Before the Holy Land Foundation was closed by the US government as a designated global terrorist fundraising entity just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Monzer Taleb (aka Munzir Taleb, Monzer Talib, et al.) was part of the infamous Al-Sakhra Band, which toured the US raising money for HLF and the terrorist group, HAMAS. [UPDATE: It appears that not only was Taleb a fundraiser for HLF, but he was also named unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF terror finance case. See below for more details.]
As part of Al-Sakhra, Monzer Taleb sang of violence, terror and hatred. Dallas-based investigative reporter Todd Bensman described the group of terror crooners in his article, “HAMAS Rock Stars,” as follows:
It wasn’t exactly feel-good music in the conventional sense. Mufid’s Al Sakhra (“The Rock”) band crooned a gospel of death and hatred toward the Jews at Hamas fundraisers, while the collection plates moved through wildly enthusiastic Arab-American audiences.In the indictment of Holy Land Foundation executives, federal prosecutors said that skits and songs performed by Al-Sakhra “advocated the destruction of the State of Israel and glorified the killing of Jewish people.” (p. 13)
Now Monzer Taleb continues his HAMAS fundraising as a featured speaker for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Cleveland chapter’s annual banquet this coming Sunday:
CLEVELAND 7th ANNUAL FUNDRAISING BANQUET
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Embassy Suites — Cleveland Rockside
5800 Rockside Woods Blvd.
Independence, OH 44131
Speakers:
Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director, CAIR Los Angeles
Monzer Taleb, Islamic Association of North Texas
Tickets:
$50 in advance, $60 at the door
Babysitting $10/per child
CALL 216-830-2247 TO RESERVE YOUR TICKETS EARLY!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Embassy Suites — Cleveland Rockside
5800 Rockside Woods Blvd.
Independence, OH 44131
Speakers:
Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director, CAIR Los Angeles
Monzer Taleb, Islamic Association of North Texas
Tickets:
$50 in advance, $60 at the door
Babysitting $10/per child
CALL 216-830-2247 TO RESERVE YOUR TICKETS EARLY!
CAIR was named unindicted co-conspirator in the recently concluded Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial, which resulted in guilty verdicts on all 108 counts against the defendants. During the trial, FBI Agent Lara Burns testified that CAIR was a front for HAMAS. As a result of the substantial evidence presented during the trial tying CAIR to the international Islamic terrorist network, the FBI recently cut its ties to CAIR, as has the Columbus Police Department and Police Academy.
One of the defendants in the Holy Land Foundation trial, Mufid Abdulqader, who was convicted on conspiracy charges, was the leader of Al-Sakhra. After he was indicted along with the other Holy Land Foundation executives, a Dallas TV station revealed that Abdulqader is the half-brother of HAMAS leader Khaled Mishal. Trial exhibits also revealed that Al-Sakhra had performed at 25 HLF fundraisers in one year alone.
Monzer Taleb also figured into the Holy Land Foundation trial as he was personally named as unindicted co-conspirator in the case, in addition to CAIR, as this graphic taken from the federal prosecutors’ list of unindicted co-conspirators indicates (p. 6, no. 40 — click graphic for larger image):
Videos of the Al-Sakhra Band were also entered into evidence by federal prosecutors to show the connection between the “charity” and HAMAS. In fact, one solo performance by Monzer Taleb was particularly difficult for defense attorneys to explain away, as Taleb sang “I am from HAMAS” (complete video and transcript available from the Investigative Project):
[Caption on the screen]
I am from Hamas
[End of caption]
Munzir: I am from Hamas and have never cheered for anyone else besides her.
I am from Hamas and have never cheered for anyone else besides her, she is the way to reciprocate the deceit of the attacker.
And she is the one which marches with the light of Muhammad, and it is the one which marches with the light of Muhammad, with the light of Muhammad towards Jihad, towards Jihad, towards Jihad, towards Jihad by its renewed determination.
[Caption on the screen]
Hamas
A continuous revolution
[End of caption]
Another troubling video of the entire troupe, including Taleb, was presented as evidence of them singing about the murdering and enslavement of the Jews (full video and transcript available from the Investigative Project):
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.In a January 2001 article in the New Yorker, Jeffrey Goldberg explained the significance of the popular Islamic chant:
The Army of Muhammad will return
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.
The Army of Muhammad will return
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.
The Army of Muhammad will return
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.
The Army of Muhammad will return
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey.
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.
The Army of Muhammad will return
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.
The Army of Muhammad will return
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.
The Army of Muhammad will return
Khaibar, Khaibar, O Jews.
The Army of Muhammad will return
We will crawl and fight.
I had not heard this particular slogan since 1991, during the first Intifada, but that was in Gaza, and it was the fundamentalists of the militant Islamic group Hamas who had chanted it. This crowd was beardless — a mostly secular crowd. Khaybar is the name of an oasis near Medina that, in the time of Muhammad, was populated mainly by Jews. In the year 628, Muhammad led the Muslims against it, defeating the Jews in battle and subjugating the survivors, who would later be expelled from Arabia. The intent of the slogan, then, is clear: what the army of Muhammad did to the Jews fourteen hundred years ago in Arabia it would soon do again in Palestine.Another interesting tidbit gathered from this video is that the drum played by Taleb bears the Arabic inscription, “Al-Sakhra Band, Islamic Association for Palestine”. The now-closed Islamic Association for Palestine was the parent organization of CAIR.
In yet another video Monzer Taleb is introduced as part of Al-Sakhra by Holy Land Foundation President and CEO Shurki Abu Baker, as they sang:
It wasn’t just Monzer Taleb’s participation in the Al-Sakhra Band that got the attention of federal prosecutors, as he was also identified in seized Holy Land Foundation documents as the head of the “Artistic Aspect” of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee responsible for fundraising and propaganda in the US on behalf of HAMAS (click to enlarge).
O Hamas the religion
Get rid of these enemies.
O sword of the Muslims.
Hamas the Jihad.
O Hamas the religion
Get rid of these enemies.
O sword of the Muslims.
Hamas the religion
O Hamas the religion
Get rid of these enemies.
O sword of the Muslims.
We challenge with our Quran.
We challenge with our Quran.
Our youth are roaming around.
Our youth are roaming around.
We challenge with our Quran.
We challenge with our Quran.
Our youth are roaming around.
Our youth are roaming around.
And our dwellings will not be returned.
And nothing will wash our disgrace,
Except blood and stones.
Rebel, rebel, rebel.
Rebel, rebel, rebel.
Hey, hey, hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
Monzer Taleb has continued his “artistic” pursuits by authoring and directing a play, “Once Upon a Time in Medina”, about the early battles of conquest by the Muslims and the “grand conspiracy” of the Jews against Islam. The play was presented in February 2004 by the Muslim American Society Youth Center of Dallas, which Taleb founded and directs.
And of course, CAIR-Cleveland has run into its own troubles with promoting hatred and violence, such as their attempt in March 2008 to present a hate-filled movie at the Cleveland Heights Library, which was loudly denounced by Jewish groups in Northeast Ohio. But when CAIR-Cleveland features speakers such as Monzer Taleb at their annual banquet, is it really any surprise?!
