Headed back to the land of sun, shari’a fun, and jihad.Update #1 (0930 12/18/07): STOP THE PRESSES. Apparently the rumors about Al-Akhras possibly taking over the open OCRC post are NOT TRUE. Even more surprising than that, I’m informed that Al-Akhras intends to follow the example of his fellow jihadist, former Hilliard HAMAS cleric Salah Sultan, and is set to flee the country for the Middle East very shortly. More details are forthcoming.
Original Post: It is currently nothing but rumor, but there may be a thus-far unmentioned possible replacement for Barbara Sykes as the head of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission — CAIR national vice chairman and local Islamic extremist leader Ahmad Al-Akhras. Sykes resigned as chairwoman earlier this week just hours before her Ohio Senate confirmation hearing was scheduled.
According to a very reliable inside source, Al-Akhras resigned later in the week from his longtime cushy, high-paying job as asst. director of transportation at the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC). I didn’t hear of this development until after the close of business on Friday, so I will confirm his resignation with MORPC on Monday. I previously reported (“Ahmad Al-Akhras on the Ropes?”) that Al-Akhras’ situation at MORPC was tentative already as many there grew tired of his constant on-the-clock activism and outspoken extremism, though no one could address for fear of the full “Wrath of CAIR” and the obligatory religious discrimination lawsuit that would have followed.
From one perspective (certainly not mine, by the way), Al-Akhras is an attractive candidate for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) job. Al-Akhras has long been Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman’s man on the Community Relations Commission, and he is also a board member of ACLU-OH and the NAACP-OH. Al-Akhras has also participated in forums sponsored by the OCRC, such as this “Voting Rights Forum” in February 2006, which he moderated.
He’s tight with Gov. Ted Strickland, and it is no secret that our network of Islamic extremists here in town, headed by Al-Akhras, have not been happy with not having one of their own on the OCRC. In obeisance for their public support and campaign fundraising on his behalf, Strickland appeared at the CAIR-OH annual banquest last June (“Not in Our Name, Gov. Strickland”). They may be demanding more political payback from him. Al-Akhras would also be following the example of some of his CAIR colleagues in infiltrating the civil rights public sector, like what Ahmed Bedier has done in Florida, and what Esam Omeish of the Muslim American Society tried to do back in October with the VA Immigration Commission (derailed in no small part thanks to Steve Emerson and The Investigative Project).
But if he is appointed to the post by Gov. Strickland (which, again, is nothing but rumor at this point), Al-Akhras certainly faces many tough questions, many more than Sykes faced. Such as his open defense of the convicted members of our local Al-Qaeda cell (see my FPM article, “Hometown Jihad: Getting by with a little help from his [terrorist] friends”) and his longtime friendship (reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer) with convicted and deported North American Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader and fundraiser Fawaz Damra, even continuing communication with Damra even after he had been deported. His connection to that Al-Qaeda cell and his relationship with HAMAS cleric and former Hilliard resident Salah Sultan (who fled to Bahrain earlier this year after his US citizenship application was rejected) are yet unexplored areas of potential interest to his legion of critics.
Other facts of interest certain to come up in any possible confirmation hearing include Al-Akhras playing host to the Iranian mullah Ayatollah Khatami at a CAIR fundraiser last year, even being pictured with the mass murderer and father of the terrorist group, Hezbollah (“A Smile and Handshake for the Iranian Dictator”).
Then there was the minor role that Al-Akhras played in the horror of 9/11, by publicly coming to the defense of two Saudi students that the FBI and the 9/11 Commission Report says had conducted hijacking dry-runs on an American West flight from Phoenix to Columbus (“Ahmad Al-Akhras and the pre-9/11 "dry-run" Al-Qaeda terrorists he defended”).
He must also explain his cheerleading and promotion of 9/11-denial “theologian” David Ray Griffin (“9/11 Denial author coming to town, promoted by Mayor Coleman advisor Al-Akhras”). Oh, and while we’re on the topic, we do have artwork of Al-Akhras at the Griffin event we haven’t released yet.
The invitation that Al-Akhras extended to promient hate sheikh and 1993 WTC bombing unindicted co-conspirator Siraj Wahhaj to speak at a fundraiser this past September for the Islamic Foundation of Central Ohio, which Al-Akhras is president of, would no doubt be raised during any State Senate confirmation hearings (“Mayor Coleman advisor brings hate sheikh to town”). Oh, and there was that defense fundraiser that Al-Akhras hosted with Wahhaj in support of convicted cop killer Jamil Al-Amin (more on that one later!).
And let’s not forget about the videotaped assault by Al-Akhras and his Islamofascist goons of a local female independent journalist while videotaping one of his regular “hate the Jews and infidel Americans” rallies at the Federal Courthouse downtown (videos at Ciaospirit’s website), which may not sit well with some of the feminists in the Ohio Senate (see also my FPM article, “CAIR: Assault and Videotape?”). Included in other reported incidents of Al-Akhras’ jackboot thuggery is when he, along with two CAIR accomplices, went unannounced one evening to the home of a local retired Marine veteran to harrass him because they didn’t like his bumper sticker (“CAIR Thugs on Islamophobia patrol”), a confrontation he has openly bragged about to the local media.
Al-Akhras’ membership in the Muslim Brotherhood front group, the Muslim American Society, and its racist website postings might also come up (“The Muslim Brotherhood in Central Ohio”), as well as the long string of now-convicted terrorist leaders (such as Abdurahman Alamoudi, sentenced to 23 years in prison on terrorism charges) and other extremists that Al-Akhras brought into Central Ohio when he was still the president of CAIR-OH.
And then there was his appearance in August at the conference that was evicted from the US Capitol by the US House Sergeant-at-Arms over security concerns and his connection to the sponsoring group, the Peace and Justice Foundation, which openly defends a whole host of convicted terrorists and cop killers. The Peace and Justice Foundation also rose to the defense of Al-Akhras, Abukar Arman and Anisa Abd El Fattah against my criticism of that event, going so far as to openly defend a number of terrorist organizations in an open letter in support of the HAMAS-fest at the Ohio Statehouse back in October (“Group supporting Al-Qaeda defends Ohio Statehouse October-terror-fest”)
There are, however, other possible explanations for Al-Akhras’ reported departure from MORPC that may not be related to the open OCRC position. With the ongoing organizational shakeup at CAIR national, he might be positioning himself for a move into the national spotlight in Washington DC. It might be hard to believe, but such a move would likely serve to increase CAIR’s extremism.
Another possibility is that he might get something in the third-term Coleman administration in Columbus City Hall, where he can directly manage his many lackeys and stooges already inside Mayor Coleman’s office (I know, it’s not like the Mayor would ever create a job for one of his [drug dealer] friends or other political allies). Other job options for Al-Akhras are possible, but it is highly unlikely he will leave the public sector, where taxpayers get to fund his activism and he is exempt from Social Security taxes by being part of the Ohio state employee retirement system.
Whatever it might be, we will all be eager to hear where Ahmad Al-Akhras lands. Hopefully I’ve helped him here to fill in some of the holes in his resume. No need to thank me, Ahmad! Always my pleasure.
