World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #4.

National Review Online ^ | August 02, 2006 | Walid Phares on the Mideast

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?

Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.

The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”

As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.

The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.

The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.

A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.

What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.

Lopez: So…did the Cedar Revolution fail?

Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.

The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.

The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.

The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.

More at link...

[nw_arizona_granny]

Good for you.

If you will listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs.

Did you ever watch the animals and birds?

They will eat a variety of food and take a nap.

We do not listen to our own body and stop, when it is time, but will go on, just a little more.

Do take it easy and heal.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Yes, I had caught the fact that some of it was 'cleaned up', but for me, I had never been able to go there with my old computer, so the wiki was a new spot for me.

Killing civilians, they give extra points for the non believers.

Actually, I was looking at the page for a couple of new words that I had not googled or had not added to my searches for extra pull...........LOL

[nw_arizona_granny]

and when the 12th Imam comes to town, remember, a .45 in the forehead is always the best thing for him.<<<<

Yes, that would be a sure cure.

We can use all the help we can get.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1688300/posts

Communist Political Takeover of America
ritewingwarrior ^ | August 22, 2006 | ritewingwarrior


Posted on 08/22/2006 4:37:45 PM PDT by ritewingwarrior


On the ride home today a man called on the radio to talk about the slow and methodical move toward a socialist/communist political system in America. He referenced a book that every communist infiltrator in the country is given to follow. The Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics. The link is: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/7006/psychopolitics.html

Part 8 is entitled, DEGRADATION, SHOCK AND ENDURANCE. The chapter explicitly illustrates how the process should be undertaken.

"In order to be conquered, a nation must be degraded, either by acts of war, by being overrun, by being forced into humiliating treaties of peace, or by the treatment of her populace under the armies of the conqueror. However, degradation can be accomplished much more insidiously and much more effectively by consistent and continual defamation.

Defamation is the best and foremost weapon of Psychopolitics on the broad field. Continual and constant degradation of national leaders, national institutions, national practices, and national heroes must be systematically carried out, but this is the chief function of the Communist Party Members, in general, not the psychopolitician."

In reading these chapter, it is evident that many on the left are doing exactly that. I seriously doubt that they are willingly following the instructions of the Communist Party, but it is clear that there are some very subversive people leading the direction of the Democratic Party and the MSM.

[nw_arizona_granny]

From my last post:

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/7006/psychopolitics.html

This manual of the Communist Party should be in the hands of every loyal American, that they may be alerted to the fact that it is not always by armies and guns that a nation is conquered.


Kenneth Goff

---

CONTENTS
Editorial Note
An Address By Lavrent Pavlovich Beria
CHAPTER I:
The History and Definition of Psychopolitics
CHAPTER II:
The Constitution of Man as a Political Organism
CHAPTER III:
Man as an Economic Organism
CHAPTER IV:
State Goals for the Individual and Masses
CHAPTER V:
An Examination of Loyalties
CHAPTER VI:
The General Subject of Obedience
CHAPTER VII:
The History and Definition of Psychopolitics
CHAPTER VIII:
Degradation, Shock and Endurance
CHAPTER IX:
The Organization of Mental Health Campaigns
CHAPTER X:
Conduct Under Fire
CHAPTER XI:
The Use of Psychopolitics in Spreading Communism
CHAPTER XII:
Violent Remedies
CHAPTER XIII:
Recruiting of Psychopolitical Dupes
CHAPTER XIV:
The Smashing of Religious Groups
CHAPTER XV:
Proposals Which Must Be Avoided
CHAPTER XVI:
In Summary


AN ADDRESS BY LAVRENT PAVLOVICH BERIA
American students at the Lenin University, I welcome your attendance at these classes on Psychopolitics.

Psychopolitics is an important if less known division of Geo-politics. It is less known because it must necessarily deal with highly educated personnel, the very top strata of "mental healing."

By psychopolitics our chief goals are effectively carried forward. To produce a maximum of chaos in the culture of the enemy is our first most important step. Our fruits are grown in chaos, distrust, economic depression and scientific turmoil. At least a weary populace can seek peace only in our offered Communist State, at last only Communism can resolve the problems of the masses.

A psychopolitician must work hard to produce the maximum chaos in the fields of "mental healing." He must recruit and use all the agencies and facilities of "mental healing." He must labor to increase the personnel and facilities of "mental healing" until at last the entire field of mental science is entirely dominated by Communist principles and desires.

continued................................

Thanks to Ritewing warrior for making this available to us, it goes with the communist agenda 1963...................

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1688263/posts

Newark Airport concedes ex-cons breached security
Star-Ledger ^ | August 22, 2006 | RON MARSICO


Posted on 08/22/2006 3:16:45 PM PDT by pitinkie


Two people caught trespassing at Newark Liberty International Airport last week had entered the secure zone alongside the airfield by lifting a chain-link fence and wiggling under it, authorities acknowledged yesterday. When the two, described as a homeless man and woman wanted for parole violations in Georgia, were discovered on Thursday morning, they told police they had been there since Tuesday night, sheltering under a roadway overpass within a few hundred feet of parked aircraft near Terminal C. Initially, officials reported that the pair had tried to walk through a construction zone off-limits to the public. Yesterday, after being contacted by The Star-Ledger about conflicting information, an agency spokesman confirmed the two sneaked under the fence into the secure area.

"We don't simply rely on a fence to protect the perimeter of the airport," La Vorgna said. He said the nearest gates are about a quarter-mile from where the intruders were found. Yesterday, at least one plane was seen parked by the edge of the airfield just beyond the vegetation lining the drainage ditch. In November, Port Authority officials admitted they failed to secure the perimeter of the airport after a drunken driver drove past a checkpoint with no barrier and onto a secure airfield perimeter road. statement. La Vorgna identified the homeless pair as Shawn Morris and Julie Christiansen. They were apprehended after they emerged from under the overpass near the P4 parking garage and AirTrain Newark, with the woman complaining of a broken foot, he said. Morris told police the two had slipped under the fence Tuesday night, but La Vorgna questioned that, saying that the pair appeared disoriented and that authorities found no evidence they had been sleeping beneath the roadway for two nights.


(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1688211/posts

Students charged over market bombing [Russia]
AFP/theaustralian ^ | August 23, 2006


Posted on 08/22/2006 1:22:57 PM PDT by ncountylee


TWO Russian students will be charged with racially motivated premeditated murder in a Moscow market bombing that killed 10 people and wounded dozens, the Moscow prosecutor said today.

The two students "admitted that they committed this act at the market... because there were many people of Asian origin" working there, prosecutor Yury Semin said at a news conference.

The blast struck the crowded Eurasia market in eastern Moscow yesterday, destroying dozens of stalls and tearing a hole in the roof.

Ilya Tikhomirov, a student at the Moscow Social Institute who was born in 1986, and Oleg Kostyerev, a student at the Mendeleyev Institute of Chemistry who was born in 1988, admitted to making the bombs at home using plans they found on the Internet, Mr Semin said.

Searches of the suspects' homes uncovered the materials used to make the bombs, Mr Semin said, including aluminum powder, powdered sugar, acetone and sulfuric acid.

Mr Semin also said there was a third suspect, student Valery Yukovtsov, who had not admitted to the crime.

Numerous witnesses were quoted by Russian newspapers today as saying they had seen several young men leave bags at a Vietnamese cafe in the centre of the market and flee the scene shortly before the explosion.


(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...

[nw_arizona_granny]

TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 08/22/2006 # 1

[Washington Times] NEW YORK - 8 face federal terror charges

"Eight persons were charged in federal court in New York yesterday with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)"

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060821-104444-3614r.htm

[CTV/CP] USA - Cdns. linked to Tamil Tigers arrested in US

"The Tamil Tigers are unique in that they are a terrorist group with their own shipping line,"

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060821/tamil_tigers_060821/20060821?hub=TopStories

[KOLD] ARIZONA - Bomb Scare in Midtown Tucson [Simulated device]

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=5304512

[MML] CALIFORNIA - Suspicious Package Calls Out Calaveras Bomb Team

http://www.mymotherlode.com/News/article/kvml/1156190143

[ABC] CALIFORNIA - Suspicious Device Prompts Bomb Scare

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?sectionfiltered=local&id=4477552

[WJACTV.com] PENNSYLVANIA - Police Investigate Two Suspicious Truck Drivers

"police report says two unidentified men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent were operating a tractor trailer carrying an unknown radioactive material"

http://www.wjactv.com/news/9711490/detail.html

[CBS4 Boston] BOSTON - Gas Bomb Destroys Jamaica Plain Office

http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_233075907.html

[AP] ARIZONA - Mysterious powder found at Bullhead City Post Office

"Initial tests show the powder tested positive for a high level of protein"

http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5309149&nav=menu216_2

[WFTV] FLORIDA - Hazmat Situation At Hospital After Man Swallows Substance

"substance was in a Robitussin bottle, but it was not medicine"

http://www.wftv.com/news/9702751/detail.html

[ABC News] USA - Is Tuesday Doomsday?

"On some Islamic websites, there is talk about a so-called day of reckoning"

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?sectionfiltered=nation_world&id=4483263

International:

[Al Nisr Publishing] ISRAEL / IRAN - Israel warned to prepare for Iranian missile attack

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10061906.html

[Xinhua] PHILIPPINES - Huge cache of explosives seized in southern Philippines

http://english.people.com.cn/200608/22/eng20060822_295668.html

[Dawn] PAKISTAN - Two held with explosives

http://www.dawn.com/2006/08/22/top14.htm

[The Nation] THAILAND - Alert over bomb-detonating watches

"Police have warned vendors in major markets in Songkhla to keep a close watch for people buying digital watches, particularly of the Casio brand, since these could be used to set off bombs "

http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/08/22/national/national_30011651.php

[India Defence] INDIA - Terrorist hideout busted in Kashmir, arms recovered

http://www.india-defence.com/reports/2379

[Bloomberg] PAKISTAN - Australia Issues Travel Alert Over Terrorist Threat in Pakistan

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=a2VCLsLg0HI4&refer=australia

[AP] PAKISTAN - Terrorists 'planning attack on Western hotels'

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10061856.html

[DNA Mumbai] ISRAEL / INDIA - Israeli advisory has put Indian Jewish community on alert

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1048627

[Reuters] SRI LANKA - Bomb defused in Sri Lankan capital after US raid

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-22T071301Z_01_SP303266_RTRUKOC_0_US-SRILANKA.xml

[AP] IRAN - Iran denies U.N. access to nuclear station

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15328419.htm

Additional Transportation related headlines from TransitSecurityReport.com :

(Subscribe at www.transitsecurityreport.com to receive headlines regularly)

Breaking News:

[AP] Minneapolis - Fumes at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport send 12 to hospital

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/15333768.htm

Alternate link http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/state/15333768.htm


Aircraft/ Airports/ Aviation/ Airspace Incursions/ Stolen Aircraft/ etc:

[Bloomberg] UNITED KINGDOM - Thomas Cook Flight Searched at Luton Airport After Note Found

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=agyBxpVamnrk&refer=uk

[Sun Star] PHILIPPINES - Grenade intercepted from airline passenger

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bac/2006/08/22/news/grenade.intercepted.from.airline.passenger.html

[dpa] CHINA / AUSTRALIA - Bomb threat blights China-Australia flight

"note warning that a bomb would explode on the China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou to Sydney was found one hour into the journey"

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=112380

See also http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1720993.htm

[Washington Times] NEW YORK - 8 face federal terror charges [Surface to air missiles]

"Eight persons were charged in federal court in New York yesterday with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)"

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060821-104444-3614r.htm

Buses/ Bus Stations / Bus Stops:

[Media General] VIRGINIA - Bus drivers get tips on suspicious behavior

"school officials are asking that they be on the lookout for possible terrorist threats"

http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LNA%2FMGArticle%2FLNA_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149190110349&path=!news!archive

[Express News Service] INDIA - On Monday, BEST gets 2 bomb scares [Hoax device on bus]

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=197785

Railways/ Trains/ Light Rail/ Subways/ Trolleys/ Tubes/ Railway Bridges and Tunnels:

[WOOD] WYOMING - Are parked rail cars dangerous?

