Terror apologist Abukar Arman appointed head of CAIR-Columbus

It is profoundly sad to see CAIR-Ohio descending further into extremism as witnessed by the recent appointment of local Somali terror apologist Abukar Arman to head the local CAIR-Columbus office as indicated by the email announcement from CAIR-OH figurehead Asma Mobin-Uddin back in January (see below). Arman has steadfastly defended the al-Qaeda-backed Somali Islamic Courts Union and is one of its most outspoken apologists in the West (see my article, “Hometown Jihad: The Somali terror apologist next door”). One only need visit his article, “Engaging Somalia via the Road Less Traveled”, from back in January to see how shamelessly he defends as “moderate” the very organization waging a bloody insurgency against the Somali people, and who’s leaders have been designated as terrorists by the US government.

Then again, no one should be surprised at this sudden lurch towards extremism by CAIR-OH. Abukar Arman has been on the state chapter board, and with the very sudden flight of his business partner Ahmad Al-Akhras (CAIR national vice chairman and former CAIR-OH founder and president) to the Middle East, Arman has no doubt been designated by his friend to help keep a tight rein on the group in his absence. Thus, this move is one of sheer pragmatism. While Asma Mobin-Uddin is the titular figurehead of CAIR-OH, the real power behind the local organization has always been and remains Ahmad Al-Akhras and his HAMAS/Muslim Brotherhood masters.

But Arman’s new position will drop the facade of “moderation” that CAIR-OH has tried to foist, with his open enthusiasm for terrorist organizations (see, for instance, his January 2006 blog post “HAMAS Victory is a Victory for Democracy and Peace!”, which has been proven manifestly false in the past two years; also remember that HAMAS has been designated a terrorist organization since 1995); his organizing conferences in our area with known Islamic extremists (e.g. the terror-fest held at the Ohio Statehouse back in October); his forced resignation back in August from the Franklin County Criminal Justice Planning Board, which oversees area Homeland Security; and simultaneously losing his job with the Columbus Public Schools. And I’ve previously written about the time that Abukar Arman, Ahmad Al-Akhras and Asma Mobin-Uddin went to a local combat Marine veteran’s home to provoke a confrontation over the man’s bumper sticker (“CAIR Thugs on Islamophobia Patrol”).

Here is his article praising the terrorist HAMAS organization (click to enlarge):


And then there was the eviction of a scheduled conference featuring Abukar Arman, Ahmad Al-Akhras and Anisa Abd El Fattah at the US Capitol by the US House of Representatives Sergeant-at-Arms back in August due to the speakers’ extremism.

Two other things should be mentioned before turning to the CAIR-OH announcement. The first is that Abukar Arman was appointed to this position; there is no democracy within CAIR. One reason might be is that according to the most recently released IRS Form 990 for the organization, CAIR-OH has no membership; it lists nothing received in terms of membership receipts. It represents no one but itself. When, if ever, did CAIR ever go to the Muslim American community in Ohio for the right to speak in their name? The answer is: never. CAIR has never had an election.

Secondly, as was observed in August by the Columbus Dispatch, Abukar Arman is not a citizen of the US (at least he wasn’t then). This would not otherwise be a problem except that CAIR continuously denies and dismisses their ties to foreign powers and foreign agents. And this move demonstrates clearly that Ahmad Al-Akhras has no difficulty turning to non-US citizens to run the show in order to keep his iron-fisted grip on the CAIR-OH chapter following his flight.

Here is CAIR-OH’s two announcements regarding Abukar Arman’s appointment (my thanks to ***** for forwarding it to me):

From: “Asma Mobin-Uddin”
To:
CC: ,
“Jennifer Nimer” , “‘Romin Iqbal’”
Subject: Br. Abukar Arman to head new local Columbus board of CAIR-Ohio
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:15:16 -0500

Salaam,
As I have received some questions about this, I wanted to repost the following update to the community about leadership updates within CAIR-Ohio for the next term, starting in Jan. 2008.

Br. Abukar Arman has been elected by the state board to be president of the new local Columbus chapter of CAIR-Ohio, and I was re-elected to do another term as president of the state board of CAIR-Ohio (which oversees the Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland chapters).

I posted the following email to the professional’s list but it came back to me so I’m not sure people have seen it.
Salaam,
Asma Mobin-Uddin
CAIR-Ohio

[the initial announcement]
Jan. 2008
Salaam,
I wanted to let everyone know of our brother Abukar Arman’s new position within CAIR-Ohio. Br. Abukar is a member CAIR-Ohio’s state board. Until this year, our state board also oversaw the function of the Columbus office, our largest office.

This year due to continued growth, we have separated the Columbus board into its own local entity, overseen by the CAIR-Ohio state board, just as Cincinnati and Cleveland have local boards to manage the affairs in their cities. Now all three offices have local boards, and all three are still overseen by the state board. Br. Abukar was elected to be the first president of the new Columbus office board. We also welcome Sr. Roofi Ahmed, Sr. Hend Al-Kharashi, Br. Don Furbee, and Br. Sunni Islam to the local Columbus board of CAIR-Ohio. We are blessed to have this strong and talented team in the new Columbus chapter of CAIR-Ohio.

Salaam,
Asma Mobin-Uddin
(state board president of CAIR-Ohio)

From Mobin-Uddin’s two emails above it appears that Abukar Arman’s new position has not been without difficulty and turmoil even within their own ranks. Something outside observers should take note of.