Former HAMAS fundraiser/crooner Monzer Taleb to speak at CAIR-Cleveland fundraiser this weekend, sang about exterminating Jews, “I am from HAMAS!”

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!

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.
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.

In a January 2001 article in the New Yorker, Jeffrey Goldberg explained the significance of the popular Islamic chant:

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:

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.

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).



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?!

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Qaradawi calls for the genocide of the Jews — his friends in Central Ohio

Last Friday, HAMAS spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi went on his weekly TV program on al-Jazeera to pray for the genocide of the Jews:

Oh Allah, take this oppressive, Jewish, Zionist band of people. Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them, down to the very last one.

MEMRI has the video and the transcript of Qaradawi’s comments. This tirade and his calls for the genocide of the Jews is nothing new, of course. You can read more from this post at JihadWatch.

However, what should be of concern to residents of Central Ohio is that Qaradawi has close associates in our area. Don’t believe me?


Yes, that’s our local terror sheikh, Hilliard resident Salah Sultan (right) hamming it up with Qaradawi (center) and Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood leader Faisal al-Malawi (left). Sultan serves on the board for two of Qaradawi’s organizations along with al-Malawi, the International Association of Muslim Scholars and the European Council for Fatwa and Research. Qaradawi and Malawi are both banned from the US for their open support of HAMAS and other terrorist organizations, as well as for issuing fatwas allowing for suicide bombings against civilians. In 2004, Qaradawi, Malawi and Sultan issued a fatwa in the name of IAMS calling for jihad against American troops in Iraq.

Sultan is also a member of the Fiqh Council of North America, which bills itself as the top Islamic ruling body in the US.

Here’s another shot of them laughing it up:


These photos of Qaradawi and Sultan have never been released before and are provided here exclusively by COAT. We have about a half-dozen more we are not releasing at this time.

Let’s not forget Sultan’s appearance in July 2007 with Qaradawi and HAMAS head (and designated terrorist) Khaled Mish’al sitting together on the speaker’s dais at a conference in Qatar honoring Qaradawi:


So impressed was Qaradawi with the two speeches that Sultan delivered in his honor that he posted them on his own personal website:



For those just joining us, Sultan appeared on Egyptian Al-Nas TV just two weeks ago (which we reported here) preaching Jew hatred and predicting death and destruction for America:


Let’s not forget that Sultan was the religious director for the Islamic school in Hilliard, Sunrise Academy, as seen in this 2005 announcement for a seminar taught by Sultan (seen teaching below) held at Sunrise sponsored by the school and the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus (click to enlarge):


And let’s not forget about his friends at the Noor Islamic Cultural Center in Hilliard/Dublin, where Sultan served as scholar-in-residence for his best friend, Noor president Hany Saqr:


And here’s a shot of Sultan at one of the Noor Center’s intifada-fests:


Hmmm . . . where did all that money go they raised that night? And will the Noor Center's de facto press agent, Columbus Dispatch religion reporter Meredith Heagney, quickly move to explain this all away?

Islamofascist Anisa Abd El Fattah declares Michelle Malkin “an enemy of the people”, incites violence against Jews, Christians

Founding CAIR Board member: Michelle Malkin “an enemy of the people”
When the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was founded, the HAMAS network leaders in the US turned to one of its own, Anisa Abd El Fattah/Caroline F. Keeble to serve as one of its founding board members. Her two mentors and former employers, HAMAS chief Mousa Abu Marzook and Abdurahman Alamoudi, have respectively been designated a terrorist and convicted of terrorist support. Thus, she is quite familiar with both the overt and more subtle methods of cultural terrorism.

Recently, Anisa Abd El Fattah, a Central Ohio resident, published an editorial inciting violence against her old enemy — “Judeo/Christian fascists”. This time around, however, she put a face with the name: conservative media pundit and blogger Michelle Malkin. Her article, “Michelle Malkin: Enemy of the People and the US Constitutiion [sic]”, was published in a number of places, including her National Association of Muslim American Women blog.

In the article (reprinted below), Fattah encourages her supporters to “fight back”, demanding that they fight “more forcefully”, against her enemy. She also recommends that federal racketeering statutes and criminal charges be used to silence the “Judeo/Christian fascists”.

Those who have been following my reporting on Anisa Abd El Fattah’s local activities might recall that late last year she was publicly defending neo-Nazis in a published interchange with law professor Eugene Volokh. She later came out defending the neo-Nazi website, STORMFRONT. And in December, she spoke to a student group acknowledged by the FBI to be a front group for the Iranian mullahocracy.

Thus, it isn’t hard to catch the irony of her jihad against Malkin.

For those just joining us, here are some of our previous posts on our local HAMAS honey:

• HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef’s Central Ohio connection (4/19/08)


• New report documents Anisa Abd El Fattah shilling for Iranian ayatollahs (4/5/08)


• Anisa Abd El Fattah backs Ron Paul and neo-Nazi STORMFRONT (12/31/07)


• Anisa Abd El Fattah speaks at conference for Iran’s mullahocracy (12/29/07)


• Another Anisa Abd El Fattah colleague sentenced to prison (11/26/07)


• Anisa Abd El Fattah laments dead HAMAS terrorist-in-chief (10/28/07)


• HAMAS-linked Ohio Statehouse conference speaker defends neo-Nazis (10/24/07)


• HAMAS operative nearly appointed to Columbus Public School Board (10/12/07)


• HAMAS in the (Ohio State) House: HAMAS operative to speak at Ohio State Capitol later this month (10/08/07)

Before getting to her article declaring Malkin “an ememy of the state” — a term used by Lenin to designate those dissidents and other innocents who were to be executed or sent to the gulags — it is worth recalling that this is hardly the first time that Anisa Abd El Fattah has come out inciting violence. Take for instance her letter to the editor published last September in the Columbus Dispatch, where she declares that all Israelis, including women and children, are enemy combatants and legitimate targets for HAMAS “military operations”. No doubt she considers Malkin (and presumably, myself) in that same category.