"very little concern. When we deal with terrorism or any other type of threat, we assess what the risk is"

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5307915&nav=0Rce

[ABS CBN] PHILIPPINES - PNR train derails [Under bridge]

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=47992

[Sofia News Agency] BULGARIA - Train Derails into Rocks in South Bulgaria

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=68421

[KFOX] TEXAS - Train Derails In Upper Valley [2nd this week locally]

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/9717165/detail.html

[Hutchinson News] KANSAS - Nine train cars derail in Arlington

http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local/stories/derail082206.shtml

[South Florida Sun-Sentinel] FLORIDA - Two slow moving freight trains collide near Lauderdale airport, derail

"workers are checking to determine if any of the cargo contains hazardous materials"

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-822daniaderail,0,277461.story?coll=sfla-news-broward


Seaports/ Shipping/ Cruises/ Ferries/ Maritime Security/ Cargo Security/ Container Security/ Lakes/ Waterways:

[Whittier Daily News] USA - Terror risks clear: Security needed for ports, inland cargo

"All it takes is one shipping container, sneaked into one of Southern California's two ports with a nuke in it"

"What if such a device didn't go off - not immediately - but was carried on a train, one of dozens of freight trains that snake their way through the San Gabriel Valley each day"

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/opinions/ci_4216491

[CTV/CP] USA - Cdns. linked to Tamil Tigers arrested in US

"The Tamil Tigers are unique in that they are a terrorist group with their own shipping line,"

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060821/tamil_tigers_060821/20060821?hub=TopStories

[Wired] CALIFORNIA - DIY Nuke Detector Patrols SF Bay

"Can we detect hazardous material at a distance?" said Glaros. "Yes, easily."

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/security/0,71632-0.html?tw=wn_technology_3

[Gazette-Times] USA - Cargo containers unchecked concern

http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2006/08/21/news/opinion/1moned0821.txt

Tankers/ Trucking/ Highways:

[TC Palm] FLORIDA - Fort Pierce police searching for stolen tractor-trailer [Pennsylvania plates]

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4934682,00.html

[WJACTV.com] PENNSYLVANIA - Police Investigate Two Suspicious Truck Drivers

"police report says two unidentified men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent were operating a tractor trailer carrying an unknown radioactive material"

http://www.wjactv.com/news/9711490/detail.html

[West Virginia Media] WEST VIRGINIA - Chemical emergency in Ripley

"unnamed passerby noticed the liquid leaking from a chemical tank trailer parked in the Ripley Plaza parking lot just after noon on Monday. There were about a dozen dead birds lying in the pool of chemicals"

http://www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=13281

[WJACTV.com] PENNSYLVANIA - Police Investigate Two Suspicious Truck Drivers

"police report says two unidentified men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent were operating a tractor trailer carrying an unknown radioactive material"

http://www.wjactv.com/news/9711490/detail.html

Bridge, Tunnel, and Dam Security:

[WHBF] ILLINOIS - Suspicious Package Along Arsenal Bridge

http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=5308863&nav=0zGo

[St Louis Post-Dispatch] MISSOURI - Remarks on Mississipi River dam draw FBI’s attention

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/metroeast/story/4D09AC4F3D6711E2862571D2001AE8E4?OpenDocument

[RTE] UNITED KINGDOM / FRANCE - Fire alert closes Channel tunnel

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0821/tunnel.html

Health and Mass Transit: None today

Other/ Opinion/ Industry News/ General Relevance etc: None today

Notable but Not Necessarily Transit Related:

[The Nation] THAILAND - Alert over bomb-detonating watches

"Police have warned vendors in major markets in Songkhla to keep a close watch for people buying digital watches, particularly of the Casio brand, since these could be used to set off bombs "

http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/08/22/national/national_30011651.php

[nw_arizona_granny]

[a website that may prove useful]

http://cms.met.police.uk/news/arrests_and_charges/terrorism_charges


Latest News

Terrorism charges

Eleven people have today been charged in relation to the alleged terror plot.

Eight have been charged with two offences relating to an alleged plot to manufacture and smuggle the component parts of improvised explosive devices onto aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board.

Those individuals have been charged with conspiracy to murder and the new offence of preparing acts of terrorism contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

In addition, three have been charged with other offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. One has been charged with possession of articles useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism and two with failing to disclose information of material assistance in preventing an act of terrorism.

One woman has been released from custody without charge.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the MPS Anti-Terrorist Branch, said:

"This is the first time we have been able to release information about the progress of the investigation, since the morning of the arrests on 10th August.

"This is not because we have wanted to withhold information from the public on the contrary, we want to tell the public as much as we can about the terrorist threat. But we have now reached the stage where I can give you more details. I cannot give you a running commentary on the enquiry. Neither can I give details of the specific evidence against individuals. What I can give is an indication of the type of evidence that will be presented in support of the prosecution.

"First, there is evidence from surveillance carried out before 10 August. This includes important, indeed, highly significant video and audio recordings.

"I can also tell you that since 10 August we have found bomb making equipment. There are chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, electrical components, documents and other items.

"We have also found a number of video recordings - these are sometimes referred to as martyrdom videos. This has all given us a clearer picture of the alleged plot.

"However, the investigation is far from complete. The scale is immense. Enquiries will span the globe.

"The enormity of the alleged plot will be matched only by our determination to follow every lead and line of enquiry. I shall try to give you an idea of the size and complexity of this investigation.

"There have been 69 searches. These have been in houses, flats and business premises, vehicles and open spaces.

"As well as the bomb making equipment, we have found more than 400 computers, 200 mobile telephones and 8,000 items of removable storage media such as memory sticks, CDs and DVDs. So far, from the computers alone, we have removed some 6,000 gigabytes of data.

"The meticulous investigation of all this material will take many months. All the data will be analysed.

"There will be thousands of forensic examinations and comparisons. Fingerprints, DNA, electronic data, handwriting comparisons, chemical analysis, and indeed the full range of forensic disciplines will be used.

"Aside from this particular case, we continue, working with the Security Service and others to investigate the threat from terrorism.

"I would like to reassure the public that we are doing everything we can to keep you safe, for you to live your lives without being in constant fear. However, we must be realistic. The threat from terrorism is real, it is here, it is deadly and it is enduring.

"As we all look for explanations, we cannot afford to be complacent and ignore the reality of what we face.

"These are difficult times for all communities, but I can assure you that the police service will not flinch from its duty to protect the public. More information will be given as and when it is appropriate to do so."
Bulletin 0000000474 21 August 2006

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/15330373.htm?source=rss&channel=timesleader_news

Posted on Tue, Aug. 22, 2006


FBI: Man tried to defraud banks of over $600,000


By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@leader.net

SCRANTON – A Moosic man who is awaiting sentencing on charges of illegally possessing hundreds of guns is facing new charges of attempting to defraud two area banks out of more than $600,000.

John C. Tanis III, 57, was charged on Friday by federal authorities with presenting counterfeit and altered checks totaling $618,719 for deposit at unspecified branches of Old Forge Bank and M&T Bank.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the checks were presented between March 6 and Aug. 15.

At the time, Tanis was on pre-trial release awaiting sentencing for his guilty plea in March to charges he illegally possessed 181 firearms including multiple machine guns that were seized from him in 2005.

In that case, the FBI said Tanis imported about 100 non-functioning machine guns from Russia, which he later converted to operational firearms. Federal authorities became aware of the crime after a confidential witness Tanis had approached about fixing the weapons gave one of the weapons to the FBI.

Law enforcement officials searched his home and other locations in 2005 and seized firearms. He was scheduled to be sentenced in that case on Sept. 8.

Tanis was taken into custody Friday on the new charges and was ordered to be held without bail by U.S. District Magistrate Malachy Mannion. His attorney, William Ruzzo, did not immediately return a phone message Monday.
Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7179



© 2006 Times Leader and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.timesleader.com

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/breaking_news/15336507.htm

Posted on Tue, Aug. 22, 2006


Masked gunmen kill protester in Mexico

REBECCA ROMERO
Associated Press

OAXACA, Mexico - Masked gunmen killed a protester Tuesday as escalating violence increased pressure on President Vicente Fox to intervene in a three-month-long protest by leftists and striking teachers.

Thousands of protesters calling for Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz's resignation have occupied the southern city's center, stealing buses, setting up barricades and taking over radio and television stations to broadcast revolutionary messages. The protest started May 22.

On Tuesday, a group of about 15 men in three cars drove up to a private radio station that has been occupied by protesters and sprayed the building with gunfire, killing a 52-year-old man, officials said.

Prosecutor Lizbeth Cana said detectives would investigate the shootings, saying that the city was under siege from "urban guerrillas."

Ruiz and business leaders have urged President Vincente Fox to send federal police to the city but Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said the government will not use force to resolve the conflict.

"Only dialogue can solve problems. ... Violence will just lead to more violence," Aguilar said.

Prior to the shooting, thousands of protesters, some armed with clubs, marched through the center of the city throughout Monday night, burning piles of tires and smashing windows.

Most businesses in the center of city were closed Tuesday and garbage collectors could not operate because of the street blockades.

A group of masked men Monday fired on a government television station that the protesters have occupied since Aug. 1, injuring one man. Protesters responded by taking over 12 private stations and blocking the city's four main entrances with buses.

Some 70,000 public school teachers went on strike May 22 to demand salary increases totaling about $125 million, but the government said it couldn't afford that and counter-offered with less than a tenth of that amount.

The protesters have since expanded their demands to include the resignation of Ruiz, whom they accuse of rigging the state election in 2004 and of using force to repress dissent. Ruiz belongs to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has governed the state since 1929.

The teachers refused to halt their three-month-old strike to allow 1.3 million students to return to classes Monday, the start of the new school year. Private schools remained closed because of the unrest.

---

Associated Press Writer Ioan Grillo in Mexico City contributed to this report.



© 2006 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.timesleader.com

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2284


Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > John Esposito: Georgetown U prof advisory board member of UK group whose director wants to be a suicide bomber in Israel
John Esposito: Georgetown U prof advisory board member of UK group whose director wants to be a suicide bomber in Israel

August 22, 2006

MIM: John Esposito, a professor at Georgetown University, has been called an apologist, but is in fact a long time activist for Islamist causes. He is on the board of the Institute for Islamic Political Thought, whose director, Hamas leader Azzam Tamimi ,often states says he wants to commit a suicide bombing in Israe, and promotes terrorism. In an interview in 19976 Esposito told an interviewer that and that "terrorism, as seen in the ..., can and has been used to legitimate wanton violence and continued acts of oppression" adding that "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". He also warned that Muslims should not criticise as 'unIslamic' the ruling of Sheik Tantawi of Al Azhar University which said sucide attacks on Israeli civilians were justified. Esposito made his remarks at a conference in Malaysia which he attended in the company of Holocaust denier and ex communist turned Muslim Roger Garaudy. Esposito also co authored a book with Tamimi whom he calls "my Ustadah" (esteemed teacher).

In an interview on August 21, 2006 with Tim Sebastian of the BBC and in 2004 Tamimi spoke of how and why he would want to blow himself up in Israel, together with whatever Jews and Israelis happened to be in his vicinity.Despite the uproar that ensued , nothing was done in the UK and Tamimi continued his Hamas work with impunity. His ambitions gained him so much popularity in the Muslim community that he recently told an 8,000 strong crowd at a London Islamia expo event "that dying for a cause is just " and that "We are Muslims in Europe not European Muslims" . The head of the Muslim Association of Britain and Stop the War Coalition received a standing ovation.b http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2280

The London based IIPT has it's counterpart at the IIIT in Virginia. The webmaster for both the IIIT and the IIPT is Iqbal Asaria, a known Al Qaeda operative who worked for the CDLR (The Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights) which was declared an Al Qaeda/Taliban entity by the US Treasury Department.

