Monday, July 23, 2007

Abukar Arman Identifies the Zionist Global Conspiracy

Where’s the love, Abukar?

Over the past two weeks here at the COAT blog, we have been following the developing story of the local Somali terror apologist, Abukar Arman, who sits on the Franklin Justice Criminal Planning Board, which oversees Central Ohio Homeland Security.

The story began with a FrontPage Magazine article, “Hometown Jihad: The Somali Terror Apologist Next Door” (see our post, “Hilliard’s Somali Terror Apologist”). That FrontPage article then prompted Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks the following day to order an immediate investigation into Arman’s vocal support for terror organizations and individuals listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, such as HAMAS spiritual leader Youssef Al-Qaradawi, news that we broke here first, “Impacting: Franklin County Commissioner Responds to Somali Terror Apologist Story”. We then noticed an email exchange between 610 WTVN radio personality Dirk Thompson and County Commission spokeswoman Hanna Greer, who attempted to obfuscate the matter by claiming the Planning Board didn’t oversee the Homeland Security program — a claim directly refuted by the Franklin County Comprehensive Strategic Justice Plan (“The Cover-Up Begins”). These new developments were then covered by FrontPage last Monday, “The Columbus Homeland Security Cover-Up”.

Late last week, Abukar Arman publicly responded to the FrontPage story, “When the Politics of Polarization Prevails: Islamophobia and the Specter of Neo-McCarthyism”, claiming that he was being targeted by the Zionist global conspiracy and that the intent of the FrontPage articles wasn’t really his enthusiastic vocal support for terrorists, or his position overseeing Central Ohio Homeland Security, but instead, an article he wrote in June defending anti-Israel “scholar” Norman Finkelstein.

Of course, the two FrontPage articles never mention Arman’s Finkelstein article, but Abukar Arman is not one to let the facts get in the way of a good argument. He also identifies two scapegoats — Dr. Daniel Pipes and David Horowitz — as the true architects of the FrontPage exposé revealing Arman’s support for terrorist groups. Conventiently for Arman’s conspiratorial narrative, both Pipes and Horowitz are of Jewish backgrounds.

A response to Arman’s bizarre charges appears this morning at FrontPage, “Terror Apologist Identifies FrontPage Scapegoats”, noting that Pipes and Horowitz had no involvement whatsoever in the earlier articles on Arman’s extremist views. Over the weekend, Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs responded to Arman’s attack on LGF in his article, “When Islamists Seethe”.

Interestingly, Abukar Arman chose the Media Monitors Network to publish his diatribe. For those who aren’t familiar with the group, Media Monitors is an organization founded and edited by Muhammad Ali Khan and to dedicated to promoting the views of terror apologists, religious and racist bigots, and other extremists in an effort to silence the independent media voices that challenge the anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-terror bias of the establishment media. On it’s “About MMN” page, it admits that “Media Monitors Network would like to set the record straight on important issues that have received slanted press coverage.” Those important issues they intend of setting the record straight on are Israel and the Palestinians, as well as rehabilitating the image of fascism and doing its part to supporting the propaganda front to wage global jihad. Arman also had his article published by the Middle East Times and Middle East Online, both rabidly anti-Jewish websites, along with Media Matters. How appropriate.

We will have some additional breaking news on this story later today. Stay tuned! And be sure to read the FrontPage response to Arman’s identification of the Zionist global conspiracy at work.