The families of the operatives killed aboard the ship and representatives from various countries attended, as did Muhammad Sawalha, a Hamas activist who lives in Britain and participates in organizing flotillas. Senior members of the Turkish government did not attend. The crowd shouted "Death to Israel" (Al-Jazeera TV, December 26; Yenisafak, December 27, 2010).
B. At the reception for the Asian convoy during its tour of a number of Turkish cities (the convoy did not reach Istanbul): Convoy participants were welcomed by senior IHH figures. The convoy's passage through Turkey was exploited for displays of hatred for Israel, although it was not widely covered by the Turkish media.
C. At the inauguration of a building constructed with IHH support in the town of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip, where the IHH representative said he had hopes the Palestinians would return to Jaffa, Tel Aviv and Haifa.
The Reception for the Mavi Marmara in the Port of Istanbul
4. On December 26 IHH held a reception in the port of Istanbul for the Mavi Marmara, which had returned from being repaired. The boat, which was decorated with Palestinian flags and pictures of the nine IHH operatives killed in the confrontation with the IDF, was received by thousands of Turks shouting "Death to Israel." The ceremony was attended by families of those killed aboard the Mavi Marmara and representatives from various countries. Among the representatives was Muhammad Sawalha, a Hamas activist from Britain who participates in organizing flotillas. Senior members of the Turkish government did not attend (Al-Jazeera TV, December 26; Yenisafak, December 27, 2010).
5. IHH leader Bülent Yildirim gave a speech to inflate the myth of the "heroism" of the Mavi Marmara. He praised the struggle against the IDF soldiers and claimed that Israel attacked the ship with "dozens of boats, warships, helicopters and even submarines" and that "the Israeli soldiers used every possible weapon except an atomic bomb." He admitted that the passengers used force in their struggle against the IDF soldiers, asking if anyone expected them not to use force to resist such an attack.
6. Bülent Yildirim announced that [IHH] would struggle against "the filth that is Israel" and called for "release from the burden that Israel puts on the back of the Middle East." He also criticized the leaders of the Islamic countries who, "if they wanted to, could wipe Zionism off the face of the earth." He said that in a short time representatives from "at least 100 countries" would sail to the Gaza Strip, until the so-called "siege" was totally lifted (Yenisafak, December 26, 2010).
The reception for the Mavi Marmara (yeniakit.com website).
The reception for the Mavi Marmara (yeniakit.com website).
IHH Display of Hatred for Israel during a Reception for the Asian Convoy
7. IHH has become a sponsor of the Asian convoy, which arrived in Turkey on December 17 on its way to the Gaza Strip (via the Syrian port of Latakia). During a tour of a number of Turkish cities (the convoy did not reach Istanbul) the participants were received by senior IHH figures. Their passage through Turkey was exploited for a display of hatred for Israel. However, the visit was not widely covered by the Turkish media (with the exception of the IHH website, and the local media in places visited by the participants and in the Turkish Islamist press).
8. In the eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir a reception was held for the convoy participants and attended by IHH leader Bülent Yildirim. The crowd held Palestinian flags and signs in support of Hamas, as well as posters with the picture of one of the operatives killed aboard the Mavi Marmara, who claimed that he was "a descendant of Salah al-Din." In his speech Bülent Yildirim said that Israel now had to deal with "all the Salah al-Dins," and that IHH stood shoulder to shoulder with the oppressed of the earth, "in Turkey, Kurdistan, the Caucasus and Bosnia (Diyarkabirsoz.com, December 19, 2010).
IHH leader Bülent Yildirim speaks at the reception for the convoy
IHH leader Bülent Yildirim speaks at the reception for the convoy
(IHH website, December 20, 2010).
9. During the ceremony Palestinian flags were waved along with signs with anti-Israeli slogans and calls for Muslim unity. One sign read "Palestine is everywhere, the revolution is everywhere" and another referred to the battle of Khaybar, where the armies of Islam killed the Jewish tribes which resisted Muhammad and forced them to convert to Islam. Pictures showed a large sign with Ahmed Yassin, Hamas founder, and one reading "Muslim, when will you awake?" and "Israel, go to hell" (IHH website, December 20, 2010).
The signs waved at the reception for the convoy
The signs waved at the reception for the convoy
The signs waved at the reception for the convoy. Top: "Palestine is everywhere, the revolution
is everywhere," and a reference to the battle of Khaybar. Lower left: "Israel, go to hell."