Islamist activist apologist

John Esposito is an advisory board member of Hamas'think tank' the International Institute of Islamic Political Thought whose webmaster runs Al Qaeda website. Besides his stint as Islamist propagandist at Georgetown University, Esposito is a consultant to US Department of State who deliberately mislead the government about the threat posed by Bin Laden.

---

Anger over radical's suicide bomb boast

By BEN TAYLOR and PETER ALLEN 15:37pm 21st August 2006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401635&in_page_id=1770

A British-based Muslim radical was last night condemned by politicians and Jewish leaders after claiming he was prepared to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel.

Dr Azzam Al Tamimi, 49, a prominent member of the Stop the War Coalition, said that if he could get in to the country he would blow himself up.

He made the outrageous boast on BBC News 24's late night Hardtalk programme earlier this week.

Host Tim Sebastian pressed him for his views on suicide bombers, asking: 'Why, if it is so glorious and honourable to do this, why don't you do it?'

Dr Tamimi replied: 'I would do it.'

Sebastian: 'When?'

Dr Tamimi: 'If I have the opportunity, I would do it.' Sebastian: 'When are you going to do it?'

Tamimi: 'When? If I can go to Palestine and sacrifice myself I would do it. Why not?'

The academic, whose website boasts that he is regularly used by the BBC, Sky and Al-Jazeera as an Islamic expert, then claimed that he would become a suicide bomber if only he could get into Palestine.

'I cannot get in because I am not counted as a Palestinian,' he added.

'When my home town was occupied I was outside Palestine and I just wasn't counted. I'm not considered by the Palestinians as a legitimate Palestinian or by the Israelis as a legitimate Palestinian.

'Sacrificing myself for Palestine is a noble cause. It is the straight way to pleasing my God and I would do it if I had the opportunity.'

Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon, said last night: 'This is despicable. This man may have committed an offence. To offer support for terrorist acts overseas is an offence. I shall be reporting these comments to the police.'

Neville Nagler, director general of the British Board of Jewish Deputies, said: 'This individual embodies the worst attributes of Islamic extremism.'

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy added: 'Dr Tamimi's words and statements are a licence to kill as many Israelis as possible.'

Dr Tamimi, a member of the Muslim Association of Britain, is married with three children and lives in Willesden, North-West London. He has repeatedly spoken out in support of the terrorist group Hamas and describes their suicide bomb tactics as 'the courage of man'.

He has been heavily criticised in Parliament by Labour MP Louise Ellman who said that he should be disowned by the Muslim association.

Last night she said: 'This man should be investigated. The MAB has a lot of public prominence and views expressed by their spokesman could have a lot of influence over young people.'

An association spokesman said: 'I haven't seen the programme so I have nothing to say. Dr Tamimi speaks on behalf of us.'

In July Dr Tamimi invited the radical Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi to the UK.

Al Qaradawi – who spoke at a taxpayer-subsidised conference in London in July – has called for a war on Jews and the execution of homosexuals. He also condones wife-beating.

Dr Tamimi lives with his family – a wife and grownup children – in a council block. He has lived in the UK for around 30 years and the Tamimis are British citizens.

Neighbours described the family as 'quiet and neighbourly'.

Dr Tamimi was said to be on a business trip last night. He has produced a number of academic books and papers.

---

MIM: The 2004 interview in which Professor Azzam Tamimi, father of three, said he would like to perpetrate a suicide bombing. Apparently this ambition already expressed 2 years previously did not stop his neighbors from describing the family as 'friendly and neighborly".

http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/Documents/TamimiHardtalk.htm

TIM SEBASTIAN

As far as you're concerned with Yasser Arafat, good riddance – you don't want him back in the Palestinian territories and that goes for your friends in Hamas as well?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Not really. The last few weeks he spent in Ramallah his relationship with Hamas was actually improving. They were doing very good business together.

TIM SEBASTIAN

But you say today his group no longer speaks for the Palestinians – these are your words:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

For some time they have not been speaking for the Palestinians. Since they accepted Oslo and went along the path of peace-making in accordance with the terms of Israel and its supporters in America they had stopped speaking for the Palestinians.

TIM SEBASTIAN

But they may have stopped speaking for you and they may have stopped speaking for Hamas but there's plenty of popularity left among the Palestinians in the territories isn't there?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well they speak for a certain segment of the Palestinians undoubtedly. This is like a tribe and Yasser Arafat was always the chief of the tribe.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Exactly. So your slogan isn't exactly right is it when you say today his group no longer speaks for the Palestinians; he speaks for quite a lot of the Palestinians doesn't he?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Quite a lot or a few – that really depends. I mean we haven't had a [genuine] election and we cannot have general election because of the current situation but ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No, but you have opinion polls don't you?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... there are indications and the indications tell us that today it is Hamas that really represents what the Palestinians want. The Palestinians want freedom.

TIM SEBASTIAN
Well you say that but that's not backed up by the opinion polls. The poll conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Policy & Survey Research between September 23rd and 26th gives Hamas 22% compared to, I think it's the 26% or more which is given to Fatah and the Independence.

They were asked / people were asked: Will you give your vote in the next local election to candidates from Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Independence and only 22.2% said Hamas. ... isn't much of support is it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I question the credibility of this Centre and of the studies that it makes. What I would say is that give the Palestinians the freedom of choice for a change and see what they choose ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

But you just don't like the results – that's the reason you reject this isn't it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – there are many academics and many observers who have cast doubt on these centres which are funded by the United States of America and do research that serves the peace process and those who are involved in it.

TIM SEBASTIAN
Why does it serve the peace process? There hasn't been any peace process to serve, so it hasn't served anything has it ... ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well the Israelis killed the peace process:

TIM SEBASTIAN

... apart from getting the opinions of Palestinians which you don't happen to like. The fact is, according to the polls, Hamas represents under a quarter of the population. That's maybe an unpalatable fact to you but that happens to be borne out by the figures.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

What Hamas represents today is actually what the Palestinians are hoping for. The Palestinians are hoping for freedom.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Some ... some Palestinians are hoping [for]:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

The Palestinians, most of them want to go back home. The Oslo process, the peace process in which the PLO embroiled itself gave away the rights of the Palestinians.

TIM SEBASTIAN

When the Palestinian human-rights group did a survey of Palestinians and asked them whether they wanted to go home, the overwhelming majority said they didn't and their offices were trashed; the offices of the Palestinian Human-Rights Monitoring Group were trashed as a result of it. So you don't seem to like any results and Hamas and Islamic Jihad and people like that don't seem to like any results that go against their own orthodoxy do they?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

You see that's nonsense. I as a Palestinian, I know many Palestinians around the world - I know my own family, I know my friends – we all want our homes back. Even if we live in villas, in palaces, we want our homes. Nobody has the right to steal our homes from us. Nobody has the right to bring people from outside and dump them on our land. Our land is our land.

TIM SEBASTIAN

And for that, continuing violence – that's what Hamas and your friends in Hamas speaks for?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

We don't call it 'violence'. We call it 'legitimate struggle'; we call it 'jihad' ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Well it doesn't matter what you call it. It's still murder isn't it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

You see the problem is that you're starting the story right from the end. Begin from the beginning. The beginning is when we, the Palestinians were removed from our land ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

But let's deal with the act. The act is murder isn't it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

It's not murder.

TIM SEBASTIAN

You can call it 'struggle' but it's murder, isn't it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No, no, no. The Vietnamese people struggled and freed themselves. The South African people struggled and freed themselves.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Does it make you feel better to call it 'struggle' rather than to give it its real name of 'murder'? When you see Israeli teenagers with their blood spattered all over the ground, does it make you feel better to call that 'struggle' as opposed to 'murder'?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

If the Israelis want it to stop, it can stop today but the Israelis don't want it to stop ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No, but please answer my question: Does it make you feel better to call it 'struggle'?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

It doesn't make me feel better to see anybody killed but if you come and kill me and kill my children and drive me out of my land what do you expect? I have to defend myself - on the basis of humanitarian law, on the basis of international law ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

You're not defending yourself because you can't defend yourselves can you? You're not defending yourselves.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Of course we are:

TIM SEBASTIAN

These are revenge killings aren't they?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

We are defending ourselves. Our land is occupied. Ask the people who have occupied the land. Why are they occupying our land?

TIM SEBASTIAN

How useful have your tactics been - tell me that?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Very useful – of course very useful:

TIM SEBASTIAN

Why? Why?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Very useful. Look ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

The rest of the world rejects the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian suffering. You don't get any sympathy from the outside world these days. What use have your tactics been to your people?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

At one time the Vietnamese people were rejected. At one time Nelson Mandela was called 'a terrorist'. It doesn't matter what some people say today. What matters is what you want to do, what you know your objective to be. Our objective is to become free human-beings in our land. Our land is occupied by aliens, by invaders.

TIM SEBASTIAN

And so you should negotiate:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well the Israelis don't want ...?

...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

The Israelis don't want to negotiate.

TIM SEBASTIAN

The Israelis said they hadn't had a partner for negotiation.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – let them come and negotiate with Hamas. Why didn't they accept the truce?

TIM SEBASTIAN

Why should they?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Why didn't they accept the truce offered to them by Hamas?

TIM SEBASTIAN

Dr [T]amimi, why should they negotiate with an organisation that is dedicated to their destruction? Why?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well if they don't want to negotiate then the vicious cycle will continue. Why did Tony Blair negotiate with the IRA?

TIM SEBASTIAN

How can you negotiate with a group like Hamas whose Charter says so-called peaceful solutions are incapable of restoring Palestinian rights

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Peaceful solutions at their expense?

TIM SEBASTIAN

... so they renounce all peaceful means:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Peaceful solutions that give away Palestinian rights are not acceptable of course but if you are fighting a battlefield, if you want to stop the war you come and say: Let's negotiate, let's sit on the table. You don't impose preconditions. The problem with the Israelis is that they say the Palestinians are terrorists. If you call me 'a terrorist', you only make me angrier.

No – I am a human-being. I am a victim. I have a cause. Come and sit down with me and let's discuss. We can discuss a truce and Hamas offered a unilateral truce for fifty days – [a] unilateral ceasefire that was not respected by the Israelis.

TIM SEBASTIAN

What is being offered now by Hamas – a cycle of violence, continuing violence ... ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

That's what Sharon offers.

TIM SEBASTIAN

No, this is what you said.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

That's what Sharon offers.

TIM SEBASTIAN

You say Hamas now enjoys the support of the Palestinians and will follow a different way from the Palestinian Authority – continuing struggle with the Israelis – that's your view?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Of course. If your land is still occupied ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

... continuing violence:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – continuing struggle. You see you're replacing the words. It is a legitimate struggle.

TIM SEBASTIAN

But you're giving it a meaning that actually takes away some of the force of what it is that you're doing and the true meaning. When you go into a marketplace, as happened on Monday – a suicide bomber and kills people indiscriminately, you call that struggle?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

If Sharon was not killing Palestinians ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No, please answer ... No, please answer that ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... in Palestinian towns and villages this would not have happened.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Please answer my question. You call that 'struggle' – when a suicide bomber goes into a market and kills people indiscriminately, whether it's women or children – you call that 'struggle'?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

When you force people to ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

'Yes' or 'no'? Please Dr Tamimi answer the question

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Of course it is a struggle; of course it is a struggle ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

It's murder isn't it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

It is a struggle ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

It's murder.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... because Sharon started it. Sharon kills Palestinians ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

It doesn't matter who started it ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

It does matter of course ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

You can go back thousands of years ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Of course it matters ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Are you murdering people today ... ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth .. of course it matters ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Are you murdering people today? The answer is 'yes':

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – you are not murdering people if you are responding to attack. We were attacked in the first place.