Also worth remembering is how Anisa Abd El Fattah was interviewed for an open position on the Columbus Public School Board, operating under her given name, Caroline F. Keeble, and conventiently excluding troubling items on her resume, such as her tenure with the HAMAS front, the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), and her close association to convicted Al-Qaeda bag man, Abdurahman Alamoudi. The families in Central Ohio dodged a bullet (pardon the pun) when she was not selected for the open school board position.

So without further ado, here is Anisa Abd El Fattah in her own words:

Saturday, May 31, 2008
Michelle Malkin: Enemy of the people and US Constitutiion[sic]?
by Anisa ’Abdel Fattah [Detroit]

After reading several of the right wing blogs, and the comments left mostly by right wing supporters commenting on the Michelle Malkin, Rachel Ray scarf situation, I realized that Michelle Malkin, who poses as a mere conservative columnist and commentator is actually more likely an enemy of the people of this country, that is out to undo our Constitution. I know it sounds far fetched, but when you read the titles of this woman’s books, and her opinions on rights and freedoms, it becomes pretty clear that she is no patriot, and that she has not grasped the importance of individual liberties as essential elements of freedom and self governance, and has no respect for US law and traditions.

Either like, or along with the Judeo/Christian religious right who is almost daily taking actions aimed at limiting, depriving and violating the constitutional rights of US citizens through the use of public censure, and threats, Malkin is out to demonstrate how the Constitution can be forced into obsolescence simply with a flick of the pen, a few wicked and inflammatory lies, and threats. Whereas the law may not necessarily prohibit the right of any person to hold a view such as Malkin’s, such tactics might be criminal if carried out with others like racketeering, according to some readings of the RICOH [sic] Act.

When such tactics and views become the methodology of choice for a number of people and organizations, working in concert, and very obviously acting to overthrow the constitution of this country and to replace it with their unethical, racist and fascist Judeo/Christian ideology, America has a problem and it’s bigger than Dunkin Donuts.

Anyone who remembers the run up to the Iraq war is familiar with these tactics. They were used to shut down, or vilify and silence all voices that opposed the war, or who challenged the lies disguised as intelligence that became the cause for war. We now know that the primary advisors to the President during that time were not military men, or even lawyers and Constitutional experts. The presidential advisers that helped lead us into an unnecessary war based upon lies were the Judeo/Christian movement pastors and political operatives that took over our government after 9/11 through political appointments, or who were granted access through US Congress people who eat from, and are sustained by the garbage in the Judeo/Christian Zionist trough. They are not finished. Bush has until January in office, and they plan to use that time to further their agenda.

Having succeeded in imposing their devilish vision of Judeo/Christian dominance over the world, brought about through the use of US military force and proselytizing in Iraq, they are acting now to lead us into another unnecessary war, this time with Iran. Malkin, who wrote a book, explaining why Muslims, Arabs and other Americans should be held in detention camps as they prosecute these illegal wars, is now at work insuring that everyone is put on notice that there will be no dissent allowed this time either, not even symbolic dissent.

Malkin’s most recent assault against the American people and our US Constitution is her attempt to use public censure as a means to deny us our constitutionally protected rights to hold a dissenting and unpopular view, and also to hold and express a political opinion, and to express that opinion in our dress, or any other way that we and not Malkin chooses. Malkin and the right wing fascists that support her are a danger to the United States, since they threaten to overturn by stealth, everything that our founders and the noble men and women who struggled for freedom from the British Empire fought for without due process. It seems that they plan to take over the country, and in fact the world, by force.

The people of this country have a constitutionally protected right to hold unpopular and dissenting political and even religious views without the threat of organized campaigns designed purely to deny or to deprive us of those rights. American citizens also have the right to express such views, whether it is through our choice of clothing, or speech, or our choice of whom to financially support through financial contributions, etc. The Supreme Court has consistently upheld these rights, and has never wavered in its interpretations.

Malkin or others have no right to organize to deprive us of our rights, or to threaten and intimidate businesses, and other institutions in this country with harm should they act in deference to the US Constitution and citizen’s rights.

Since this most recent effort by the fanatical right to undermine the US Constitution is centered on a scarf and a donut maker’s advertisement for coffee, it may seem to be a trite and unimportant incident. When we consider what is at stake, if every business in the US, every school, or other institution falls in lockstep with Malkin and her fascist cohorts, what we will lose will be the very Constitution that our founders and subsequent generations of patriots have fought and died for. Our freedoms and our rights will be past history. We will all be forced to live by the rules of John Hagee, Rod Parsley, Pat Robertson, and Joe Lieberman. Our country will be a place where we must all dress the same, think the same and worship the same, sacrifice our lives and treasure for Israel, or be subjected to organized campaigns of defamation and scourging, and censure.

Perhaps as a former soldier who once took an oath to protect the US Constitution and my country, I am particularly sensitive to the ploys of people like Malkin, and her co-conspirators. They claim to be patriots, while they are actually more likely to be subversives who use their rights to deny others the freedoms that God bestowed upon us all equally, regardless of our races, religions, or political affiliations.

If we are smart, we will not let this recent attack on the constitution just go away, and wait quietly for the fascist’s next assault. It’s time that the people of this country wake up, and realize that whether we like it or not, we are involved in a cold war for the very soul of our country, and the Constitution that protects that soul in the same way that Holy Books protect and validate the practice of religion.

We must not surrender to Malkin and those who feel that the US Constitution can be forced into obsolescence or rendered irrelevant by the force of public censure and threats. The United States is a republic that is governed by law, not public opinion.

We, the people, must organize to fight this cold war in defense of our constitution, never failing to speak and to stand for the unbridled constitutional rights of every citizen in this country, and especially the right to hold dissenting views, and to express those views whether it be through our choice of dress, fashion, fundraising, protesting, marching, speaking, etc., etc., etc., that we choose.