Lower right: A picture of Ahmed Yassin, Hamas founder, and under it a sign
reading "Muslim, when will you awake?" (IHH website, December 20, 2010).
Inaugurating a Building in Jabaliya Constructed with IHH Support
10. On December 15, 2010, a ceremony was held in the Gaza Strip to inaugurate a new apartment building renovated after it was damaged during Operation Cast Lead. The building, in the northeastern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya (from which rockets have often been launched into Israeli territory), was constructed with IHH funds; the construction was supervised by the public works ministry of the de facto Hamas administration. The ceremony was conducted by Muhammad Kaya, IHH representative in the Gaza Strip,2 and attended by senior figures in the de facto Hamas administration, including Yousef al-Mansi, public works minister; Issa al-Nashar, advisor to Ismail Haniya; and other public figures (IHH website, December 23, 2010).
Hamas website
The festive ceremony led by Muhammad Kaya, IHH representative
in the Gaza Strip (Hamas website).
11. During the ceremony, at which the families received the keys to their apartments, Muhammad Kaya gave an anti-Israeli speech. He said, "We [IHH] represent Turkey, and our interest and goal is not to feed the Palestinian people and bring them food, but to help them stand on their feet in face of the occupation's oppression and support them in confronting their enemies. We are certain that if the force on this land [i.e., the de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip] submitted to imperialist dictates money would flow in from every side, but this force refused [to surrender to all the dictates] and stood firm in the face of challenges." He added that "We the Turkish Muslim people will continue to stand at the side of the Palestinian people. Our spirit is with theirs, our money is [placed] with theirs, we will remain at their side and support them." He then thanked those who had helped rebuild the building and said that "the day will come when Palestinians will build their houses in Jaffa, Tel Aviv and Haifa."3
Muhammad Kaya, IHH representative the Gaza Strip
Muhammad Kaya, IHH representative the Gaza Strip
(mohammed-74.maktoobblog.com/page/2 website).
Muhammad Kaya, IHH representative next to
Cutting the ribbon. Second from left: Muhammad Kaya, IHH representative next to
Yousef al-Mansi, minister of public works (www.mashhad-as.net/?p=3832 website)
12. Yousef al-Mansi, public works minister in the de facto Hamas administration, said that the building was located near the [international] border. He said, "We are near a temporary border which was created by the occupation…" He expressed admiration for the Turkish people who were helping the Palestinians, especially IHH, which was funding construction projects in the Gaza Strip. He added, "Despite the differences between our peoples and languages, our [mutual] goal is the same, it is to liberate [all] Palestine" (Hamas' Felesteen).
1 For further information, see the date bulletin "IHH leader Bulent Yildirim gave an interview focusing on the U.S. intention to designate the IHH as a terrorist organization and on the Mavi Marmara incident. Yildirim claimed “Zionists” controlled the U.S. and world media. He accused Israel of massacring the Mavi Marmara passengers and defended IHH assistance to Hamas" at http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/ipc_e147.pdf.
2 IHH has had a branch office in the Gaza Strip since January 2008. In November 2009 another IHH activist, Izzat Shahin, was sent to Judea and Samaria to open another branch. He transferred several thousand dollars from IHH to Hamas "charitable societies." In April 2010 he was detained on suspicion of funding terrorism and supporting Hamas and deported to Turkey at the request of Turkish officials. Muhammad Kaya continues as IHH representative in the Gaza Strip, where he has been very active.
3 http://samanews.com/index.php?act=Show&id=83670, December 15, 2010. Muhammad Kaya referred to Tel Aviv as "Tel al-Zahour," "the hill of flowers." The translation close to the Arabic "Tel al-Rabi'a," the literal Arabic translation of Tel Aviv "the hill of spring."
ZOA Western Region to L.A. City Council re Resolution Regarding Islamophobia
Members of the City Council of Los Angeles,
It is disturbing to see that you spent time passing a resolution concerning a problem that does not really exist. It is so nonsensical that it slanders nonsense.
The FBI statistics for 2009 and the LA County Hate Crime Report published by the Anti-Defamation League both show that 4% of religious hate crimes in Los Angeles County are commited against Muslims as opposed to 3% against Protestants, 9% against other Christians, 13% against Scientologists and, wait for it, 65% against Jews. The ADL's report is compiled using official crime statistics as well as information provided to and evaluated by ADL's profession staff, by law enforcement officers, by community leaders and by victims. An epidemic of anti-Muslim sentiment might well have been expected in America shortly after 9/11. It didn't happen then and it's not happening now.