TIM SEBASTIAN

So those women and children are responsible for attacking you and you just simply fought back – people who die and have their bodies strewn over the ground?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Why don't you ask the question: What are they doing there? Where did they come from?

TIM SEBASTIAN

You don't like to face this unpalatable reality do you? You don't like to face the images of what your killing does in Israeli markets?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – I'm facing it day and night. I can see ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

And you like it? You like it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... I can see Palestinian children and women killed day and night ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

And the Israeli women and children ... ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... by Israeli F16s, by Apache helicopters ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

And the Israeli women and children ... ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... by Apache helicopters ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

And the Israeli women and children ... ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... they would not have been killed ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

You don't like the sight of that:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... they would not have been killed if their democratically elected government did not bomb the Palestinians day and night.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Also there's always an excuse for it. There's always an excuse:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

This is not an excuse ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

This is explaining reality. The reality is ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

It sounds like it:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... that we are a victim. We are victims. You slap me on my face - what do you expect [me] to say 'thank you' to you?

TIM SEBASTIAN

And who were those women and children in the Israeli market? Weren't they victims?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Why don't you talk about Palestinian women ... children who are being massacred by Sharon ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

I talked to Israelis about their violence. I'm to talking to you about that violence carried out in the name of the Palestinians. Aren't they victims as well – the Israeli women and children who are blown up by your suicide bombers?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

They are. They are Indeed. I agree with you – they are the victims of their own government. They are the victims of the people who ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

So they're the victims of their government ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Yes – who planted them on somebody else's land?

TIM SEBASTIAN

Their own government blew them up? Their own government blew them up?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

They are the victims of whoever ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

It's not logical Dr Tamimi:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

It is logical – 100% they are the victims of those who planted them on somebody else's land.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Do you want Yasser Arafat to come back?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well why not? He's a Palestinian. Every Palestinian has the right to come back.

TIM SEBASTIAN

But you say Hamas is the one now who enjoys the support. Is Hamas planning to seize power from Yasser Arafat?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Not under the prevalent ... The current circumstances are not / the talk is not about who seizes power ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

But they've been waiting for a long time to seize power haven't they?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No, no – never; never – not under the prevalent circumstances. The current situation ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Your friend Khaled Mesha'al from Hamas said in May 2002: If we want reform let's start with the leadership. Most of the leadership in the Palestinian Authority needs to be changed. These people are not fit to reform:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

That's the demand of all the Palestinians. There has been ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

So he wants them to go. So you want to sweep them aside:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

There has been so much corruption within the Palestinian Authority and that's one of the reasons why the Palestinians have not been able to do better.

TIM SEBASTIAN

How much openness and accountability would there be with Hamas?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... Hamas is a proper institution, not a tribe like some of the other factions.

TIM SEBASTIAN

It would publish all its accounts would it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

The elected leadership ... Yes ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

It would publish all its accounts ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Of course.

TIM SEBASTIAN

... as it's been doing up til now?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Yeh?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

This is a liberation movement. This is not a company. This is not a firm.

TIM SEBASTIAN

No, but you say it's going to be open and accountable. What guarantees are there of that?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

If you become a government - a government has to be accountable, a government has to be transparent, you have to prevent corruption – but if you are a liberation movement, the liberation movements have a different rule and a different style of ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

How so – you can be open and accountable when you're talking about others but when it applies to yourself ... ?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – if you want to talk about Hamas and the structure of Hamas we can talk at length about this. Hamas has an elected leadership, Hamas has accountability. Hamas doesn't have someone who sits in the chair of leadership unaccountable for so many decades and can do whatever he wants with the money. The reason why Hamas is trusted by the Palestinians is that Hamas, all the funds it gets ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

By some of the Palestinians – under a quarter of them according to the opinion polls – but how much support do you think ... ? If Hamas joins in the leadership at the Palestinian Authority, if Hamas in future forms a government, how much support do you think Hamas is going to get from the outside world? None. While it continues to advocate suicide bombings? Are you prepared for the international community to withdraw its support totally from the Palestinian territories?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

The international community will have no option but to deal with and support the Palestinian leadership that is truly representative of the Palestinian people.

TIM SEBASTIAN

It won't support an avowed terrorist group as they see it:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well we'll see it. We'll see. One day – remember when Margaret Thatcher said Nelson Mandela was a terrorist and he wouldn't be allowed to set foot on British soil? Remember what happened ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Different circumstances Dr Tamimi ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Exactly the same ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Different circumstances.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Exactly the same – struggle, resistance, legitimate struggle. You put up the struggle - you represent the people – you achieve results.

TIM SEBASTIAN

You're prepared to put that support in jeopardy just for your ideas and your slogans about struggle and continuing struggle? You're prepared to gamble with the livelihood of the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territories?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Do you think the Palestinians have a life? Do you think with all this that is happening in Gaza, that happened in Jenin and elsewhere the Palestinians have a life? Do you think Sharon is giving them an opportunity to eat a decent meal and drink ale (?) ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No, but the international community is doing what it can. Since '93 the EU has contributed over $2 billion directly and indirectly to the Palestinian Authority ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well permit me ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Member States of the European Union have contributed the same amount. How much has the Arab world done?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Let's talk about the European Union for a while. The European Union is hypocritically dealing with the Palestinian issue. The European Union has the opportunity to deal independently with the Palestinian issue. It's succumbed to US pressure. The European Union ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Who is paying the salaries of the Palestinian Authority Dr al-Tamimi? Who is paying the salaries?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Who gives a damn about these salaries if they are paid to people in order to suppress the Palestinians?

TIM SEBASTIAN

It's all very well for you to say. You're sitting here in a nice suit. You live in decent conditions in London. It's all very well for you to say: Oh the Palestinians can have another seven thousand years of poverty simply for my ideas. It's all very well for you to say isn't it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well if there were a Palestinian Authority whose objective is to make life better for the Palestinians, yes you are right but if the Palestinian Authority's main objective / main function is to act on behalf of the Israelis as a police force suppressing the rest of the Palestinians who cares about such an authority? Even the Palestinians in Gaza, in Jenin and Ramallah and elsewhere don't give a damn about such an authority. They want an authority that stands up for them, that talks about their rights, that fights for their rights.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Oh and Hamas has just sat by and watched the degeneration of lawful behaviour, the lawlessness, the gang warfare that's been taking place in the Palestinian territories. Hamas hasn't been contributing to that? Of course it has hasn't it? Of course it has.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Well if you have evidence, put it on the table.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Well who has been responsible for what the UN itself, not known as a great friend of Israel, has called the clashes and showdowns between branches of the Palestinian security forces?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Hamas has nothing to do with it.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Legal authority receding fast in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has nothing to do with that?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Nothing whatsoever. These are power struggles within the Palestinian Authority itself which was created by Israel in order to serve Israel. Israel created the Palestinian Authority and Israel actually is destroying the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has nothing to do with it.

TIM SEBASTIAN

When will the violence end? What's the aim? When will the violence stop?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

It can end today if the Israelis want. If the Israelis agree to negotiate a truce agreement the violence can come to an end. The problem is that the Israelis are so arrogant ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

What are the conditions for a truce?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No conditions? Just come and talk; just come and talk.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Come and talk to who?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Talk to the people who ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Who?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... are capable of dealing pain to you.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Who? Who? Who?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Hamas or Islamic Jihad, to the PFLP.

TIM SEBASTIAN

What - sit down with Hamas and Islamic Jihad?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Yes, why not?

TIM SEBASTIAN

An organisation dedicated to their extinction – the Israelis should do that?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

They have to. They have no other option. When the British Government sat with the IRA and negotiated a peace agreement that's the way forward.

This slogan 'we don't talk to terrorists' is nonsense. They have to. They have to talk to ... and the Palestinians are not terrorists. The Palestinians are the victims and if the Israelis want the way out they have no choice but to come and sit and talk without preconditions.

TIM SEBASTIAN

And you have no preconditions? Hamas has no preconditions? When I asked one of your spokesmen, Mahmoud al-Zahar a couple of years ago in Gaza and I asked him what it would take to stop the fighting he couldn't give me a straight answer and in the end when I asked him a couple of times he said: I'm telling you frankly the attitude of Islam is not to accept a foreign state in this area. So he was ruling out the State of Israel in that area. You're telling me he was wrong?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – if we want to stop the bloodshed ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Well you can you answer that question. No – this is important; this is an important issue here Dr al-Tamimi. What would it take to stop the fighting – the end of an Israeli State? Can Israel live side by side? Has Israel the right to exist?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

The current violence can be stopped without having to talk about the end of Israel.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Does Israel have the right to exist?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No, as far as the Palestinian is concerned ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – of course not. Of course not.

TIM SEBASTIAN

So what's there to talk about then? Isn't that a precondition?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No, no, no ..

TIM SEBASTIAN

You said sit down with no preconditions. That's a precondition ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

You see, that's blackmail. That's blackmail.

TIM SEBASTIAN

What's blackmail?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

This is what the Israelis and the American[s] are doing ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

What's blackmail?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

They say to us: Unless you recognise Israel's right to be in your house on your land we will not talk to you. We say to them ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

I didn't say that. I said 'right to exist':

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Israel has no right to exist in my home, on my father's land – has no right to exist. It may exist despite me. It may exist because it is powerful, because it is supported by the Unites States of America but I will never as a Palestinian, I will never give legitimacy to a state that is created on land robbed from my father, from my grandfather and from my mother.

TIM SEBASTIAN

So there are / that's your precondition then?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – you ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

You tell me one moment there are no preconditions and then you've just been listing them:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... you need to make [a] distinction between two things – between an immediate stop to the violence and that can be achieved and then we can have a truce for thirty years, fifty years, whatever that can be agreed upon. People don't need to kill each other. Let future generations deal with the problem but if you want to say to me today we can ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

So a truce with no progress whatsoever on any of the major issues?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No, of course ... Of course ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

A truce lasting thirty years?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

A truce is the beginning of solving some of the immediate problems. Once you agree to stop the killing then we can talk about other things. We can talk about how we disentangle but if they are not willing to talk ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

What is there to talk about when you say Israel has no right to exist? ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – you see ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

You want them to sign their own death warrant and then you'll talk to them?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

... even [if] they come and negotiate with me for instance, the Israelis, I will still say it to their faces: Your entity is an illegitimate entity. It was created through theft and robbery on my land but if you want this vicious cycle of killing to stop now for a while it can be done but if the Israelis are counting on an absolute recognition of their legitimacy that they will get from no-one.

TIM SEBASTIAN

So ask your friends in Hamas to send a message, a public message to the rest of the world saying: We are ready for talks.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Of course they are ready for talks. They've said that. They've said that so many times. They've said ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

When? When? When did they last say it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Fifty days ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

When did they last say it? When did they last say it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Fifty days of unilateral ceasefire ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Dr Azzam al-Tamimi, when did they last say it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin made this initiative before he died. The Israelis ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

That's a long time ago.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

You bring me ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

When did they last ... ? You tell me they keep saying it and you can't tell me when they last said it:

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No – you tell me / you bring me an Israeli who is interested in talking.

TIM SEBASTIAN

And meanwhile you advocate the suicide bombing. You said on an internet chat forum early in 2003: 'For us Moslems martyrdom is not the end of things but the beginning of the most wonderful of things'.

If it's so wonderful to go and blow yourself up in a public place in Israel why don't you do it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Martyrdom is not necessarily suicide bombings as you call then. Martyrdom is ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No, please answer my question. It was a serious question.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I'm trying to answer it ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Why don't you do it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I'm trying to answer it because this is a concept. Unless it is explained, how can you answer it? Because martyrdom means giving / sacrificing yourself for a noble cause. Now these bombings, the human bombs ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Are you prepared to do this or not?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I am prepared, of course.