Michelle Malkin has proven on more than one occasion that she is a person who has not understood the US Constitution, and its significance. Perhaps she feels that we are all like Dunkin Donuts and the other people and institutions that she has whipped with her fascist tongue and pen, and threatened into conformity. We should let her, and her cohorts know that they have underestimated the American people, and that we also have a pen, and a cause. I pray that every decent American who loves their country will boycott Dunkin Donuts until they restore the Rachel Ray advertisement. I hope that everywhere Michelle Malkin shows up to spread and spew her hateful anti-American venom, crowds of freedom loving people will be there to shout her down.

The luxury of apathy has ended. Malkin fired one of many salvos fired by the Judeo/Christian fascists, when she sought to make the case that American citizens should be denied the right to political freedom and public expression, and that those who refuse to conspire with her and her fellow stooges should be threatened into complicity and conformity. We must respond equally, if not more forcefully, without using the fascist tactics they employ.

Part of this response must be to put US businesses and other institutions on notice. If they think Malkin and her crew are to be feared, imagine a United States run by the likes of Malkin, and the other right wing fascist who have taken over the US airways and blogs in an effort to systematically undermine the US Constitution, and to deny and deprive us of our Constitutional rights. If you want to live by the laws of Hagee, Robertson, Parsley and Malkin, keep kowtowing.

If we want to remain free, we must fight back.

If we truly want to remain free, we must speak out against the threats of violence and the strategy of cultural terrorism advocated by Islamofascists, such as Anisa Abd El Fattah, by continuing to resist and expose her “Final Solution” to the “Judeo/Christian” problem.

DOJ: Facts tie ISNA to HAMAS (36 days until ISNA convention in Columbus!)

The New York Sun reported earlier this month that federal prosecutors have responded to a filing by the Islamic Society of North American (ISNA) to have itself delisted as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial.

In their reply brief, the Department of Justice not only defended their designation of ISNA as unindicted co-conspirator, but cited more than two dozen government exhibits connecting ISNA and its financial arm, the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), to the HLF criminal conspiracy to raise money for the HAMAS terrorist organization. The NY Sun quotes the trial brief:

“During last year’s trial, numerous exhibits were entered into evidence establishing both ISNA’s and NAIT’s intimate relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestine Committee, and the defendants in this case,” the prosecutors wrote. “They were intimately connected with the HLF and its assigned task of providing financial support to HAMAS. . . . That ISNA and NAIT appeared in these documents and share a common history with these defendants is a reflection of the evidence, not any attempt to ‘disparage’ or ‘vilify.’

But that’s not all. More from the trial brief:

ISNA checks deposited into the ISNA/NAIT account for the HLF were often made payable to “the Palestinian Mujahadeen,” the original name for the HAMAS military wing. Govt. Exh. 1–174. From that ISNA/NAIT account, the HLF sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to HAMAS leader Mousa Abu Marzook, Nadia Elashi (defendant Ghassan Elashi’s cousin and Marzook’s wife), Sheikh Ahmed Yassin’s Islamic Center of Gaza, the Islamic University, and a number of other individuals associated with HAMAS. Govt. Exh. 20–55, 20–56.

ISNA was also discussed during the 1993 Philadelphia conference, a meeting of the Palestine Committee convened to discuss the impact of the Oslo Accords. Govt. Exh. 16–47. During the conference, Palestine Committee members discussed using ISNA as official cover for their activities. Govt. Exh. 16–0059 at 10–11; 16–60. In short, evidence introduced during the course of a public trial demonstrates that ISNA and NAIT are indeed co-conspirators/joint venturers, and no relief that the Court can grant would alter the state of the record in that regard. (p. 14)

For more on the DOJ brief, see the related report by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. And here are some of our recent ISNA-related posts:

• FBI Declassified Memo: ISNA conferences “provided opportunities for the extreme fundamentalist Muslims to meet with their supporters” (7/23/08)


• Members of Congress ask DOJ to withdraw from 2007 ISNA convention (7/15/08)


• HAMAS terrorist leader thanks ISNA (7/14/08)

And for those unclear on what we’re saying:

HAMAS terrorist leader thanks ISNA (46 days until ISNA national convention occupies Columbus)

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is coming to Columbus for its annual convention at the end of August (46 days and counting!), and I thought it appropriate to remind our readers exactly who and what ISNA really is.

For instance, in 1997 after he was deported to Jordan (two years after he was designated a terrorist by the US government) HAMAS terrorist leader Mousa Abu Marzook published an open letter in the Washington Report of Middle East Affairs in thanks of the support by American Islamic organizations that had aided him and contributed money to his defense fund in the two years he was incarcerated while the US government was trying to deport him (Jordan would also deport Marzook and the rest of the HAMAS leadership).

And as is seen in this graphic taken from his open letter, ISNA is right in the middle of the organizations that this HAMAS terrorist thanks:


For more detail on ISNA’s legacy of terror and extremism, see the extensive report prepared by the International Assessment and Strategy Center, “Extremism and ISNA”.

HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef’s Central Ohio connection

HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef (left) and Columbus resident Anisa Abd El Fattah/Caroline Keeble (right) and one of the books they co-authored

One name that was in the national news this week was HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef, the former director of the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), which operated as the command for HAMAS in North America. Yousef fled the US to avoid prosecution and testifying in the Fawaz Damra trial in Cleveland, immediately reappearing in Gaza as the official HAMAS spokesman.

Yousef’s name was in the news for comments he made endorsing Barack Hussein Obama for president, as reported by Mosheh Oinounou of Fox News, “A HAMAS Problem for Obama”:

While Sen. Barack Obama sought to improve his relationship with the Jewish community today by meeting with leaders in Philadelphia, comments by a Hamas political adviser this weekend could potentially hurt the Democratic presidential candidate.

During an interview on WABC radio Sunday, top Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef said the terrorist group supports Obama’s foreign policy vision.

“We don’t mind — actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance,” Yousef said in response to a question about the group’s willingness to meet with either of the Democratic presidential candidates.

What might be of interest to those of us in Central Ohio is that HAMAS spokesman Ahmed Yousef co-authored two books with would-be Columbus Board of Education candidate Anisa Abd El Fattah/Caroline Keeble. Those two books were The Agent and Al-Aqsa Intifada (under her given name, Caroline F. Keeble). Fattah/Keeble was the longtime director of public affairs for UASR, which again was the command for HAMAS in the US. There Yousef and Fattah/Keeble co-edited the UASR journal, the Middle East Affairs Journal.