The term "Islamophobia" implies that Americans and, in the specific case of your resolution, Angelinos have an irrational fear of Islam. Considering the attacks against us on 9/11 and the ones in Bali, Madrid, London, Glasgow's airport and Mumbai were all carried out by Muslim terrorists there is nothing in the least phobic about the public's attitude towards radical Islam. The shoe-bomber, the underwear-bomber, the Times Square bomber and Major Hasan at Fort Hood in Texas were all devotees of Islam. However, it is resolutions of this sort along with the insistence on the part of our president that Islam has played a vital and important role in American life, when the facts prove the opposite, that lead to an increasing sense of Islamonausea. In America, when Muslim taxi drivers are excused from carrying blind passengers with seeing-eye dogs because the animal is an abomination to them, when Muslim check-out operators in supermarkets are excused from handling liquor or ham, when a Muslim father kills his daughter for becoming too westernized, when a Muslim husband almost decapitates his wife for seeking a divorce and when an American judge refuses to prosecute a Muslim husband for beating his wife because the beating falls within the rubric of Sharia law our distaste for and suspicion of this retrograde ideology increases by leaps and bounds.
We already have laws that would punish "random acts of violence". When one considers your resolution, along with the possibility of the United Nations actually thinking about a resolution to ban any criticism of Islam, our sense that there is an enormous effort underway to institutionalize Islamic totalitarianism, together with the violence and terror it always engenders, becomes even more acute. It is highly discouraging that the Los Angeles City Council would sink to the level of this enterprise. By your resolution you have aligned yourself with an ideology that subjugates women, gleefully hangs homosexuals & persecutes non-Muslim minorities throughout the world. Thus you have become hypocrites to your own values.
The ZOA looks forward to this resolution being rescinded forthwith.
Sincerely,
Paul Schnee
Executive Director,
Western Region,
Zionist Organization of America
8455 Fountain Avenue,
Suite 102
West Hollywood, CA 90069.
Tel: (310) 435-9744
Fax: (323) 650-3570
Email: sch290@hotmail.com
It is disturbing to see that you spent time passing a resolution concerning a problem that does not really exist. It is so nonsensical that it slanders nonsense.
The FBI statistics for 2009 and the LA County Hate Crime Report published by the Anti-Defamation League both show that 4% of religious hate crimes in Los Angeles County are commited against Muslims as opposed to 3% against Protestants, 9% against other Christians, 13% against Scientologists and, wait for it, 65% against Jews. The ADL's report is compiled using official crime statistics as well as information provided to and evaluated by ADL's profession staff, by law enforcement officers, by community leaders and by victims. An epidemic of anti-Muslim sentiment might well have been expected in America shortly after 9/11. It didn't happen then and it's not happening now.
The term "Islamophobia" implies that Americans and, in the specific case of your resolution, Angelinos have an irrational fear of Islam. Considering the attacks against us on 9/11 and the ones in Bali, Madrid, London, Glasgow's airport and Mumbai were all carried out by Muslim terrorists there is nothing in the least phobic about the public's attitude towards radical Islam. The shoe-bomber, the underwear-bomber, the Times Square bomber and Major Hasan at Fort Hood in Texas were all devotees of Islam. However, it is resolutions of this sort along with the insistence on the part of our president that Islam has played a vital and important role in American life, when the facts prove the opposite, that lead to an increasing sense of Islamonausea. In America, when Muslim taxi drivers are excused from carrying blind passengers with seeing-eye dogs because the animal is an abomination to them, when Muslim check-out operators in supermarkets are excused from handling liquor or ham, when a Muslim father kills his daughter for becoming too westernized, when a Muslim husband almost decapitates his wife for seeking a divorce and when an American judge refuses to prosecute a Muslim husband for beating his wife because the beating falls within the rubric of Sharia law our distaste for and suspicion of this retrograde ideology increases by leaps and bounds.
We already have laws that would punish "random acts of violence". When one considers your resolution, along with the possibility of the United Nations actually thinking about a resolution to ban any criticism of Islam, our sense that there is an enormous effort underway to institutionalize Islamic totalitarianism, together with the violence and terror it always engenders, becomes even more acute. It is highly discouraging that the Los Angeles City Council would sink to the level of this enterprise. By your resolution you have aligned yourself with an ideology that subjugates women, gleefully hangs homosexuals & persecutes non-Muslim minorities throughout the world. Thus you have become hypocrites to your own values.