TIM SEBASTIAN

You would [go] and blow yourself up?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No. I'm trying to explain to you ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Ah – so it's okay. So that's just for the poor and the disillusioned to go and blow themselves up? You would not be prepared to do it ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Most of the ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

... you advocate other people to do it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Unless you give me a chance to explain ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

Please ... Please ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Not a single person of those who bomb themselves, bomb themselves because they are desperate or poor. It doesn't happen because of this. They do it because they want to sacrifice themselves for a cause after all avenues have been closed before them. If the Palestinians today are given F16s and Apache helicopters ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

No – please come back to my question. Please come back to my question. Why if it is so glorious and honourable to do this, why don't you do it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I would do it ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

When?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

If I have the opportunity I would do it ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

When are you going to do it?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

When? If I can go to Palestine and sacrifice myself I would do it. Why not?

TIM SEBASTIAN

So what's stopping you?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I cannot go to Palestine. I cannot go to Palestine.

TIM SEBASTIAN

You simply can't get in?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

No, I cannot get in.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Why not?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I cannot get in because I am not counted as a Pales[tinian]. When my home town was occupied I was outside Palestine and I just wasn't counted. I'm not considered by the Palestinians as a legitimate Palestinian / by the Israelis as a legitimate Palestinian. So as much as they don't recognise me I don't recognise them.

TIM SEBASTIAN

So this is the reason - the only thing that is holding you back from strapping on a suicide belt is the fact that you can't get back to the Palestinian territories?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

You see sacrificing myself for Palestine is a noble cause. It is the straight way to pleasing my G0d and I would do it if I had the opportunity.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Not according to Grand Sheikh Mohamed Said Tantawi of the al-Azzar Mosque in Cairo. He says groups that carry out suicide bombings are 'the enemies of Islam'. He was speaking last July at the World Conference of Islamic Scholars.

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Yes.

TIM SEBASTIAN

He says they are 'the enemies of Islam' and that this is 'a distortion' – what you're putting forward is 'a distortion' of Islam ...

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

And he changes his opinion three times. At one time he hailed them as the best and most noble acts; at other times he change his mind because he is appointed by the Egyptian Government and whatever the Egyptian Government tells him to say he will say. So when they told him ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

What about former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahatir Mohamed: 'Our salvation will not be achieved by blindly killing innocent people, rather we should plan and execute a long-term development plan to excel in all fields'?. Why don't you advocate that - a long-term development plan to excel in all fields' – wouldn't that be better?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

Why don't you give life to the Palestinians first and talk about stopping all of this? The Palestinians have no life. The Palestinians are killed day and night ...

TIM SEBASTIAN

And you want to take even the life that they have with a suicide belt?

DR AZZAM AL-TAMIMI

I don't. I don't ... You see nobody needs to tell the Palestinians what to do. The Palestinians are putting up this struggle because they are being pushed and pulled and kicked day and night.

TIM SEBASTIAN

Alright. Azzam al-Tamimi it was good to have you on the programme.

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http://www.ii-pt.com/web/advisors.htm

IIPT BOARD MEMBERS

Director

*

Dr Azzam Tamimi - Palestine

Supervisory Board

*

Dr Basheer Nafi - Palestine
*

Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi - Sudan
*

Dr Mohammed S. El-Awa - Egypt

Board of Advisors

*

Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi Qatar
*

Shykh Faysal Malawi - Lebanon
*

Prof. John Esposito - USA
*

Dr Abdullah An-Nafisi - Kuwait
*

Prof. Khurshid Ahmad - Pakistan
*

Dr Parvez Manzoor - Sweden
*

Dr Francois Burgat - France
*

Prof. Yasushi Kosugi - Japan

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http://www.ii-pt.com/web/cv.htm

Dr Azzam Tamimi

Date of Birth: 15 March 1955
Place of Birth: Hebron, Palestine.
Marital Status: Married with three children, a girl and two boys.

address

The Institute of Islamic Political Thought (IIPT)
P.O. Box 31203
London NW2 7ZW
Tel: 44-208-4526210 Fax: 44-208-4502019.
E-mail: info@ii-pt.com
URL: http://msanews.mynet.net/Scholars/Tamimi/

education

1.Ph.D. in Political Theory (1998), University of Westminster, London. Title: Islam and Transition to Democracy in the Middle East: Prospects and Obstacles.

2. BSc. in Combined Studies in Science (1979), University of Sunderland, U.K.

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http://www.ii-pt.com/web/introduction.htm

ABOUT IIPT

Most regions of the Muslim World were subjected during the past two centuries to campaigns of Westernisation and secularisation that hardly spared a single aspect of life. By the middle of the 20th century, much of the Muslim World had already witnessed the emergence of entities whose regimes sought to emulate the nation-state model in the Western experience, a model that separated state from church. The emulation led to the emergence of Muslim models that separated tradition from modernity, authenticity from innovation and past from present. However, modern Muslim regimes were decidedly lopsided and selective in their espousal of the Western norm. They excluded from the Western model the adoption of democracy, a process that entailed respect for the rule of law and for civil liberties and citizen rights. The lamentable outcome of this expedient borrowing has been the reinforcement of despotism and the violation of basic human rights.

As a reaction to these developments, Muslim societies witnessed the emergence of a variety of reform and revival movements that claimed to emanate from Islamic values and history and to struggle for the protection of authentic turath from the evils of Westernisation. The models proposed by these movements have ranged from the extreme of absolute rejection of the other to the extreme of total espousal of the Western civilisation.

Within these extremes, one may identify what may be described as moderate trends that claim to pursue the middle position of seeking revival through an usual-based ijtihad while keeping an open mind and showing the willingness to acquire wisdom irrespective of its source. Regrettably, such trends, like other non-governmental initiatives, have not enjoyed the freedom they require. They have been restricted and combated and have in many cases been aborted. Notwithstanding such pressures, they have made significant contributions and their impact is undeniable.

Due to the lack of resources, and by virtue of the monopoly of both the media and academia by the more resourceful and more influential government-sponsored secular trends, the work produced by Islamic thinkers and researchers is frequently ignored and contested. It is widely believed within Islamic circles that modern Islamic thought has not been accorded the regard it deserves or the attention it ought to receive. Writers and researchers in the field of Islamic politics are particularly prone to encountering financial and political hurdles that deny them the opportunity to fulfill their tasks.

THE PROJECT

As a contribution to the ongoing endeavour to encourage ijtihad in the field of Islamic political science and to develop a modern Islamic political theory, the Institute of Islamic Political Thought has been set up in London.

OBJECTIVES

The Institute is primarily concerned with monitoring the progress taking place in Islamic political thinking and with identifying the fields in which ijtihad ought to be encouraged and supported. The Institute aims to compile innovative studies in the field of Islamic politics, to establish links with prominent thinkers and scholars and to identify potential creative thinkers so as to encourage them and help them develop talents and capabilities. The Institute also aims to assess the experiences of Islamic movements and their contributions to Islamic political thought. This will include the production of an objective critique of various Islamic movements, a genre of scholarly literature that is yet to be created. Much of the work done on Islamic movement has either been done by hostile critics who show no objectivity or by affiliates who lack courage and professionalism. The Institute will aim to become a credible centre of information to which academic centres and the media would refer and resort for information and advice.

MEANS

The Institute will seek to accomplish its objectives through the organisation of symposia and conferences and through the publication of research material either in its own periodical journal or in books published by the Institute or in collaboration with other publishers. Modern means of documentation and communication will be employed in order to compile lists of academicians and academic centres concerned with Islamic political studies. The Institute hopes to benefit from having its headquarters in the city of London, which is well placed in terms of its proximity to the Arab and Muslim regions, its central position in the West and its involvement in important world developments. The city of London witnesses numerous cultur

(end of text on webpage)

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http://www.ii-pt.com/web/training%20in%20political%20thought/islamic%20political%20theory.htm

MIM:The 'courses' offered by the IIPT use the classic ideological texts of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda .

Islamic Political Theory

Session one: Politics during the Prophetic era

The political situation in pre-Islam Arabia

Politics during the Meccan era

The Islamic state in Medina

The constitution of Medina

Session two: Politics during the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphate Disputes that erupted upon the death of the Prophet

The Saqifah and the nomination of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr.

Political ijtihad during the caliphate of Omar

The turmoil and the great fitna (sedition)

The emergence of political parties and theological sects

Session three: The theory of Khilafah

Reflections on Mawardi's

Reflections on Ibn Taymiyah's

Session four: Political Sociology

Ibn Khaldoun

Al-Shatibi

Renaissance of the 19th and 20th century

Session Five: Revivalism and reform

Muhammad ibn Abdulwahab

Shah Wali Allah Dahlawi

Osman dan Fodio

Nineteenth Century Reformists

Session Six: Twentieth Century Islamism

Hasan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood

Mawdudi and Jamaati-e Islami

Sayyid Qutb and Islamic radicalism

Session Seven: Contemporary Islamic Political Thought

The question of Secularism

The question of Democracy

Challenges facing Muslim minorities

Session Eight: General Discussion

At a 2003 "Anti War" Rally Hamas operative and Al Qaeda supporter and Stop The War coalition leader Azzam Tamimi told the crowd:

We say to George Bush and Tony Blair PULL THE TROOPS NOW OR ELSE YOU ARE NURTURING AND MAKING Hundred's OF BIN LADEN'S, THOUSANDS OF BIN LADEN'S, MORE BRUTAL, MORE FEARSOME, MORE SAVAGE, MORE BLOOD-THIRSTY THAN BIN LADEN WAS EVER. ..

On behalf of the Muslim Association of Britain, I say to you, YOUR PROTESTS ARE NOT IN VAIN. KEEP PROTESTING. KEEP DEMONSTRATING and salute the young school children, who took to the streets this clear message against the government who is no longer listening to the people.

THANK YOU

Source: Muslim Association of Britain (MAB)

http://www.mabonline.net/branches/events/22mar2003march/demoagainststartofwar22.03.03.htm

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Esposito was at a 1997 conference together with Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy. He told an interviewer that "One man's terrorist was another man's freedom fighter". and warned against criticising Sheik Tantawi of Al Azhar University in Cairo for advocating suicide bombings against civilians. His response shocked the Malaysian interviewer.
Do not be too Quick to Draw the Bid'a Gun Against the Sheikh al-Azhar

The Conference for Civilisational Dialogue organised by the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue of Malaya University on Sept. 15-17, 1997 saw the meeting of some of the renown scholars of the world such as Prof. Tu Wei Ming, Dr. Roger Garaudy, Prof. Hans Koechler, Prof. Joseph Camillery, Prof. Chandra Muzaffar and, of course, Prof. John Esposito.

The matter which figured prominently at the three day conference was the so-called clash of civilisation thesis propounded by Bernard Lewis and brought to the fore by Prof. Samuel Huntington. In particular, arguments tended to converge on the fact that such a thesis was meant to demonise the perceived enemy so as to legitimate unwarranted actions that would otherwise be difficult to justify under ordinary circumstances.

Discussions had drifted into and around Huntington's social or cultural determinism of Islam as having, inevitably or otherwise, "bloody borders."

One of the most notable presentations was that of Prof. Esposito's. In his usual scholarly suave and candour, Esposito stated to the effect that in order to protect Western vested interests, Western powers in collusion with certain academic and media personalities have drawn a convenient picture of Islam as a monolith to be reckoned with. Three is, after all,
ample ammunition for loading the anti-Islam gun of the West.

As Esposito stated, "Ayatollah Khomeini's call for other Islamic revolutions found ready believers not only in the Muslim world but also in the West. In France, Raymond Aron warned of 'the Islamic revolution wave' generated by 'the fanaticism of the Prophet and the violence of the people,' which the Ayatollah has [supposedly] unleashed."

