Free Republic

A Saudi-funded academy was granted a zoning exemption Monday that allows it to expand at its 34-acre Popes Head Road campus in Fairfax County, culminating a years-long campaign to enlarge the school at that location...The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, whose permission was required for the expansion, stressed Monday that the 6 to 4 decision was based on zoning questions, not on what happens in the school's classrooms. "The community will get an awful lot of development," said Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason). "I think [it] will improve the community." The academy, founded in 1984, has about 1,000 students in pre-kindergarten...

For nearly 25 years, the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), the Virginia school founded by royal decree of Saudi King Fahd in 1984, immersed students of its Islamic-studies curriculum in the same Wahhabi interpretation of Islam that is taught in Saudi Arabia and in Saudi-funded madrassas around the world. That curriculum includes praise for militant jihad to “spread the faith” and permission for the killing of various categories of “unbelievers,” as well as other endorsements of religious intolerance. Now, as it seeks permission from Fairfax County to expand its operations, ISA claims that, over the last school year, it replaced the...

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a Falls Church man and a member of al Qaeda who admitted he was planning to assassinate then-President George W. Bush, was sentenced to life in prison Monday at federal court in Alexandria. Abu Ali was originally sentenced in 2005 to 30 years in prison. U.S. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the U.S. District Court for eastern Virginia ruled Monday that Abu Ali should spend life in prison partially because he never renounced his al Qaeda ties. After the initial sentencing, both sides filed appeals. Abu Ali completed some of his sentence in solitary confinement at...

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Richard A. Forde, also known as Euburn Richard Forde, age 51, formerly of Great Falls, Va., was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme from approximately December 2001 to January 2004. Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; W. Clarkson McDow, Jr., United States Trustee; and Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. In addition his prison term, Forde was sentenced to three years of supervised release...

Last month, a Saudi Arabian man named Raed Abdul-Rahman Al-Saif, placed three bags on the Tampa, Florida airport security conveyor belt as he made his way toward his gate to board US Airways flight 1077 to Phoenix, Arizona and Portland, Oregon. He never made it to the gate. A Transportation Security Administration representative saw something on his screen that made him curious. Upon further investigation, TSA officers found a knife “artfully concealed between the outside fabric and the expandable pull handles of the bag.” This bag, by the way, would have been easily accessed by Al-Saif had he made it...

Hello freedom fighters, Attend the Fairfax County Board meeting on Monday, July 13th to have your voice heard! If we don’t want to live with Muslim intimidation then we have to go on the offensive, and let them know we mean business. It was nerve wracking before I spoke at the planning commission hearing in March because there were a lot of Muslims there making their presence known. But once I spoke I realized that there is power in standing up and saying, no, we will not let you get away with this. Listening to these people lie to get...

A draft agenda posted for next Monday's (July 13th) Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting includes a public hearing at 6 p.m. for the expansion of the Islamic Saudi Academy, outside Fairfax off Pope's Head Road. The expansion was the subject of a long, contentious public hearing at the county Planning Commission meeting on March 18. Supporters of ISA packed the room, heckling opponents who motioned the controversial nature of the school. The planning commissioners unanimously approved the plan last month, despite the background of the school and concerns from neighbors about parking and quality of life issues. The Academy,...

Some popular alumni/members of the ISA: ~ Ahmed Omar Abu ALi was the class Valedictorian in 1999. He was indicted (2005) and has since been convicted and is now serving a 30 year prison sentence for: * Conspiracy to Assassinate President George W. Bush * Conspiracy to hijack a US Aircraft * Conspiracy to destroy US Aircraft ~ Abdalla I Al-Shabran. Director of Academy. Arrested in 2008. Charged with failing to report child abuse. Allegations and obstruction of justice. He received a "slap on the wrist" for covering up the abuse of a little girl. He was given a small...

President Barack Obama outlined his plans for reforming health care during a town hall meeting at Northern Virginia Community College on Wednesday. Fielding questions from the audience and responding to queries submitted via YouTube and Twitter, Obama spoke of the urgency of reducing the rapidly swelling cost of health care, an issue he said spoke to “who we are as a country.”

<p>When Debby Smith was diagnosed with a second tumor in her kidney, causing her renal failure, she had no way to pay for health care. So she turned to President Obama.</p> <p>The president comforted the tearful questioner at the health care town hall meeting he held Wednesday at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va.</p>

ANNANDALE, Va. (AP) - President Barack Obama hugged a woman who told him at a town hall meeting she has cancer but no way to pay her expenses. Obama said the woman, identified as "Debbie," is a "perfect example" of someone who has gotten caught up and is lost in a broken health care system. He said "she's not getting the best care" and called her "Exhibit A" in the case he's trying to make for a new system.