Here’s a shot from one of the MEAJ issues showing their co-editorship:



I have also highlighted Yousef’s article in the table of contents, “Martyrdom Operations: Motivations, Preparations and Repercussions”. For the uninitiated, “martyrdom operations” are terrorist suicide bombings, and Yousef’s article is a defense of such.

After UASR closed down after being found liable for a $156 million federal court judgment in the death of an American teenager killed by HAMAS in Israel, Fattah/Keeble left the DC area and returned to Ohio, settling in Columbus. From here she has operated under the rubric of the National Association of Muslim American Women. In that capacity, she declared in a Sept. 15, 2007 letter to the editor in the Columbus Dispatch that all Israelis, including civilians, were legitimate target of terror attacks, “Israelis in Gaza aren’t civilians”.

It’s only appropriate then that the Dispatch published her co-author Ahmed Yousef’s op-ed last June (covered here, “A New Low for the Columbus Dispatch”).

Terrorist Fundraisers 4 Obama

They all believe in change . . .
Two years ago, Hatem El-Hady was the chairman of the Toledo, Ohio-based Islamic charity, Kindhearts, which was closed by the US government in February 2006 for terrorist fundraising and all its assets frozen. Today, El-Hady has redirected his fundraising efforts for his newest cause — Barack Obama for President.

El-Hady has his own dedicated page on Barack Obama’s official website, chronicling his fundraising on behalf of the Democratic Party presidential candidate (his Obama profile established on February 19, 2008 — two years to the day after Kindhearts was raided by the feds). Not only that, but he has none other than Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama, listed as one of his friends, one of her 224 listed friends.


But his leadership of Kindhearts is not the only thing that has brought him scrutiny by federal law enforcement officials. Last summer, El-Hady was questioned by the FBI concerning his knowledge of possible conspirators in a UK-based terror plot.

Hatem El-Hady’s interest in “change” is understandable. Following the closure of Kindhearts, he said in response to the government’s closure of his organization:

“It’s dirty politics,” said Dr. Hatem Elhady, chairman of the board of KindHearts, which raised $5.1 million in 2004. “They do not like the way things are going in Palestine. They do not like the election results. But that is not our problem. Our problem is providing aid to people in desperate need of help.”

The Department of Justice had a very different version of events. According to the DOJ, Kindhearts assumed the role of lead terrorist fundraising in the US after the government had closed other such Islamic “charities”:

“KindHearts is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable giving,” said Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Not only was Kindhearts engaged in providing funds for HAMAS in Lebanon and the West Bank, it had hired as a fundraising specialist the man identified as the designated HAMAS bag man in the US, Mohammed El-Mezain.

And as investigative reporter Joe Kaufman revealed, “The Black Hearts of Kindhearts”, a number of other Kindhearts officials were tied to terrorist fundraising and support:

• KindHearts’ Director of Domestic Programs, Khalifah Ramadan. Ramadan was a training and evaluation consultant for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), two large Muslim organizations based in the United States that have links to overseas terror groups.
• KindHearts’ Representative, Omar Shahin. Shahin was an Imam for the Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT), the former home of numerous terror operatives, including Wael Jelaidan, who later helped found Al-Qaeda.
• KindHearts’ Representative, Wagdy Ghuneim. Ghuneim, an Egyptian cleric, has been featured in KindHearts fundraising dinners for 2002, 2003, and 2004. During a rally at Brooklyn College, in May of 1998, Ghuneim attempted to persuade the crowd to support violent jihad and labeled Jews as “descendants of the apes.”
• KindHearts’ Representative, Hatem Bazian. Bazian is an Islamic Studies instructor and a member of the faculty of Near Eastern Studies at UC Berkley. In April of 2004, during a San Francisco anti-war rally, Bazian, a native Palestinian, called for an “intifada” against the United States. This was just two months prior to Bazian being featured in a KindHearts Fundraising Dinner, entitled ‘Palestinians in agony!’
• KindHearts’ Manager in Lebanon, Haytham Maghawri (a.k.a. Haytham Fawri). Maghawri, the past Social Services Director for HLF, according to the Treasury Department, “collected [KindHearts] funds and sent them to Hamas and other Salafi groups.” [One of the recipients of KindHearts funding was Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) Usama Hamdan, a leader of Hamas in Lebanon.]

And two months before Kindhearts closure by the US government, Beila Rabinowitz had revealed that the South Asia Division Coordinator for Kindhearts, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, had known ties to al-Qaeda, even conducting a 10-day tour with officials for the Tablighi Jamaat organization, which the New York Times had described as “a springboard for militancy” and a “recruitment” center for Al-Qaeda.

Barack Obama has promised change. And as indicated by the public support that his candidacy has received by accused terrorist fundraiser Hatem El-Hady, Obama’s version of change that terrorists and their US supporters can believe in.

Hilliard terror cleric’s Al-Qaeda and HAMAS Hajj Homeboys

Mohammad Al-Hanooti (left), Salah Sultan (center), and Anwar Al-Aulaqi (right)

Reading the Washington Post several weeks ago, a front page article caught my eye: “Imam from VA Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaeda”. The subject of the article, Anwar Al-Aulaqi, was a name familiar to me because of his past association with our former Hilliard terror cleric, Salah Sultan, who fled the country for Bahrain last March after having his citizenship application denied for his terrorist ties. Sultan was subsequently videotaped with several designated terrorists when he was a keynote speaker during a terror confab held in Doha, Qatar back in July. Al-Aulaqi and Sultan are also both tied to a known HAMAS fundraiser, Mohammed Al-Hanooti, who federal law enforcement authorities have claimed has raised millions of dollars for the terrorist organizations and who was also named an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombing.