"US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance stated that a major reason for his objection to a military mission to rescue American hostages in Iran was fear of an 'Islamic-Western war.... Khomeini and his followers, with a Shiite affinity for martyrdom, actually might welcome American military action as a way of uniting the Moslem world against the West'," added Esposito.

He also pointed out that it was Charles Krauthammer, a syndicated American columnist, who wrote, "History is being driven by another force as well: the political reawakening of the Islamic world."

As Esposito explained, it is a challenge all the more ominous because it is perceived to be pan- Islamic. It is a "global intifada," supposedly embracing not only the Islamic heartland but also occurring on the peripheries of the Muslim world where Islam confronts the non-Muslim communities: in Kashmir, Azerbaijan, (Kosovo) Yugoslavia, Lebanon and the
West Bank.

A similar attitude was expressed by Hirsh Goodman, whereby he stated that "the incipient threat we see facing Egypt - the inexorable spread of radical uncompromising, violent and militant Islamic fundamentalism - is by no means unique. Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, some Gulf states, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia are, in varying degrees, all in similar crisis."

Such slanted views were unfortunately affirmed by Muslim themselves. As M. J. Akbar, an Indian Muslim writer, noted that the West's "next confrontation is definitely going to come from the Muslim world. It is in the sweep of the Islamic nations from the Maghreb to Pakistan that the struggle for a new world order will begin."

Governments in the Middle East like Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Turkey have used not only the perceived regional "fundamentalist threat" but also its global threat to appeal for greater understanding and aid from the West to justify their crackdown and at times indiscriminate repression of Islamists. They do not distinguish between those who espouse a violent revolution to overthrow the political system and those who, operating within the system, challenge the power of political elites.

The Turkish government, no longer able to portray itself as a buffer state against the spread of communism to NATO's southern flank, is recasting itself as a buffer state and bulwark, only this time against revolutionary Islam. As the then-Prime Minister Tansu Ciller warned, if Turkey is not admitted to the European Economic Community, there "will be a
confrontation in the world... fundamentalism will find a fertile land to flourish in and then this will be the last fortress which will fall."

Such views or sentiments coming from the Muslim world itself have unfortunately lent credence to, among others, the repression of Palestinians by the Tel Aviv regime. "The Israeli government," said Esposito, "no longer able to present itself as the bulwark against the spread of communism in the Middle East, a role that powerfully justified substantial American aid, found in political Islam not only a domestic threat but also a new more virulent global threat."

Amongst Israel's typical arguments would be that "Our struggle against murderous Islamic terror is also meant to awaken the world, which is lying in slumber.... We call on all nations, all peoples to devote their attention to the great danger inherent in Islamic fundamentalism... This is a real and serious danger that threatens world peace... we stand on the line of fire against the danger of fundamentalist Islam."

Ironically, these or similar arguments were used by the Serbian terrorists in order to justify the genocide of Bosnian Muslims during the civil war of Bosnia Herzegovina.

Indeed, such irrationality has even gotten the better of some of the best among scholars. Bernard Lewis, in "The Roots of Muslim Rage", wrote that "Fundamentalist leaders are not mistaken in seeing in Western civilisation the greatest challenge to the way of life that they wish to retain or restore for their people.... It should now be clear that we are facing a
mood and movement far transcending the level of issues and policies and the governments that pursue them. This is no less than a clash of civilizations - perhaps irrational but surely a historic reaction of an ancient rival against our Judaeo-Christian heritage, our secular present and the worldwide expansion of both."

Such is truly irrational because Lewis refuses to examine particular problems or conflicts in light of the prevailing politics or the state of contemporary international affairs. He even asks that Western Christendom revive its crusader mentality of "them and us" in order to justify the continued domination or even subjugation of non-Western worlds. It is also irrational because he assumes that the Judaeo-Christian heritage is necessarily aligned with Western vested interests in sheer neglect of the needs or aspirations of the Third World in which reside a substantial number of Christians of non-European descent.

In light of these facts, during the question and answer session, I asked Prof. Esposito whether we should include in the list of those Muslims who contribute, inadvertently or otherwise, to the notion that Islam equals fundamentalism which equals terrorist violence, the Sheikh al-Azhar. After all, the Sheikh had recently declared the suicide bombings in Israel to be unequivocally Islamic, in that it is a legitimate form of self defense. I pointed out to Esposito that in accordance with the examples of the Prophet (pbuh), "jihad" is built upon the foundations of justice and compassion, not terror. Hence there can be no justification in the primary sources of the Shariah for suicide bombing, meaning that the Sheikh's "fatwa" is truly a "bid`a" or innovation of the worst kind, over and above the inconsistencies of logic inherent in his "fatwa".

In a rather long winded response, Esposito explained that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter; and that terrorism, as seen in the case of Israel's or the Tel Aviv regime's treatment of Palestinians, can and has been used to legitimate wanton violence and continued acts of oppression. However, surprisingly, Esposito added, "Although I have not read or come across the actual 'fatwa', as a rule, we must not be too quick to draw upon the 'bid`a' gun against anyone, not least of whom the Sheikh al-Azhar."

At such a point, the moderator for the session Prof. Syed Hussein al-Attas of Malaya University intervened and unequivocally stated that "such suicide bombings are unIslamic. How does anyone justify throwing a bomb into a bus filled with people who are not belligerent, let alone kill oneself in the process? And we know from the primary sources [Quran and Hadith] that women and children, the old and the sick are to be spared during battle. These suicide bombers are different from the Japanese kamikaze, whereby the latter would commit an act of selflessness, brought about by desperation, against legitimate military targets."

Hussein al-Attas words were met with silence.

Ahmad Faiz bin Abdul Rahman

19 September 1997.

http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/BICNews/Afaiz/afaiz40.htm

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[Currently, he is a Researcher with the Institute of Islamic Understanding, Malaysia (IKIM) and a Pro-temp Committee Member of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).]

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Bio of Esposito on the Georgetown University website:

http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/jle2/
202-687-8375
Fax
202-687-8376
Email
jle2@georgetown.edu
Location
260 ICC
Office hours
Tuesday 4:00-5:30 pm
Bio
John L. Esposito is University Professor, Professor of Religion and International Affairs, and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. Esposito specializes in Islam, political Islam from North Africa to Southeast Asia, and Religion and International Affairs. He is editor-in-chief of the four-volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam and The Islamic World: Past and Present. His more than thirty books include Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, Islam and Politics, Political Islam: Radicalism, Revolution or Reform?, Islam and democracy (with J. Voll). Many have been translated into Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Bahasa Indonesia, Urdu, European languages, Japanese and Chinese. A former president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies, he is currently a member of the World Economic Forum's Council of 100 Leaders, the High Level Group of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations and President of the Executive Scientific Committee for La Maison de la Mediterranee's 2005-2010 project, "The Mediterranean, Europe and Islam: Actors in Dialogue." Esposito is a recipient of the American Academy of Religion's 2005 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion and of Pakistan's Quaid-i-Azzam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State and to governments, corporations, universities, and the media. In 2003 he received the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Award for Outstanding Teaching

Esposito is widely interviewed or quoted in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and network news stations, NPR, BBC, and in media throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Web site
http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/jle2
Education

* B.A. () St. Antony College,
* M.A. () St. John's University,
* Ph.D. () Temple University,

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MIM:Esposito;s bio on the CSID website. The CSID is part of a the IIIT network of 'think tanks' financed by Saudi Wahhabists many of whose members have been linked to international terrorist organisations.

John L. Esposito (contact info) is University Professor as well as Professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. Previously, he was Loyola Professor of Middle East Studies and Director of the Center for International Studies at the College of the Holy Cross.

Founding Director of Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, he has served as President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies as well as a consultant to governments, multinational corporations, and the media worldwide.

Esposito is Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam and Oxford's The Islamic World: Past and Present. His more than 30 books include: Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, Turkish Islam and the Secular State (with H. Yavuz), Islam and Politics, Islam: The Straight Path, Modernizing Islam (with F. Burgat), Islam and Democracy and Makers of Contemporary Islam (with John Voll), Political Islam: Radicalism, Revolution or Reform?, Iran at the Crossroads (with R.K.Ramazani), Islam, Gender and Social Change (with Yvonne Haddad), and Women in Muslim Family Law.

Professor John Esposito resigned from the CSID Board of Directors in October 2004. CSID thanks him for his years of service on the board, and wishes him continued success.

[nw_arizona_granny]

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2279
Terror plot that spans the globe : 11 British Muslims charged with plane bombing plot attempt to kill thousands

August 22, 2006

22/08/06 - News section

'Terror plot that spans the globe'
By BEN TAYLOR

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401719&in_page_id=1770

The scale of the suspected liquid bomb plot to blow up nine transatlantic jets and kill thousands of passengers was revealed last night.

Related stories
• Liquid bomb plot - the 11 charged with planning terror
• Saudi dissident living in Britain makes mockery of terror laws
• CIA search of British banking transactions 'may breach privacy laws'
• George Alagiah: 'My fears for Apartheid UK'
• Firebrand Islamic academic: 'dying for your beliefs is just'

As 11 British-born Muslims were charged in connection with the alleged conspiracy, detectives said they have recovered caches of bomb-making equipment, lethal chemicals and martyrdom videos.

Hundreds of computers and mobile phones have also been seized along with hundreds of hours of surveillance footage and thousands of CDs, DVDs and electronic memory cards.

Police believe the death toll could have reached up to 4,000.

The alleged plan was to smuggle the chemicals on to planes by hiding them in soft drinks or bottles. They would be mixed together on board and detonated - possibly with an electronic MP3 music player.

Graphic details of the alleged plot emerged as police charged eight British Muslims with conspiracy to murder.

All the men will appear at a central London magistrates' court today also charged with intending to 'smuggle the component parts of improvised explosive devices on to aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board'.

A further three suspects, including a teenager and the mother of an eight-month-old boy, have been charged with offences under the Terrorism Act.

Announcing the charges, Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said: 'We must be realistic. The threat from terrorism is real.

'It is here, it is deadly and it is enduring. We cannot afford to be complacent. The investigation is far from complete. The scale is immense. Inquiries will span the globe.

'The enormity of the alleged plot will be matched only by our determination to follow every lead and line of inquiry.'

The alleged conspiracy to bring down a series of airliners in a terrorist 'spectacular' to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington was first revealed on August 10.

Police raided a string of addresses in Walthamstow, East London, the Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe and Birmingham.

Further arrests were made in Pakistan where the alleged ringleader of the plot - 25-year-old former fridge salesman Rashid Rauf - is still being held.

In all, 11 of the 22 suspects still in custody have been charged.

Scotland Yard was last night granted a time extension warrant allowing officers to hold one of the 11 uncharged suspects until Wednesday.

Mr Clarke revealed that 69 houses, flats, cars and business premises have been searched along with woodland in High Wycombe.

He said that more than 400 computers, 200 mobile phones and 8,000 CDs, DVDs and electronic memory cards had been recovered and 6,000 gigabytes of computer data downloaded.

Bottles of the chemical hydrogen peroxide - a key component in a so-called 'liquid bomb' - have also been discovered.

Mr Clarke also disclosed that both video and audio surveillance footage shot before August 10 was 'highly significant'.

He added: 'All the data will be analysed. There will be thousands of forensic examinations and comparisons.

'Fingerprints, DNA, electronic data, handwriting comparisons, chemical analysis - indeed the full

range of forensic disciplines will be used.'

The discovery of so-called 'martyrdom videos' is seen by detectives involved in the arrests as significant.

Two of the July 7 bombers - Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer - both recorded films before they took their lives and those of dozens of London commuters last summer.

The discovery of the suspected plot provoked a huge security clampdown at the country's airports.