A coalition opposing the expansion of the radical Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax County, Va., has filed a conflict-of-interest complaint with the Virginia state attorney general over the county government's role in distributing invitations to an Islamic dinner. Invitations to the free dinner – which is billed as, "Understanding Islam Conference: A Symposium to Promote Peace, Harmony, Understanding and Cultural Diversity" – were distributed by e-mail to county residents by Fairfax County official Sandra S. Chisholm, community interfaith liaison for the Department of Systems Management for Human Services. Local citizens trying to block the expansion of the Saudi academy, which...

Recently the ACLU released a report on Muslim charities, many of which were proven terrorist funding fronts. In the report the ACLU falsely creates victims where none exist and once again exaggerate their favorite target of vilification, the U.S. government. According to the ACLU the evil American empire are stomping on the rights of Muslims to donate money to charities acting as front groups funding terrorist activities. It suggests (contrary to a substantial body of evidence) – that the U.S. government was wrong to have acted against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, the...

Unhappy Customer, 79, Grabbed Wheel, Fell in Driveway A 79-year-old Vienna man who was fed up with his Verizon service died after trying to stop a technician's van from pulling out of his driveway. The man, identified by neighbors as William Cornelius, fell after grabbing the steering wheel of the van late Wednesday afternoon and died hours later at a hospital, police said. Neighbors described Cornelius as a former railroad executive who was painfully lonely after his wife died about a year and a half ago. According to Vienna police, the Verizon technician told Cornelius that he had finished working...

Debate Erupts Over Muslim School in Virginia By THEO EMERY June 10, 2009 FAIRFAX, Va. — For years, children’s voices rang out from the playground at the Islamic Saudi Academy in this heavily wooded community about 20 miles west of Washington. But for the last year the campus has been silent as academy officials seek county permission to erect a new classroom building and move hundreds of students from a sister campus on the other end of Fairfax County. The proposal from the academy, which a school spokeswoman said was the only school financed by the Saudi government in the...

Prominent Vietnam veterans and their families are appalled by an advertisement for a major local mall that shows a woman in front of a wall that strongly resembles the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with the names of the center’s stores appearing instead of the names of the war dead. Tysons Corner Center reacted quickly to condemnation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and ordered the immediate removal of 440 of the ads from the Metrorail cars where they have been posted, mall spokeswoman Allison Fischer said Tuesday afternoon. The Tysons ad features a black granite wall engraved with a list of...

A federal grand jury in Baltimore has indicted a Virginia man in a $17 million Ponzi scheme to defraud online investors. The indictment of 32-year-old Byron K. Brown of Vienna, Va., was announced Wednesday. Prosecutors say Brown was CEO of several companies with names like In God We Trust (IGT) Financial Services and WM Private Equity Fund Inc. According to the indictment, between 2003 and 2009, Brown operated Web sites advertising investments with a $1 million minimum. Prosecutors say Brown claimed to have offices in Washington, Delaware, New York and London but really only had rented mailboxes or answering services....

This part happens all the time: A construction crew putting up an office building in the heart of Tysons Corner a few years ago hit a fiber optic cable no one knew was there. This part doesn't: Within moments, three black sport-utility vehicles drove up, a half-dozen men in suits jumped out and one said, "You just hit our line." Whose line, you may ask? The guys in suits didn't say, recalled Aaron Georgelas, whose company, the Georgelas Group, was developing the Greensboro Corporate Center on Spring Hill Road. But Georgelas assumed that he was dealing with the federal government...

Regulators slapped Greater Atlantic Bank with a prompt corrective action directive, warning the troubled bank that it will be seized if it does not quickly find capital or a merger partner, according to a Wednesday securities filing. The Reston-based bank, a subsidiary of Greater Atlantic Financial Corp. (Pink Sheets: GAFC), has been in hot water with its regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, since April 2008, when it was hit with a cease and desist enforcement order. The bank was undercapitalized in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the bank said it was “critically undercapitalized” as of March 31. The...

Fearing the next terror attack could emerge from America's growing Somali refugee population, federal authorities have stepped up surveillance in Somali communities – including a large enclave just outside Washington. In fact, WND has learned that the Baileys Crossroads area of Northern Virginia – about 10 miles from the capital – was a critical focus of security investigations in advance of the presidential inauguration in January. Investigators say a troubling number of the area's Somali men hold "militant" anti-American views and sympathize with al-Qaida. They typically work as taxi drivers, gathering at local coffeehouses during their breaks, as well as...