The WaPo article discusses new evidence that after Sultan’s friend Al-Aulaqi fled to Yemen in 2002, he began working directly with the Al-Qaeda networks in the Persian Gulf. This is not the first time that Al-Aulaqi has been tied to Al-Qaeda, though, since he has been identified by government sources and media reports as the spiritual mentor to two of the 9/11 hijackers, Nawaf Al Hazmi and Khalid Al Mihdhar. Al-Aulaqi helped the two 9/11 terrorists locate housing in San Diego, and the pair followed Al-Aulaqi when he moved to the Washington DC area in 2001.

Just prior to Al-Aulaqi’s flight to Yemen in 2002, he was scheduled to help Salah Sultan lead a Hajj tour to Mecca, along with HAMAS fundraiser Al-Hanooti. The trip was coordinated by the DC-area Dar El-Eiman Tour Group, which was run by Fawaz Mushtaha. Mushtaha, a former official with the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), was listed, along with Al-Hanooti, as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial last year. The Investigative Project has additional info on the background of Mushtaha, his tour company, Salah Sultan, and his Al-Qaeda and HAMAS Hajj homeboys.

Here’s the Hajj tour brochure, listing Al-Hanooti, Sultan and Al-Aulaqi as tour leaders:





As stated previously, this most recent WaPo article was not the first time that Al-Aulaqi had been in the news for his Al-Qaeda connections. In August 2003, Time Magazine asked the question, “Why Did the Imam Befriend the Hijackers?”, which observes that despite his association with two of the 9/11 terrorists, after the terror attacks he lied to the FBI claiming not to have known any of the hijackers. The FBI’s hands-off approach to Al-Aulaqi prompted criticism by congressional investigators.



And again in June 2004, US News and World Report featured an article on Al-Aulaqi, “The Imam’s Very Curious Story,” disclosing that the imam was known to have been engaging in some very un-Islamic behavior — namely, prostitution:

The probe of the 9/11 attacks soon led Washington FBI agents back to San Diego, where they found that al-Awlaki had twice been busted for soliciting prostitutes in 1996 and 1997 but had avoided jail time. Al-Awlaki has previously described these charges as “bogus.” But FBI agents hoped al-Awlaki might cooperate with the 9/11 probe if they could nab him on similar charges in Virginia. FBI sources say agents observed the imam allegedly taking Washington-area prostitutes into Virginia and contemplated using a federal statute usually reserved for nabbing pimps who transport prostitutes across state lines.

Salah Sultan’s other Hajj homeboy, Mohammad Al-Hanooti, was also the subject of an extensive investigative piece in June 2002 by the Albany Times-Union, "Religious leader tied to terror”. That report discusses Al-Hanooti’s longtime terror associations and activities:

But a classified memorandum written by the FBI’s counterterrorism director less than a month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks describes Al-Hanooti as a “big supporter” of Hamas.

The memorandum from Dale L. Watson, head of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, was sent to the Department of Treasury as federal authorities prepared to clamp down on what they called terrorist fronts that had set up fund-raising operations on U.S. soil.

It was during his tenure as imam at a northern New Jersey mosque in 1993 that Al-Hanooti allegedly raised money for Hamas, according to Watson’s memorandum.

This information notwithstanding, there are still many in the Central Ohio area who are willing to stand up and defend Sultan and are quick to dismiss his open association with terrorist leaders and organizations, such as his appearance at a June 2005 HAMAS rally in Istanbul, where he spoke along with HAMAS head Ismail Haniyeh.

But even with Sultan’s flight to the Middle East, he has been replaced by an endless stream of hate speakers and terror sheikhs who go through some of the Islamic institutions in the Columbus area like a department store revolving door.

We’ll bring you more on Central Ohio’s Wahhabi Express soon!

Greetings visitors from HAMASistan!

UPDATE #1. The plot thickens, as we’re starting to get more hits from that neck of the woods (paltel.net). Someone over there must have noticed!

UPDATE #2. As of 2:55am today (12/16), we are getting hits from the HAMAS university to this post now! Welcome Islamic terrorists and friends of CAIR-OH!

I checked our stats of recent visitors here at the COAT blog this morning, and was suprised to find several hits today from the HAMAS Islamic University of Gaza (iugaza.edu):



They no doubt were informed by some of our local HAMAS enthusiasts of my post on Thursday observing that their local patron, the Dublin, OH-based Arab Student Aid International, may finally receive some scrutiny of the millions of dollars they have funneled to the HAMAS institution over the past decade and the HAMAS leaders that they have supported in the past (as noted by the Washington Post).

They were certainly aware of the post, because as the graphic below showing the visitor “drill-down” shows, it was that post in particular that they were visiting. It seems they spent a while here as well (nearly 5 hours).



Country: Israel. Heh.

Funding HAMAS Terror Through Palestinian Universities — Even from Central Ohio!!

The Chicago Tribune reported on Wednesday:

U.S. government officials authorized giving nearly $1 million in foreign aid to a Palestinian university with links to the terrorist group Hamas, despite vetting the school eight times for ties to terrorism, according to a government audit.

[ . . . ]

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) asked USAID’s inspector general to conduct the audits after a Washington Times report detailed some of the aid payments to Islamic University earlier this year. He said in an interview Tuesday that the failure to detect terrorist ties at the school suggested “either incompetence or a complete breakdown of the vetting system as run by the State Department.”

That Palestinian university mentioned would be the Islamic University of Gaza, an institution founded and controlled by the terrorist group, HAMAS. As Matthew Levitt describes in his book, HAMAS: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale Univ. Press), the Islamic University of Gaza has been the central institution in the HAMAS terror infrastructure. A 2006 Baltimore Sun article quotes HAMAS lawmaker and professor Jameela El Shanty regarding the Islamic University of Gaza: “HAMAS built this institution. The university presents the philosophy of HAMAS.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Lantos exoriated USAID officials earlier this year for their funding of IUG in violation of US law:

Providing U.S. assistance to a terrorist-controlled university in Gaza was out of the question and, in fact, violates U.S. law. This outrageous support for terrorism must and will end.