This led to huge restrictions on what can be taken on board planes - and lengthy queues which eventually brought protests from airlines.

Although some of the emergency rules have now been lifted, many see the discovery of the alleged plot as a watershed for the airline industry.

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2279

[nw_arizona_granny]

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2280
UK Hamas leader Azzam Tamimi tells crowd of 8.000 "Dying for your beliefs is just" "We are Muslims in Europe not European Muslims"

Head of Hamas terror 'think tank' The Instute of Islamic Political Thought expressed desire to become a sucide bomber
August 22, 2006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401481&in_page_id=1770
Firebrand Islamic academic: 'dying for your beliefs is just'
By BEN TAYLOR 15:39pm 21st August 2006

Comments Reader comments (15)
Headlines

* Terror suspects in court as chilling scale of plot is revealed

A British-based Muslim radical appeared to back suicide bombing yesterday when he claimed that dying for your beliefs was 'just'.

Dr Azzam Tamimi told an 8,000-strong crowd that standing up for your principles was the 'greatest act of martyrdom'. The 51-year-old was speaking at the ExpoIslamia convention in Manchester.

More here...

• Anger over radical's suicide bomb boast
• Twisted mind of the Agony Sheik

The Palestinian-born academic - who previously boasted he would carry out a suicide bombing in Israel - also repeated his public backing for Hamas, which remains banned in the UK.

He said: "The greatest act of martyrdom is standing up for what is true and just. Martyrs are those who stand up and stand up in defiance of George Bush and Tony Blair. You stand up to them and you say desist. Stop this injustice. Stop this oppression."

Dr Tamimi claimed the war on terrorism was a war on Islam. "We are Muslims in Europe, not European Muslims," he added.

"Being fair and just means finding the middle path. The middle path is not rubbing shoulders with Tony Blair and George Bush."

The crowd erupted with cheering and applause when he said that Israel had been defeated by Hezbollah. He continued: "Hamas is making sacrifices for you. We tell this government Hamas is not a terrorist group. It is elected by the people of Palestine. We are not terrorists. We are defenders of the truth. Fighting those who invade Muslims is a just cause.

"The government is trying to turn the war on terror into the war on Islam."

In November 2004, Dr Tamimi told the BBC that he was prepared to be a suicide bomber if the opportunity arose. In an interview which was roundly condemned, he said that 2sacrificing myself for Palestine was a noble cause. It is the straight way to pleasing my God and I would do it if I had the opportunity".

Dr Tamimi, a prominent member of the Stop The War coalition, is married with three children and lives in Willesden, North West London. After coming to Britain from the Middle East more than 30 years ago, he and his family have become British citizens and live in a council block.

He has repeatedly spoken out in support of Hamas and described their suicide bomb tactics as 'the courage of man'.

In July 2004, he invited the radical Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi to the UK. Al Qaradawi, who spoke at a taxpayer subsidised conference in London - has called for a war on Jews and the execution of homosexuals.

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2280

[nw_arizona_granny]

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2276
The Magical Muslim Brotherhood Tour : FBI and US Embassy court the ' Egyptian American Group' both home and abroad

August 21, 2006

MIM: The FBI and the US Embassy seem to be taking the concept of keeping one' enemies close to you to a new level. Now it involves partying with potential terrorists, obstensibly with the notion that if you show them a good time they are not going to be inclined to blow you up, and might just decide to love you death instead. For more on this see "Homeland Security Chief veteran FBI agent beloved by Muslims" (below)

Nasser Abdelaziz Saber watched the aftermath of last summer's London subway bombings on TV at his home in Bloomfield and vowed that the same senseless bloodshed wouldn't happen here.
Saber, who runs a construction company and owns 20 Dunkin' Donuts outlets, paid particular attention to the grieving parents of the suicide bombers.

So Saber called the FBI, where he spoke with Leslie Wiser Jr., the agent in charge of the Newark office. "We need to build bridges," Saber told him.

Together they planned, among other events, a meet-and-greet Saturday, bringing together a dozen FBI agents and about 40 Arab-American youngsters at the Giants' practice facility -- "the bubble" -- for give-and-take about mutual concerns, informal chats about Internet safety and crime-scene investigations, a guided tour of an FBI helicopter and a little tossing around of the old pigskin.
Most people like us when they get to meet us," Wiser said, smiling. Then, more seriously, he added, "These are good folks who are invested in America. If we don't have people like this helping us, we won't win the war on terror."

The website of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism which co sponsors the Egyptian American Group that partied with the FBI in New Jersey and was feted by the US Embassy in Cairo;
" Dear Friends of Egypt: "
We wish you a mystical trip and look forward to seeing you in Egypt in the near future".
http://www.egypttourism.org/New%20Site/index.htm

---

http://newark.fbi.gov/pressrel/2006/newark051606.htm

U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Press ReleaseFBI Seal

11 Centre Place
Newark, New Jersey 07102

May 16, 2006

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and The Egyptian American Group
Sponsor a one-day youth event at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands
May 20, 2006

Newark, NJ-- May 16, 2006 –The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in conjunction
with the Egyptian American Group (EAG) will sponsor a one-day youth leadership event at
Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands on May 20, 2006 at 9:00 A.M. as part of the EAG's 6th
Annual Egyptian American Group Day.

Displays and interactive demonstrations will be presented for those in attendance. Among
them: The FBI Evidence Response Team (ERT) will have a display of their equipment and
methods. The FBI Hazardous Material Team (HAZMAT) will provide a demonstration of their
operational capabilities. Other interactive FBI presentations are planned as well.

The FBI is the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. The mission of the FBI is
to protect and defend the U.S. against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold the
Constitution, enforce the criminal laws of the U.S., and to provide leadership and criminal justice
services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners.

The FBI also seeks to reach out to all members of the community in an effort to enhance the
understanding of the FBI's role in protecting the United States and to provide a method of
communication between the FBI and the public at large. In this effort, the Newark FBI Field
Office, under the leadership of Special Agent in Charge Leslie G. Wiser, Jr. has initiated what is
hoped to be the first of many such events allowing an opportunity for members of the New
Jersey community to meet FBI Agents and staff in a positive, learning environment for all in
attendance.

According to Ms. Suzanne Loutfy, a representative of EAG: "One of the primary goals of the
EAG is to build bridges of communication between the Arabic Community and Law
Enforcement, in order to expand the horizons of both groups when it comes to understanding the
differences between the various cultures that make up these United States. The EAG seeks to
work together to reach a common goal of securing a safe and peaceful life for every American
regardless of race, color, or religion."

For more information concerning the Egyptian American Group or to attend this event,
please contact Suzanne Loutfy at (732) 261-8173.

For more information concerning the FBI, please contact Special Agent Stephen Siegel at
(973) 792-3020.

---

MIM:Nothing like some suicide bombings to galvanise the Muslim community to meet with the FBI to make sure that they won't entertain any thoughts that they might harbor the same murderous intents as their co religionists on the other side of the pond. After the killings of a Coptic Christian Family The Egyptian American Group spokeswoman Suzanne Loutfy whose phone number is given on the FBI press release ,made it clear that Islam can have nothing to do with terrorism:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/004743.php

Suzanne Loutfy, a Muslim leader of the Egyptian-American Group, asked people not to blame Islam if the killers are found to be Muslim.

"People are so willing to condemn an entire religion," she said. "That's what the big problem is. People commit crimes; religions don't. I hope we can be intelligent enough to separate those two."

---

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/aug06/newark_081806.htm
The Egyptian American Group (EAG) sought to meet with the Newark division last summer after the London bombings. Parents feared for their kids and wanted to see where the FBI stood on a range of issues. Meetings followed and reached all the way to Cairo, where the Newark office had arranged a meeting between EAG members visiting Egypt and our legal attaché. "I think we established some trust there," agent Wiser said.
STARTING A CONVERSATION
Muslim Youths See FBI Up Close
08/18/06
Graphic of U.S. flag and traditional Muslim imagery
Were it not for the balmy weather and the dramatic helicopter landing, a gathering in the parking lot outside Giants Stadium might have looked something like a pre-game tailgate party, replete with donuts and hot coffee. The assembly wasn't for a game. It was a youth leadership event co-hosted by the FBI and a prominent local Muslim organization to mark its sixth annual Egyptian American Group Day. Our Newark field office, hoping to fortify lines of communication with the region's large Muslim community, suggested a one-day event at the stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
The venue would be a big draw for the organization, and the FBI, by co-hosting the event, would give curious families a chance to meet agents up close and personal. The May 20 gathering, an extension of several forums the Newark office and the local Muslim community held in the months after last summer's terrorist bombings in London, featured information displays, demonstrations, law enforcement gadgetry, an up-close look at an FBI helicopter, and, of course, a chance to toss the football in the shadow of the storied arena. "It was designed so that they would get to know more about us," said Leslie Wiser Jr., special agent in charge of the Newark field office. Demystifying the FBI is a goal across our field offices; community outreach specialists work full-time to keep the lines of communication open. Going a step farther, we recently launched a program to reach out to select communities, like Muslims, Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans.
The program, called CREST (Community Relations Executive Seminar Training), started last fall and has since branched out nationally. The pilot is an effort to ease suspicions some may have about the FBI. "We've got to bridge the gap in trust," John Miller, our assistant director for public affairs, said to journalists in June at the New York Foreign Press Center. "A lot of these communities, frankly, look on the FBI and the federal government at large with a great deal of suspicion." Like CREST, the youth leadership event in New Jersey was an effort to put a human face on the FBI. Other efforts include town hall forums, citizens' academies, and mosque meetings with community leaders. In April, Mark Mershon, assistant director in charge of our New York field office, spoke at a town hall meeting for the Pakistani community in Jackson Heights. Field offices in Detroit, Buffalo, and Washington, D.C., to name a few, meet regularly with Arab-American, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian communities.
The Egyptian American Group (EAG) sought to meet with the Newark division last summer after the London bombings. Parents feared for their kids and wanted to see where the FBI stood on a range of issues. Meetings followed and reached all the way to Cairo, where the Newark office had arranged a meeting between EAG members visiting Egypt and our legal attaché. "I think we established some trust there," agent Wiser said.

---

http://cairo.usembassy.gov/pa/tr080705.htm

The group, which enjoys support from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, plans to meet this year with Prime Minister Nazif. The group will spend one week in Sharm El Sheikh. While in Sharm, they plan to participate in a peaceful demonstration and jointly raise American and Egyptian flags to condemn all terrorist acts and voice support for the Egyptian people.

Chargé Jones welcomes the Egyptian-American Group to the Embassy

Chargé d'affaires Stuart Jones met today with over 75 high school students from the Egyptian-American Group at the U.S. Embassy. The students will visit Egypt August 5 - 21, meeting with government officials and youth to encourage peaceful dialogue and mutual understanding between Americans and Egyptians. The Egyptian-American Group is a non-profit organization based in New Jersey and serves youth in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The group's president, Mr. Nasser Saber, greeted Chargé Jones, who then spoke to the students about the importance of their visit to Egypt. "We depend on people like you to help explain America to Egyptians," the Chargé told the group.

Mr. Nasser also addressed the group: "You are all 'American Ambassadors.' You will help us present a positive image of Americans, especially in our country's fight against terrorism. You also help us find common ground between Egyptian and American youth."

Public Affairs Officer Haynes Mahoney discusses the group's importance to US-Egyptian relations.

After remarks, the Chargé and Embassy staff listened to the students' stories and discussed with them ways to best support their mission.

The group, which enjoys support from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, plans to meet this year with Prime Minister Nazif. The group will spend one week in Sharm El Sheikh. While in Sharm, they plan to participate in a peaceful demonstration and jointly raise American and Egyptian flags to condemn all terrorist acts and voice support for the Egyptian people.