SNIPPET: "A trustee of an Islamic think tank in Northern Virginia that is long suspected of financing terrorists is expected to become the new head of the Muslim Brotherhood's chapter in Jordan. Ishaq Farhan is expected to be named interim head of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), which is the Muslim Brotherhood's Jordanian political wing, the Jordan Times reported. The move follows the resignation of IAF directors after a leadership dispute. Farhan also is a longtime trustee of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). He is listed on the organization's IRS Form 990s from at least 2005, through 2007,...

Rep. Frank R. Wolf on Monday reiterated his opposition to jailing and prosecuting Guantanamo Bay detainees in Alexandria, after a fellow Northern Virginia congressman said over the weekend he was open to the idea. "To bring someone to Alexandria, like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - who killed Daniel Pearl and was a mastermind of 9/11 - would be a mistake," Mr. Wolf, a Republican, told editors and reporters at The Washington Times. President Obama plans to close the terrorism-suspect detention facility at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay by January. Officials have said the fates of its roughly 240 detainees will...

Coming Soon To A 'Hood Near You: Gitmo (Ex?)Terrorists By James Gordon Meek How would you like your family’s next-door neighbor to be a former Guantanamo Bay inmate who was trained in a military camp in pre-9/11 Afghanistan? Would it matter if they were declared no longer to be an “enemy combatant” by the Pentagon? That’s the fundamental question that ought to be going through the minds of Northern Virginia residents this week, amid news reports - including my own New York Daily News exclusive today - that a group from Gitmo may soon be making house in the D.C....

WASHINGTON - A large federal security operation is in place to keep tabs on several Guantanamo Bay inmates who may soon be released in Virginia, the Daily News has learned. A half-dozen ethnic Chinese detainees known as Uyghurs will be flown by marshals from the U.S. naval base in Cuba to live in the Washington suburbs if lingering legal, logistical and political problems are ironed out, government officials said Thursday. Some lawmakers and counter-terror officials worry about terrorists living next door. Northern Virginia was chosen because it has an Uyghur Muslim community that could help the ex-prisoners adjust.

An appeals court yesterday upheld the legality of federal raids on a Herndon-based network of Muslim charities, businesses and think tanks, a case that caused a firestorm in the Muslim community. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said the March 2002 raids on homes and business in Herndon and elsewhere in Northern Virginia were "a harrowing experience" for the targets but did not violate their constitutional rights. The court said agents exercised "lawful force" in drawing their guns and handcuffing a family whose home was searched. Federal agents carted away hundreds of boxes of documents during the...

MAS' Esam Omeish Seeks Virginia Office Campaign Mum on MAS Ties, Radical Omeish Speeches IPT News May 1, 2009 The last time the public got a good look at Esam Omeish, he was resigning from a Virginia immigration panel, claiming that the posting of videos showing him praising Palestinians who chose "the jihad way" to liberate their land was part of a smear campaign against him. Now Omeish is diving into the deep end of smear campaigns, offering himself as a candidate for a partisan legislative seat in Northern Virginia. Omeish is among four Democrats vying to win their party's...

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb8jKzrvT6I "Esam Omeish in front of the Israeli Embassy" Video Description - Quote: InvestigativeProject September 27, 2007 Esam Omeish, current President of the Muslim American Society, spoke at a rally in front of the Israeli Embassy on October 6, 2000. Category: News & Politics

Esam Omeish is trying to get the Democratic Party nomination to represent the 35th district in the Virginia state legislature. Omeish, has a unique background, the President of the Muslim American Society (MAS) he serves as a leader of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood in the United States: In May 2005, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross reported in The Weekly Standard that MAS is a U.S. front group for the Muslim Brotherhood -- a claim supported by a September 19, 2004 Chicago Tribune story -- and, as such, wishes to see the United States governed by sharia, or Islamic law. "The message that all...

A man who authorities said led a local clique of the gang Mara Salvatrucha has been convicted in federal court in Alexandria of murdering a rival gang member in Springfield in 2007, and the man now faces a mandatory life sentence. Federal prosecutors said Oscar Omar Lobo-Lopez, 30, of Springfield was the leader of Hollywood Locos Salvatrucha, an offshoot of the gang MS-13. Lobo-Lopez and fellow gang member Sergio Amador had been hunting for Melvin Reyes because he reputedly belonged to the 18th Street gang, authorities said. On May 5, 2007, Lobo-Lopez and Amador found Reyes in the Springfield Garden...