The ZOA looks forward to this resolution being rescinded forthwith.
Sincerely,
Paul Schnee
Executive Director,
Western Region,
Zionist Organization of America
8455 Fountain Avenue,
Suite 102
West Hollywood, CA 90069.
Tel: (310) 435-9744
Fax: (323) 650-3570
Email: sch290@hotmail.com
Conferences Make AMP's Destructive Ambition Clear
IPT News
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2462/conferences-make-amp-destructive-ambition-clear
They call themselves American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), but their rhetoric indicates their true goal is the elimination of the state of Israel. In speeches last weekend at the Islamic Circle of North America-Muslim American Society 9th Annual Convention in Chicago, and a month earlier at their own conference, AMP officials repeatedly called for a grassroots effort in America to delegitimize Israel. During a session featuring AMP speakers, board member Osama Abu Irshaid told the ICNA-MAS audience Sunday "to challenge the legitimacy of the State of Israel," and "to try to keep this debate alive."
Last month in New Brunswick, N.J., at AMP's 3rd annual conference, panelist Abdelhamid Abu Siyam ended his speech on a similar vein by calling in Arabic for "[the] right of return and rejection of Zionism, and rejection of the legitimacy of this state [Israel]."
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was formed in 2006 as a nonprofit organization based in Chicago with chapters around the country. Its message omits any mention of peaceful coexistence with the state of Israel, and routinely includes calls for an end for U.S. aid to the Jewish state.
During the opening of the AMP conference, Vice Chairman Munjed Ahmed welcomed the audience by threatening Israel. "You occupiers of Palestine will be out. That's a promise. You will be out," Ahmed said. "And we will work every single day as an organization until that day where we truly say that Palestine is free."
Calls for the destruction of the State of Israel were reinforced by promoting "resistance."
"The first element [in changing the balance of powers] is resistance," former Palestinian Minister of Information Mustafa al Barghouthi told the audience in Arabic. "The wonderful national Palestinian resistance taking place in reality should be encouraged and increased."
Conference speaker Othman Atta condemned "attacks by Palestinians against innocent civilians," while adding, "absolutely it's within the right of an occupied people to resist their occupiers." Atta is a lawyer and the former president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Some mosque members "are involved in raising money … that is actually for HAMAS," according to a November 2001 FBI memo.
During an AMP session on U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East at the ICNA-MAS conference, Atta rejected peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. "Palestinians, through Oslo and other negotiating processes accepted the absurdist notion that to obtain the legitimate rights that are guaranteed by God and guaranteed by international laws that we must sit with our occupiers and oppressors, with thieves and murderers, and come to an agreement," he said. "Now imagine that this was applied to US law here in the United States. Why the hell would we need to have a court system?"
He added sarcastically, "Were you raped? Hey, no problem, sit down with your rapist and see if you can come to some kind of accommodation."
AMP founder and chairman Hatem Bazian, a senior lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, has a history of incendiary statements. At an April 10, 2004 anti-war rally in San Francisco, Bazian called for Americans to create a violent uprising at home similar to the Palestinian intifada.
"Are you angry? …Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country," Bazian said. "It's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here. And we know every – They're gonna say some Palestinian [is] being too radical – well, you haven't seen radicalism yet."
During an AMP conference session on "Islamopohobia and American Muslims," Bazian, who also directs the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at UC Berkeley, claimed that "pro-Israel activists" in the United States have a "massive infrastructure that is spending 24/7 to demonize Islam and Muslims around the clock for their own strategic purposes."
During the same session, Bazian said Israel and its allies want to "demonize Islam," and "criminalize Islam to link to terrorism." Islamophobia, he argued, causes "Muslims in our own communities to actually go into the margin and think that they are gonna be revolutionary and engage in violence because they have been pushed to the margins."
Beyond its own conferences, AMP has sponsored numerous events for the UK-based pro-Hamas group Viva Palestina, as well as provided a platform for its leader, George Galloway, to speak. In May, Galloway was the headlined speaker for AMP's "Nakba" campaign around the country. Through four land convoys, Galloway and Viva Palestina have delivered millions of dollars to the Hamas regime in Gaza. AMP also hosted a Viva Palestina fundraiser in January, raising more than $130,000.