That would be the same HAMAS-controlled Islamic University of Gaza that the Dublin, OH-based Arab Student Aid International has poured millions into over the past decade. As I reported back in September (“Ohio-based Saudi ‘Charity’ Supporting HAMAS Terror University”), Arab Student Aid International admits providing more than $5 million in direct cash contributions to three terror-operated Palestinian universities, including IUG.

And that would be the same Arab Student Aid International that funded the US education of several HAMAS leaders, as reported last year by the Washington Post (“Distance Learning: HAMAS’ US Education”).

Funding HAMAS from right here in Central Ohio? Say it isn’t so!

Another Anisa Abd El Fattah colleague sentenced to prison

The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that Abdelhaleem Ashqar, a former colleague of Columbus resident and would-be Columbus Public School Board member Anisa Abd El Fattah/Caroline F. Keeble, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison last week for refusing to testify about his role in HAMAS financing. Ashqar was formerly a research associate for the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), which one convicted terrorist leader described as “the political command for HAMAS in the United States”. Anisa Abd El Fattah was the longtime director of public affairs and past president of the organization and served with Ashqar.

Ashqar’s conviction adds to the lenthy list of former UASR associates and former associates of Fattah’s who have been convicted of terrorism charges, fled the country to avoid prosecution, or have been listed by the US government as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists”.

Here’s a quick rundown of UASR’s greatest hits:

• UASR was found jointly liable in federal court in a $156 million judgment for the murder of Chicago teenager David Boim, who was gunned down by HAMAS gunmen while waiting for a bus in Israel in May 1996.
• UASR founder and former political director Mousa Abu Marzook is currently the political director for HAMAS in Damascus. The US government has listed Marzook as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
• UASR executive director Ahmed Yousef co-authored two books with Anisa Abd El Fattah/Caroline F. Keeble and is now the official spokesman for HAMAS. Yousef fled the US in 2005 to avoid prosecution in the Fawaz Damra trial.
• According to the Department of Justice’s trial brief in the Holy Land case, UASR “was designed for ideological research and development intended to promote a fundamentalist view of the Palestinian issue. The UASR was also involved in passing Hamas communiques to the United States-based Muslim Brotherhood community and relaying messages from that community back to Hamas.”
• UASR board member Abdurahman Alamoudi was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to 23 years in federal prison for working with Libyan intelligence to assassinate the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The US Treasury Department estimated that Alamoudi had raised more than $1 million for al-Qaeda. Anisa Abd El Fattah served for 10 years as a consultant to Alamoudi and his American Muslim Council.
• A federal judge refused to allow Fawaz Damra attend a March 2004 UASR event while he was on trial on charges related to his terrorist fundraising due to the organization’s terrorist ties. Damra was deported in January 2007 for failing to disclose his ties to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in his citizenship application.
• Mohamed Nimer, a former UASR board member, is named in the amended RICO statement for the lawsuit Estate of John P. O’Neill, Sr., et al. v. Al Baraka, et al. as one of the “proven links to Islamic Terrorists.”

You are known by the company you keep.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph: Suicide bombings are “reasonable”

Just one week before 9/11, one of our local terror apologists, Mahmoud El-Yousseph, a regular columnist for the Marion Star and the Newark Advocate, had a letter to the editor published by the Columbus Dispatch defending suicide bombings targeting civilians, saying that they were “a reasonable way to defend their freedom, honor and integrity”. Just eight days later, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists applied that same logic in murdering almost 3,000 Americans in the worst terrorist attack in our country’s history. And according to El-Yousseph, the management of the Columbus Dispatch came to his rescue when the FBI understandably came calling.

Regular readers might recall that this is the same Mahmoud El-Yousseph who openly praises the terrorist organization Hezbollah, calling them “freedom liberation fighters”, despite the fact that Hezbollah has killed hundreds of American Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen in multiple terrorist attacks and kidnappings (see our previous post, “Mahmoud El-Yousseph: Hezbollah are ‘freedom fighters’”).

To compound his treachery, El-Yousseph tries to hide behind his military service, even though his open support of Hezbollah is in direct conflict with his military induction and citizenship naturalization oaths to “support and defend the United States Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic” and Hezbollah is responsible for the 1996 Khobar Towers attack that killed 19 airmen (his own branch of service).

For disclosing his public support for terrorists in violation of his military and citizenship oaths, El-Yousseph last week threatened me with legal action (“Mahmoud El-Yousseph threatens legal action”).

Just days before 9/11, it was HAMAS and Islamic Jihad Palestinian suicide bombers and those terrorist organizations’ targeting of innocent civilians that Mahmoud El-Yousseph was defending, saying such acts were “reasonable”. The problem with his contrived narrative, however, is that if the oppression were so great, why aren’t there any independent suicide bombers? Why are they all tied to these terrorist organizations, and why do they only strike when HAMAS, Islamic Jihad or Fattah have political objectives they hope to meet?

Here’s Mahmoud in his own words:

In order to eliminate suicide bombing in the Middle East, one must examine this phenomenon. What would make someone strap explosives to his chest, walk into a restaurant and blow himself up?

Israel is driving Palestinians into desperation on a daily basis. The war crimes and atrocities committed against Palestinians are bad enough to drive a saint to insanity.

Collective punishment, demolition of homes, political assassinations, checkpoints and roadblocks are some of the trials Palestinians endure. Restriction on people leaving their homes to go to work, to school, to hospitals or to visit relatives are not intended to be security measures, at all. They are the punishment and humiliation of a whole population.

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have so little freedom and so little hope that suicide seems a reasonable way to defend their freedom, honor and integrity.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph
Westerville

Below is the text of El-Yousseph’s letter BEFORE the Columbus Dispatch edited it. It begins with a libelous and mendacious report that Israelis were allegedly going to bury Palestinian terrorists in pig skins. He also justifies the killing of two Israelis by a Palestinian mob saying that they were undercover agents on an assassination mission - another false story floated by El-Yousseph.