The acting head of Freddie Mac, David Kellermann, has apparently committed suicide, Fairfax County Police tell WTOP. Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Mary Anne Jennings says Kellermann, 41, was found at his Hunter Mill Estates home Wednesday morning. Jennings says police responded to the home after family members called police around 5 a.m. "We were called from inside the house to come investigate an apparent suicide," Jennings says. Because of legal ramifications, Jennings says she can't describe the nature of the suicide. "We're not to give you details of the condition of the body, except to say it was an apparent...

David Keller was found dead in his home Tuesday morning in an apparent suicide. Keller, 41, has served as the acting chief financial officer (CFO) for Freddie Mac since September. Kellerman reportedly hanged himself in the basement of his Reston, Va. home. The Fairfax County Police Department said there are no signs of foul play. Keller took over as CFO when Anthony “Buddy” Piszel resigned in the wake of the government takeover. The news comes on the heals of Freddie Mac CEO David Moffett's resignation last month. The government-controlled Freddie Mac owns or guarantees about...

Law enforcement sources said they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. Virginia police say they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. (ABC News)The death was "an active investigation" and there were "no signs of foul play," Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Local police said they were called to Kellermann's home at 4:48am. Kellermann,...

General Growth Properties, owner of premier malls such as Tysons Galleria in McLean, filed the largest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history Thursday, but analysts say the move is not a sign of retail Armageddon. General Growth, like many homeowners, paid top dollar in a rush to buy properties earlier in the decade and now finds itself awash in debt with its asset values shrinking.

Just found out that tea parties will be held in both Reston and Merrifield tomorrow. The former will be at Lake Anne Village Center; 1609 Washington Plaza from 6: 30 pm to 8 pm, while the latter will be at the Merrifield Post office from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. More info at the link above. NOVA FREEPERS BE THERE.

Efforts by a street gang to recruit Fairfax County youths have led to the arrests of seven Chantilly area teenagers, ages 13 and 16... ...this time, the Latino gang Sur 13, with roots tracing to a notorious Mexican prison gang in Southern California, tried to pick up more members at Franklin Middle School, just off Centreville Road in western Fairfax County, court records state. A student at Franklin reported to the school resource officer that a student approached him during lunch period and asked him to join his gang, according to an affidavit for a search of the alleged gang...

Former Va. Attorney general Robert McDonnell officially kicked off his campaign for governor Saturday at the Annandale Firehouse in Fairfax County. Entering to the song “Up Around the Bend” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, McDonnell hit upon a host of issues in his speech, including the economy, energy, transportation, education, and public safety. “I want you to know that I'm ready to lead, if you are ready to win,” he told the estimated several hundred people in the crowd. Other state Republicans at the event included former Congressman Tom Davis, U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, and current Lieutenant governor Bill Bolling, who...

The Great One packs 'em in.

I MENTIONED THE HUGE CROWD AT MARK LEVIN’S BOOK-SIGNING, but reader Dan Byers sends this video. That’s a truly amazing line. He writes: “My wife and I just got back from Levin’s book signing in Tysons Corner. The line was unbelievable. As much as we love Mark, we decided not to stand out in the cold rain for five hours. But thousands of others seemed happy to do so–here is a quick video I took that shows the size of the line–the passion and size of his following sure make it easy to understand why the Left wants to reinstate...

Today, many people generally view Mormons as a people with strong family values and clean living, according to one pastor at McLean Bible Church. Some also believe they are just one of many Christian denominations. But that view is the result of a multibillion dollar campaign over the last couple of decades by Mormons who have attempted to present themselves in such a way, according to Todd Phillips, teaching pastor at Frontline, the young adult ministry of McLean in Virginia. Many Americans, including Christians, see Mormons as "just another branch of Christianity who talk about Jesus all the time and...

Known Jamaat ul-Fuqra camps (Also known as Muslims of America and Quranic Open University) Deposit, NY Hancock, NY (National Headquarters) Springfield, MA Philadelphia, PA Hyattsville, MD Fairfax, VA Bethany, WV Red House, VA Meherrin, VA Dover, TN York, SC Commerce, GA Jessup, GA Marion, AL Houston, TX Talihina, OK Coldwater, MI Buena Vista, CO (Raided and shut down by Colorado authorities in 1992) Baladullah, CA (Leader convicted of scamming state out of $1.3 million in 2006. Compound now abandoned.) Oak Hill, CA Onalaska, WA

A controversial private school for Muslim children is seeking to expand a campus in Fairfax County, a proposal that has made reluctant partners of neighbors concerned with the impact on traffic and water quality and critics who oppose what they say is the school's radical agenda. The Islamic Saudi Academy has asked the county for permission to build a state-of-the-art building on one of its two campuses, a 34-acre property near Fairfax City. The increased capacity could draw as many as 200 additional students to the 750-student campus each day, which has sparked concern among neighbors.... "The hearing started off...