AMP's leaders include at least two men tied to a fundraising front for Hamas – the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), which was shut down by the government in 2001. HLF and five former officials were convicted in 2008 of illegally routing millions of dollars to Hamas.
One AMP board member, Salah Sarsour, is named in law enforcement documents as helping raise money for Hamas.
Sarsour's ties with HLF are detailed in U.S. and Israeli law enforcement documents. His brother, Jamil Sarsour, was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1998 for providing military support to Hamas. When Jamil Sarsour was arrested by Israel, he "described his brother Salah Sarsour's involvement with HAMAS and fund-raising activities by the [HLF] in Richardson, Texas on behalf of HAMAS," a November 2001 FBI memo said. "His brothers Salah and Imad are involved in raising money in the name of the HLFRD that is actually for HAMAS."
In a February 1998 confession given during an interview with an Israeli police officer, Jamil Sarsour said he and Salah Sarsour provided money to senior Hamas military commander Adel Awdallah, wanted and killed by Israel in September 1998. The money came from the business account of a furniture store in Milwaukee owned by the two brothers.
"There is another Palestinian organization called Islamic Association for Palestine. It is connected to the H.L.F.," Jamil Sarsour said during questioning. "My brother Salah works for this organization also. He collected funds for this organization." Salah Sarsour is also the contact for the Muslim American Society's (MAS) Milwaukee chapter. MAS was founded by Muslim Brotherhood members in the U.S.
Like Sarsour, AMP's Osama Abu Irshaid was previously involved with a Hamas-support effort. He was an editor of Al-Zaytounah, an Arabic newspaper that was published by the now-defunct Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). The IAP, along with the HLF, was part of a group called the Palestine Committee, court records show. The committee was created by the Muslim Brotherhood to help Hamas politically and financially, court exhibits show.
In August 2002, a federal judge ruled that there was evidence that the "Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas."
AMP's efforts continue with a rally that has been rescheduled for January, marking the 2nd anniversary of the Israel-Gaza War. AMP's press release for the rally says that the "repression" of anti-Israel activists, "from harassment by campus officials to raids and grand jury subpoenas by the FBI… is a sign that the Zionists and their sponsors in Washington are worried – not only that further crimes will be met with equally fierce resistance, but also because they know Palestinians are more determined than ever to fight on until total liberation, until every refugee can return, until the land of Palestine is free from the river to the sea!"
Such a vision leaves no room for the state of Israel's continued existence.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2462/conferences-make-amp-destructive-ambition-clear
They call themselves American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), but their rhetoric indicates their true goal is the elimination of the state of Israel. In speeches last weekend at the Islamic Circle of North America-Muslim American Society 9th Annual Convention in Chicago, and a month earlier at their own conference, AMP officials repeatedly called for a grassroots effort in America to delegitimize Israel. During a session featuring AMP speakers, board member Osama Abu Irshaid told the ICNA-MAS audience Sunday "to challenge the legitimacy of the State of Israel," and "to try to keep this debate alive."
Last month in New Brunswick, N.J., at AMP's 3rd annual conference, panelist Abdelhamid Abu Siyam ended his speech on a similar vein by calling in Arabic for "[the] right of return and rejection of Zionism, and rejection of the legitimacy of this state [Israel]."
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was formed in 2006 as a nonprofit organization based in Chicago with chapters around the country. Its message omits any mention of peaceful coexistence with the state of Israel, and routinely includes calls for an end for U.S. aid to the Jewish state.
During the opening of the AMP conference, Vice Chairman Munjed Ahmed welcomed the audience by threatening Israel. "You occupiers of Palestine will be out. That's a promise. You will be out," Ahmed said. "And we will work every single day as an organization until that day where we truly say that Palestine is free."
Calls for the destruction of the State of Israel were reinforced by promoting "resistance."
"The first element [in changing the balance of powers] is resistance," former Palestinian Minister of Information Mustafa al Barghouthi told the audience in Arabic. "The wonderful national Palestinian resistance taking place in reality should be encouraged and increased."
Conference speaker Othman Atta condemned "attacks by Palestinians against innocent civilians," while adding, "absolutely it's within the right of an occupied people to resist their occupiers." Atta is a lawyer and the former president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Some mosque members "are involved in raising money … that is actually for HAMAS," according to a November 2001 FBI memo.