Date: Tue Aug 28, 2001 9:08 am
From: Mahmoud El-Yousseph elyousseph6@yahoo.com
To:
Subject: How to stop suceide bombing

Dear editor:

Eurika! Israel has discovered a majic solution to curtail suceide bombing by Palestinians. Israel now contamplating to burry the remain of would be bomber with the blood and skin of a pig. By the way, Muslims are not allowed to eat any pork products. What a ludicrious idea. Discrating human remains, or radiculing the dead and his faith is dumber than dumb. Israel don’t get it. Last spring the Palestinians returned promptly to Israel two of it soliders killed in Ramallah by protersters. The two were udercover operative dressed in Arabic attire, and were on a mission to assassinate Palestinain activisits. It is rather silly to even think that burrying a bomber remain with a pig would put an end to suceide bombing. In order to eliminate suceide bombing, one must examine and understand this new phenomina. What makes someone strap explosives to his chest, walk into a resturant and blow himself up? Israel is driving Palestinians into desperation on a daily basis. It’s war crimes and attrocities against Palestinains is bad enough to drive a saint into insanity. Some of these mesures for example: Collective punishment, home demolishing, political assassination, chek points, roadblocks. And restricting people movement from leaving their homes to go to work, school, hospitals or visiting releatives, are not intended as a security mesures at all. They are punishment and humiliation of a whole population.

Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza have so little freedom and so little hope that suceide seems a reasonable way to defend their freedom, honor,and integrity.

Mahmoud El-Yousef

According to El-Yousseph (acknowledging in advance that he has a pretty loose grip on the truth), after 9/11 FBI agents contacted the Columbus Dispatch to get a copy of his original letter above, only to be rebuffed by the paper. He also adds that Dick Carson, who was the Dispatch’s editorial page editor at the time, took to El-Yousseph’s defense.

Date: Fri Sep 21, 2001 10:55 pm
From: Mahmoud El-Yousseph elyousseph6@yahoo.com
To:
Subject: Aiming @ the wrong target!

Dear friedns:

I was contacted by columbus Dispatch reporter today who wanted to do a story about my first amandment’s right,and wanted to know if I was questioned by any federal agents regarding my last letter that appeared in the dispatch> the letter dated back to Sep.3rd this year which explain why Palestinian resort to sucied bombing. I did not give an interview, because I was not contacted by any body regarding my letter. I know a man contacted Westerville Police about that letter on 12 Sep. Obviously, somebody contacted the FBI and Columbus Police Department regarding that letter also. The reporter I talked to read the letter and was confidant that letter does not condone sucied bombing, but it rather explain it. To make a long story short, I contacted the paper editorial manager Dick Carson, and he told me the fellowing:

1..He was asked by columbus police liason officer to the FBI, and was asked for a copy of my letter. The dispatch refused and submitted to him via Fax only the printed version of the letter.
2.. Dick Carson informed the officer that he knew me for the last 20 years as a peace loving person and that he was wasting his time by going after the wrong person. To proof his point and to ad a human face, Mr. Carson faxed a human intrest story I wrote about my 8 years old son Adam back in April. That story was a heart breaking one.
3.. Mr. Carson informed the officer also, that he will eat his hat the Columbus city hall steps If the police would find ANYTHING against me.
4.. INS agent left his card at my house door with a not to call him. He is asumming I am a foriegner I take it. What does that all mean? This iseither being done in the name of national security, or they just crossed the line.

Let me assure you all, I have nothing to fear or hide. They are not only going to be wasting their time and mine. But they will be disappointed after they speak to me, and know me as a real person. I will not be intimidated by any blackmail, smear, or scare tactic. This is my country too, and I have the write to speak my mind and express my view puplicly I will keep you all updated in case of any devolopment.

thanks for your time.
Salaam,
Mahmoud El-Yousseph

Even after the despicable and cowardly attacks after 9/11, Mahmoud El-Yousseph continued to shamelessly cling to the same twisted suicidal jihadist dogma that fueled the 9/11 attacks. Even more interesting is that El-Yousseph was still serving in the US Air Force at the time. It seems that the FBI had every right to investigate our local terror apologist.

Anisa Abd El Fattah laments dead HAMAS terrorist-in-chief

In commemoration of today’s taxpayer-financed “Many Faces of Islam” conference at the Ohio State Capitol atrium, featuring HAMAS operative Anisa Abd El Fattah, I thought it might be appropriate to revisit some of the professional history of our fellow Columbus resident and would-be Columbus Public School Board member. (You might also want to revisit our post regarding Fattah’s defense earlier this year of neo-Nazis and UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh’s recent take of the same.)

Below is a 2004 press release from Fattah in her previous position as the Director of Public Affairs for the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), which one convicted terrorist leader described as “the political command for HAMAS in the United States”. The topic is the assassination of HAMAS founder and terrorist-in-chief Ahmed Yassin by the Israelis following HAMAS terror strikes against Israeli civilians. Yassin had been named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US in 1995.

But in her press release, Anisa Abd El Fattah laments the dead terror chief and hails “the Islamic Resistance Movement”, the formal name for HAMAS. Again, Fattah — who has publicly defended terrorist organizations and has herself personally worked for multiple convicted and designated terrorists (Mousa Abu Marzook, Abdurahman Alamoudi, et al.) — is at this very moment participating in an event at the Ohio Statehouse.

Here’s her press release as retrieved from U.S. Newswire:

United Association for Studies and Research Condemns Murder of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin

3/23/2004

From: United Association for Studies and Research, 703-750-9011 [number no longer active - ed.]

WASHINGTON, March 23/U.S. Newswire/ — The United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), a Muslim American think tank, condemns yesterday’s murder of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine and calls upon Israel to end its policy of extra judicial murders of Palestinian people, the destruction of their homes and property and the continued illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.

