MPAC’s Haris Tarin says: “Vote or die, infidel”
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) is an organization that published an official position paper in 1999 claiming that the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks, which killed 241 US military servicemen, by Hezbollah terrorists was not a terrorist attack, but a legitimate military operation (Salam al-Marayati, “A Position Paper on U.S. Counterterrorism Policy.” Page 58. Multi Media Vera International. June 1999). Just hours after the 9/11 attacks, MPAC executive director and co-founder Salam Al-Marayati declared that “we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list”. In 2005, MPAC national director Ahmed Younis reasoned “that Adolf Eichmann was himself a Jew, so in fact Jews killed themselves in the Holocaust.”
Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a moderate Muslim leader and retired USN Lt. Cdr, has written about the danger of MPAC and other extremist organizations who claim moderation, but their message is radically different when they’re out of the spotlight.
And just last May, MPAC communications director Edina Lekovic was confronted on MSNBC’s Kudlow & Co. program (link is to YouTube video of the exchange) about her prior role as managing editor of a magazine, Al-Talib, that published a special issue during her tenure dedicated to “The Spirit of Jihad” that praised Osama bin Laden as a “great Mujahid (someone who struggles in Allah’s cause),” instructing Muslim readers to “defend our brother” Osama bin Laden, and “refer to him as a freedom fighter, someone who has forsaken wealth and power to fight in Allah’s cause and speak out against oppressors. We take these stances only to please Allah.” This special issue appeared a year after Al-Qaeda bombed the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. While Lekovic initially claimed to have no involvement at all with Al-Talib, claiming that the accusation was based on “sloppy research, she retracted her denial two days later and admitted that she had been briefly involved with the magazine only after documentary evidence was made public proving her editorial position. But her admission was also an obfuscation, because it was found that she was involved with the magazine for several years afterwards she claimed her involvement ceased, and she even listed her editorship on her own official bio.
This coming Saturday evening, an official from MPAC, Haris Tarin, has been invited by the Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC) in Dublin/Hilliard to speak on “Election 08 and the American Muslim Narrative”.
Here’s the announcement for Saturday’s event:
Election 08 and the American Muslim NarrativeOf additional note is Tarin’s involvement in the Muslim American Society (MAS), which was named by the Department of Justice this past summer as un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial and a front organization for the international Muslim Brotherhood (in fact, it’s ideological training arm).
NMCN (Noor Monthly Coomunity Meeting) with Potluck Dinner
Saturday, February 23, 2008, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
NICC
5001 Wilcox Rd
Dublin, OH
614.527.7777
Description
Haris Tarin Director of Community Development, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Haris Tarin has been active in the Muslim community for the past 10 years. He has directed MAS Youth and Community organizations in Southern California and has worked as a youth counselor and facilitator at many camps, conferences and programs. Haris has spoken at various conferences, media outlets and symposiums on the topic of Islam and the role of Muslim American community. Haris has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Europe. Haris was a first responder to the disaster zone in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for Islamic Relief an organization that Haris has volunteered with for the past 10 years.
MPAC has issued numerous statements denouncing terrorism, yet when President Bush denounced the “Islamic fascists” behind the 7/7 suicide bombings in London, Edina Lekovic said, “When the people we need most in the fight against terrorism, American Muslims, feel alienated by the President’s characterization of these supposed terrorists, that does more damage than good.” Lekovic did not explain how American Muslims would feel alienated by the president’s denouncing the “Islamic fascists” behind the terror attacks. (Read Rachel Neuwirth’s takedown of MPAC’s two faces on terrorism, “With Friends Like These”.)
We’ll have more on MPAC later this week. But be sure to RSVP for Saturday’s potluck dinner (527-7777)!