During an AMP session on U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East at the ICNA-MAS conference, Atta rejected peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. "Palestinians, through Oslo and other negotiating processes accepted the absurdist notion that to obtain the legitimate rights that are guaranteed by God and guaranteed by international laws that we must sit with our occupiers and oppressors, with thieves and murderers, and come to an agreement," he said. "Now imagine that this was applied to US law here in the United States. Why the hell would we need to have a court system?"
He added sarcastically, "Were you raped? Hey, no problem, sit down with your rapist and see if you can come to some kind of accommodation."
AMP founder and chairman Hatem Bazian, a senior lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, has a history of incendiary statements. At an April 10, 2004 anti-war rally in San Francisco, Bazian called for Americans to create a violent uprising at home similar to the Palestinian intifada.
"Are you angry? …Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country," Bazian said. "It's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here. And we know every – They're gonna say some Palestinian [is] being too radical – well, you haven't seen radicalism yet."
During an AMP conference session on "Islamopohobia and American Muslims," Bazian, who also directs the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at UC Berkeley, claimed that "pro-Israel activists" in the United States have a "massive infrastructure that is spending 24/7 to demonize Islam and Muslims around the clock for their own strategic purposes."
During the same session, Bazian said Israel and its allies want to "demonize Islam," and "criminalize Islam to link to terrorism." Islamophobia, he argued, causes "Muslims in our own communities to actually go into the margin and think that they are gonna be revolutionary and engage in violence because they have been pushed to the margins."
Beyond its own conferences, AMP has sponsored numerous events for the UK-based pro-Hamas group Viva Palestina, as well as provided a platform for its leader, George Galloway, to speak. In May, Galloway was the headlined speaker for AMP's "Nakba" campaign around the country. Through four land convoys, Galloway and Viva Palestina have delivered millions of dollars to the Hamas regime in Gaza. AMP also hosted a Viva Palestina fundraiser in January, raising more than $130,000.
AMP's leaders include at least two men tied to a fundraising front for Hamas – the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), which was shut down by the government in 2001. HLF and five former officials were convicted in 2008 of illegally routing millions of dollars to Hamas.
One AMP board member, Salah Sarsour, is named in law enforcement documents as helping raise money for Hamas.
Sarsour's ties with HLF are detailed in U.S. and Israeli law enforcement documents. His brother, Jamil Sarsour, was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1998 for providing military support to Hamas. When Jamil Sarsour was arrested by Israel, he "described his brother Salah Sarsour's involvement with HAMAS and fund-raising activities by the [HLF] in Richardson, Texas on behalf of HAMAS," a November 2001 FBI memo said. "His brothers Salah and Imad are involved in raising money in the name of the HLFRD that is actually for HAMAS."
In a February 1998 confession given during an interview with an Israeli police officer, Jamil Sarsour said he and Salah Sarsour provided money to senior Hamas military commander Adel Awdallah, wanted and killed by Israel in September 1998. The money came from the business account of a furniture store in Milwaukee owned by the two brothers.
"There is another Palestinian organization called Islamic Association for Palestine. It is connected to the H.L.F.," Jamil Sarsour said during questioning. "My brother Salah works for this organization also. He collected funds for this organization." Salah Sarsour is also the contact for the Muslim American Society's (MAS) Milwaukee chapter. MAS was founded by Muslim Brotherhood members in the U.S.
Like Sarsour, AMP's Osama Abu Irshaid was previously involved with a Hamas-support effort. He was an editor of Al-Zaytounah, an Arabic newspaper that was published by the now-defunct Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). The IAP, along with the HLF, was part of a group called the Palestine Committee, court records show. The committee was created by the Muslim Brotherhood to help Hamas politically and financially, court exhibits show.
In August 2002, a federal judge ruled that there was evidence that the "Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas."
AMP's efforts continue with a rally that has been rescheduled for January, marking the 2nd anniversary of the Israel-Gaza War. AMP's press release for the rally says that the "repression" of anti-Israel activists, "from harassment by campus officials to raids and grand jury subpoenas by the FBI… is a sign that the Zionists and their sponsors in Washington are worried – not only that further crimes will be met with equally fierce resistance, but also because they know Palestinians are more determined than ever to fight on until total liberation, until every refugee can return, until the land of Palestine is free from the river to the sea!"
Such a vision leaves no room for the state of Israel's continued existence.
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