“We condemn the murder of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and also Israel’s policy of targeted assassination,” says UASR Director of Public Affairs, Anisa Abd el Fattah. “It is ironic that Yassin was killed only days after releasing a statement saying that his organization was willing to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority, and other Palestinian groups in an effort to prevent anarchy should Israel withdraw from Gaza. To most political analysts, this was a signal that the Islamic Resistance Movement was preparing to perhaps moderate its activities and focus more on alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people, rather than attacking Israel. Sheikh Yassin, contrary to what Israel says, had offered Israelis many opportunities to enter a truce, and to end the practice of targeting civilians by both sides but Israel refused these offers. Israel proved yesterday that it is not interested in peace with the Palestinian people, and that it has reserved for itself the right to kill at will, in violation of international laws, and any recognized and civilized concept of justice. Israel has continued its attempts at provocation today by issuing public statements threatening other acts of violence against Palestinians and other extra judicial killings. We believe that Israel has taken this path of escalated violence to avoid what has become the inevitable reality. Israel can no longer justify its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands beyond its 1967 borders, nor can it any longer justify its attacks on the Palestinian people, which it claims as retaliation, and the destruction of their homes and property. The United States should be the first to strongly and without reservations, condemn these acts of provocation and also Israel’s criminal policy of targeted assassinations, and the United Nations Security Council should take immediate steps to ensure the security of the Palestinian people and their property, and to end the occupation.

Please forward questions or comments to UASR at 703-750-9011 or by fax at 703-750-9012. [UASR is now defunct, so these numbers are no longer active — ed.]

Needless to say, the Israelis had their own take on their successful assassination in light of Yassin’s direct role in directing terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians:

The founder and leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, Ahmed Yassin, was killed today in the northern Gaza Strip.

Yassin was the leader and mentor of Hamas in the territories, and the authorizing and initiating authority for all Hamas terrorist attacks emanating from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Although he was not a religious authority, many named him “Sheikh Yassin,” for his status as leader of Hamas.

The perception that Yassin was the “political” leader and left the management of terrorist activities to others is incorrect. In fact, there is no differentiation between the “political” and “military” wings of Hamas. Yassin, himself, often authorized and encouraged attacks and strongly preached against Israel. . .

Yassin was the senior authority in the decision making process for carrying out terrorist attacks, and was the main address in all matters concerning the determining the policy for terrorism. He was viewed as a highly admired and charismatic persona serving as a main factor in attacks against Israel.

May Ahmed Yassin rot in Hell. Thanks to the Israelis for eliminating this POS from the planet. We owe you our thanks.

And remember Anisa Abd El Fattah’s defense of terrorist leader Ahmed Yassin next time the Columbus Dispatch rises to her defense.

Former Hilliard HAMAS cleric pictured with two global terrorists

Two months ago I reported on our former Hilliard resident, Salah Sultan (Soltan), who spoke at a conference in July honoring Specially Designated Global Terrorist and HAMAS spiritual leader Yousef Al-Qaradawi (see “Hilliard man roasts global terrorist Qaradawi at conference in Qatar”), an event in which Sultan was photographed with the terrorist leader (see "Hilliard man shares a moment with Global Terrorist Qaradawi"). Sultan’s speech and a paper he delivered at the conference are posted on Qaradawi’s own personal website. Qaradawi was listed by the U.S. government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 1999.

But new photographic evidence of Sultan’s appearance at the Qaradawi conference in July has emerged showing Sultan sitting on the speakers dais with HAMAS leader Khaled Mash’al and Qaradawi while Mash’al praised the terror cleric for his fatwa endorsing HAMAS suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Mash’al’s comments were broadcast live by Al-Jazeera, and recorded and translated by MEMRI.

In the video of their remarks, Sultan can be clearly seen seated on the dais with the two terrorist leaders, as seen in the screen captures below.

Salah Sultan (far left) seated at the conference speaker dais (taken at 2:40 in the MEMRI video).

Sultan (third from right), Khaled Mash’al (third from left), and Yousef Al-Qaradawi (middle in white turban — 4:13).

Mash’al (left) and Qaradawi (right) justifying suicide bombings (3:43).

Mash’al praises Qaradawi for his suicide bombing fatwa (1:07).

Qaradawi expressing his support for HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah (3:29).

It’s important to note that even though Sultan fled the country earlier this year for Bahrain after having his US citizenship application denied (thanks to yours truly, see my multiple FrontPage “Hometown Jihad” reports in the right-hand links column), he is still able to re-enter the country. He is still a member of the Fiqh Council of North America and has appeared at recent meetings, notwithstanding his continued association with designated global terrorists.

Why is Sultan still allowed to travel in and out of the US despite his openly associating with terrorist leaders, even being repeatedly photographed with them?

As a member of the Fiqh Council, Sultan was a signatory of their much-heralded 2005 “Fatwa against Terrorism”, which specifically prohibits any cooperation “with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence.” And yet Sultan and another Fiqh Council member and “Fatwa against Terror” signatory, Jamal Badawi, were both in attendance and actively participated in the conference honoring HAMAS terror cleric Qaradawi, as well as openly associating with HAMAS political head Mash’al (see my previous Family Security Matters article, “CAIR Terror Fatwa Signatories Attend Conference Honoring HAMAS Terror Cleric Qaradawi”).

Since Sultan has moved to Bahrain and obtained citizenship there (much to the displeasure of many Bahrainis), and he is directly flaunting the anti-terror fatwa he signed, why is he still a member of the Fiqh Council of North America?

This is the same Salah Sultan that the Columbus Dispatch defended in May 2006 as a "moderate" (much as they have with local terror apologist Abukar Arman, and now, local HAMAS operative Anisa Abd El Fattah). In that article, the Dispatch dismissed his connections to Qaradawi:

Soltan is a former president of the Islamic American University in suburban Detroit, and he said Al-Qaradawi served the school as “volunteer chairman of the board.” [Qaradawi was appointed after he had been designated a global terrorist by the US government — ed] The two men also belong to the European Council for Fatwa and Research, but Soltan said members of the scholars group hold divergent views.

Of course, the Dispatch’s defense of Salah Sultan appeared two weeks before he appeared on Al-Risala TV declaring that the US was behind the 9/11 terror attacks and defending al-Qaeda cleric and Specially Designated Global Terrorist Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani (MEMRI report, video, transcript), and a month before Sultan spoke at a pro-HAMAS rally in Istanbul with HAMAS head Ismail Haniyeh.

Where’s the Columbus Dispatch now?