Imagine facing the overwhelming odds of fighting for equality in Islamic supremacist Saudi Arabia or in the 1960s-era white supremacist Mississippi. These were the same odds faced by a handful of activists in challenging the estimated 600 supporters of the Islamic Saudi Academy at Northern Virginia's Fairfax County Planning Commission on the night of March 18, 2009. Many hundreds of the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) supporters wore printed name tag badges reading "I Support ISA," including ISA's logo containing the emblem of Saudi Arabian government with its two crossed swords. This is the same Saudi government that a few weeks...

....a call to Christians, and every free citizen -- Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist...in the Fairfax County area to attend this meeting and try to stop the expansion of the Sharia school. There is a serious issue related to radical Islamic Wahabbists gaining a greater foothold in Fairfax/Fairfax County. On March 18th, at 8:15pm there will be a very important Fairfax County Planning Commission meeting to hear from the public about the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA)’s request to expand their Shariah based school. The ISA wants to replace the current building on the property with a very large two-story structure which...

The school deleted from its texts some of the most contentious passages, including references to Jihad, killing infidels and hatred of Jews and Christians. ... Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Gulf Institute, which has been pressing the school to make revision since 2004, told FOX News that the textbooks characterize secular governments as "committing unbelief and allowing us to wage war against them." "So you're teaching American students -- implanting the seeds of insurgency in these people -- and this is very dangerous," Al-Ahmed said.

Just yesterday a report was issued stating that the hate filled Saudi textbooks at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Northern Virginia were toned down a bit. The report also said that there was still hatred towards non-Muslims written in the books.

Who will succeed Sharon Bulova on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors? The answer remains up in the air after Tuesday's special election. A voting machine broke down as election officials tallied the results of the special election. With 24 of 25 precincts reporting, Republican John Cook held a 69-vote lead over Democrat Ilryong Moon. About 12,000 votes were cast. The technical problems occurred in the Fairview precinct in Fairfax Station with one of the two voting machines, The Washington Post reports. County officials say they'll continue counting the ballots Wednesday. The winner takes Bulova's spot in the Braddock District....

RICHMOND, Va. – A rare 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence belongs to a Virginia technology entrepreneur, not the state of Maine, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday. Richard Adams Jr. of Fairfax County purchased the document from a London book dealer in 2001 for $475,000. But the state of Maine claimed it belongs to the town of Wiscasset, where it was kept by the town clerk in 1776. Virginia's high court said that a lower court did not err in its ruling in Adams' favor because Maine didn't prove the document was ever an official town record and...

Local media is reporting that Esam Omeish, the President of the Muslim American Society (MAS), has joined the race for a vacant seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. According to the report: Elections for vacant seats in the House of Delegates are always interesting, but the Democratic nomination fight in the 35th District looks like it'll be interesting indeed. Esam Omeish, a pediatric surgeon from Northern Virginia, has joined the race to succeed Del. Steve Shannon, D-Vienna. The 35th District includes the areas of Fairfax County just north and west of the city of Fairfax. Shannon is running for...

Spend time with George Mason University senior Ryan Allen and it's clear why he's a Big Man on Campus. He wears size 12 pumps. Allen is now -- as of halftime at Saturday's sold-out basketball game against Northeastern at the Patriot Center -- the school's homecoming queen. He received more votes than the two women who vied for the crown. Allen, who is gay and performs as a popular drag queen at local clubs, assumed the title of Ms. Mason. He was wearing a green-and-gold bow, sewn for him by the theater department costume's shop, that was visible even from...

THE PRESIDENT: SNIPPET: "Now, there are those who've expressed the opinion that we won't be able to do it, who say that this plan is too big to be implemented effectively and efficiently. And the fact is, there's a certain amount of skepticism, much of it justified, by what we're accustomed to seeing in Washington. So I understand these concerns, but I'm confident that we can do things differently and better. As President, I expect to be judged -- and should be judged -- by the results of this program. That's why I refused to allow even a single dollar...