---

http://wcbs880.com/pages/37273.php?contentType=4&contentId=144183

Posted: Thursday, 18 May 2006 2:32PM

N.J. Muslims, FBI Seek To Build Trust

NEWARK (AP) -- In September, a group of Muslim men praying near the main air intake duct at Giants Stadium was detained by suspicious FBI agents.

On Saturday, the federal agency and an Egyptian-American group plan to meet at the stadium in the latest FBI push to recruit Arab-Americans and repair relations strained in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"It's an effort to build bridges with this community," said Les Wiser Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark bureau, who has made improving ties with New Jersey's Muslim community a priority. "We think it's important for them to get to know us. We're fighting perceptions we think are skewed against us."

The FBI accepted an invitation from the Egyptian American Group, an interdenominational organization that was formed after Sept. 11 when hundreds of New Jersey Muslims, Arab-Americans and south Asians were taken into custody as part of the investigation.

"We were afraid of them, and they were suspicious of us," Suzanne Loutfy, a member of Egyptian American group. "It was thought by many people that the FBI is the enemy. That's the perception we're fighting against."

Part of the event is aimed at interesting young Arab-Americans in law enforcement careers, particularly with the FBI, which needs their help as investigators and translators.

"We think the more they know about us, the more comfortable they will be," Wiser said. "We do need to get more diversity in the ranks."

Loutfy's 18-year-old son will be at the event, along with six or seven of his friends, to hear what the FBI has to say. Kareem Loutfy, a senior at Carteret High School, says he's considering a career with the agency.

"Because of my background, I can easily approach people" in Arab-American communities, he said. "They would feel much more comfortable dealing with me because of who I am, and that would be great for both sides. We need to build more trust with the people who are protecting us."

Since the 2001 attacks, the FBI has made numerous efforts to reach out to Muslims and Arab-Americans in New Jersey. Several months after the attacks, it held a job fair in one of the most prominent mosques in Paterson. While no one there got a job with the FBI, several applicants landed local law enforcement jobs.

The FBI also has invited Muslim community leaders to conduct cultural sensitivity training with agents and civilian employees.

Other law enforcement agencies also are trying to better understand and connect with Muslims. On Thursday, Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow distributed copies of a new training video his office developed on how officers should interact with Muslims. The tapes will go to each police chief in the county, and nearly 2,000 officers will view them.

"Where there is good communication, there is a better understanding between people no matter what religion and that was the goal here," Romankow said.

The video deals with issues considered normal in Muslim culture, but which may be suspicious to authorities.

For example, a Muslim woman who is home alone will be extremely reluctant on religious grounds to let male police officers into her home, said Ali Jaaber, an imam at an Elizabeth mosque. That is normal, and should not be viewed as suspicious behavior, or an indication that she has anything to hide, he said.

The FBI in New Jersey has several Arabic-speaking employees, but could always use more, a spokesman said. Nationwide, the FBI has increased the number of its employees who speak Arabic by nearly 250 percent, although the agency would not say how many employees that represents.

On Sept. 19, 2005, a small group of Muslims attending a New York Giants-New Orleans Saints game at Giants Stadium was questioned by the FBI after fans saw them bowing down on the ground to pray.

The FBI denied their religion had anything to do with the questioning, noting that the men were in an area not normally frequented by football fans, next to the stadium's main air intake duct. The Muslims were released after about 30 minutes of questioning without being charged.

That controversy led the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to set aside a special room at the stadium for anyone wishing to pray.

Kareem Loutfy said holding Saturday's fence-mending event with the FBI at Giants Stadium was appropriate, if somewhat ironic.

"It's a very good statement, actually, that in light of everything that happened, we're both still willing to move forward," he said.

Image: CBS

---

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5Mzc4NTImeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz

Building bridges at Giants Stadium
Sunday, May 21, 2006

By BOB IVRY
STAFF WRITER

EAST RUTHERFORD -- Nasser Abdelaziz Saber watched the aftermath of last summer's London subway bombings on TV at his home in Bloomfield and vowed that the same senseless bloodshed wouldn't happen here.

Saber, who runs a construction company and owns 20 Dunkin' Donuts outlets, paid particular attention to the grieving parents of the suicide bombers. As president of the Jersey City-based Egyptian-American Group, a social organization consisting of 500 North Jersey families, he felt compelled to prevent a similar tragedy from washing up on these shores.

So Saber called the FBI, where he spoke with Leslie Wiser Jr., the agent in charge of the Newark office. "We need to build bridges," Saber told him.

Together they planned, among other events, a meet-and-greet Saturday, bringing together a dozen FBI agents and about 40 Arab-American youngsters at the Giants' practice facility -- "the bubble" -- for give-and-take about mutual concerns, informal chats about Internet safety and crime-scene investigations, a guided tour of an FBI helicopter and a little tossing around of the old pigskin.

It's a mutually beneficial relationship. Saber's group announces to the FBI that they are Muslims willing to help defend their country -- meanwhile teaching their children not to be frightened of the badge -- while the FBI makes friends in a community where friends aren't always abundant.

"Most people like us when they get to meet us," Wiser said, smiling. Then, more seriously, he added, "These are good folks who are invested in America. If we don't have people like this helping us, we won't win the war on terror."

Members of the Egyptian-American Group said they felt the heat of heightened scrutiny after 9/11 even though, as member Nagy Motosh pointed out, "Nobody said anything about Timothy McVeigh's religion after Oklahoma City."

With that increased scrutiny came a greater responsibility to educate fellow Americans about their culture, said Suzanne Loutfy, a former Carteret school board president.

"That's why we took it upon ourselves to reach out," said Loutfy, the group's spokeswoman. "The response from law enforcement was positive."

The mood was upbeat Saturday. The children -- mostly high school-age, with some preteens -- were awed by the helicopter, which landed and took off for their amusement, and were responsive to the agents' presentations.

But some, like 15-year-old Younes Haddouche of Kearny, had come to discuss "what's going on in the world today."

Younes was 11 years old on Sept. 11, 2001. Overnight, the Muslim fifth-grader from Algeria became the subject of violence and ridicule at the hands of classmates.

In the school locker room one day, a student shouted, "Osama! It's a bomb! It's a bomb!" All his classmates hit the deck, leaving Younes the only one standing.

"I was beaten up and made fun of until I made a stand for myself," he said.

Younes recently started wearing a religious head covering, called a kufi, to school, to show his commitment to his religion. One classmate told him, "Get out of my country, you terrorist," but others politely asked him what the kufi signified. That gave Younes a chance to offer them a message -- the same message he wished to impart by his participation in Saturday's program.

"We're all Americans," he said. "We should all stick together."

E-mail: ivry@northjersey.com

" New Homeland Security Chief veteran FBI agent beloved by Muslims"

July 12, 2006 http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--homelandsecurity-0710jul10,0,3097493,print.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

New Homeland Security Chief veteran FBI agent beloved by Muslims July 10, 2006, 2:34 PM EDT NEWARK, N.J. -- When a respected elder in Paterson's Muslim community was detained at an airport in Dubai for a reason authorities wouldn't tell him, he took out his cell phone and started dialing. But Mohamed Younes wasn't calling his embassy, his travel agent or his wife. Instead, he called John Paige, a good friend who was the supervisory special agent at the FBI's West Paterson office. Paige didn't know exactly why Younes had been flagged at the airport last December, but offered to get on the phone with officials in the United Arab Emirates and vouch for Younes' integrity. Younes was grateful, but declined the offer. "Who would believe I really had the FBI on the phone?" he asked. Anyone who knows Paige would believe it. The 26-year FBI veteran has worked tirelessly to build bridges to New Jersey's Muslim community. It is a closeness that will serve him well in his new job as deputy director of the state Office of Homeland Security. Paige will handle operations and intelligence matters for the department, reporting to Director Richard Canas. "My job will be to interact with the state and local police, FBI and intelligence agencies to make sure we're working together on intelligence matters," Paige said. "It also involves gathering intelligence information that directly affects New Jersey." Paige has either investigated or presided over teams of agents that investigated government corruption and crooked business deals in New Jersey, including the Crazy Eddie and Cendant cases. He also was involved in the Sept. 11 probe, the anthrax investigation and other cases. But it's his work with New Jersey's Muslim community that the Hasbrouck Heights resident is most proud of. Since 1999 _ two years before the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon _ Paige has been meeting with Muslim community leaders, getting to know them, taking their calls and giving them his direct phone number. He's looked into instances where Muslim travelers felt they were being profiled, and has been rewarded for his efforts by being invited to Muslims' homes and mosques on important religious holidays. Several community leaders even attended his recent retirement party from the FBI. "I would call him a pioneer in terms of establishing relationships with the Muslim community," said Sohail Mohammed, a Clifton immigration lawyer and community leader. "This guy has a vision that most other people don't. He's someone we can call 24/7." Paige said the community _ estimated to be about 450,000 people _ needs to feel comfortable dealing with police and investigators. "A lot of new immigrants are terrified of law enforcement," Paige said. "But they're beginning to see that we're different than those in the countries they grew up in. I'm a firm believer that the only way we're going to keep our nation secure is by communities making observations and not being afraid to talk to law enforcement." Paige reported Monday for his first day at his new job at the state's Homeland Security center in Hamilton. At 55{, Paige was nearing the FBI's mandatory retirement age of 57, and decided to apply for the state job. His contacts and experience made him the most attractive candidate, Canas said. "His reputation precedes him, that and his background on important investigations," said Canas, who was impressed by Paige's warm relationship with the Muslim community. "It resonates both ways," he said. "He very much enjoys working with that community." Paige's former boss, New Jersey FBI chief Les Wiser, said Paige "will provide a great benefit to the citizens of New Jersey in his new role. He's served his country well for 26 years with the FBI. We will miss him and his contributions, and wish him well." Paige earned a master's degree in criminal justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Pace University. He also worked for 6{ years as an agent with the Internal Revenue Service in Newark


This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2276

[nw_arizona_granny]

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2283
Saudi born Al Qaeda/Taliban operative Muhammed Al Massari of CDLR " threatens to kill civilians " while living on welfare benefits in UK

August 22, 2006

Saudi-born dissident living in Britain is making a mockery of new laws supposed to outlaw the glorification of terrorism.

Dr Muhammed Al-Massari has been posting declarations on his website praising suicide bombings in Iraq for several years. The 59-year-old also boasted: "If you kill our civilians, we kill your civilians."

That's despite new laws being passed earlier this year making it a crime to glorify or incite terrorism anywhere in the world. And so far no police action has been taken against him.

Shadow Minister for Homeland Security, Patrick Mercer, said: "This should come as no surprise. Twelve months after Tony Blair's much-vaunted twelve-point terror plan all we have had is spin, but no action. "It is about time the Government started using the powers the have available to deal with individuals like this.

"The problem is not a lack of legislation, but a lack of Government spine to use this legislation to address the problem."

Al-Massari, who lives on benefits in Wembley, North London, has said it would be legitimate for Muslims to assassinate Tony Blair. He has been repeatedly condemned for running a website which has shown videos of suicide bombings and beheadings in Iraq, including footage of the deaths of British soldiers.

But the Government's new terror laws, passed as part of the controversial 2006 Terrorism Act, were intended to stop Al-Massari and other extremists from operating in public. The New York Times newspaper said Al-Massari was continuing to post extremist material on the website tajdeed.org,uk, which is in Arabic.

Last week, the Council of Holy Warriors, a group affiliated with al Qaeda, posted a declaration on the site praising a suicide bombing in Iraq that killed or wounded 55 people.

The posting on his web site said: "We ask God to accept our brothers as martyrs."

Al-Massari said he approved of violence against British and American soldiers in Iraq, as well as against most of the governments in the Middle East. He said that it "is legitimate for Iraqis to kill Tony Blair, the same with Bush." In yet another blow to the Government's credibility in the 'war on terror', the New York Times said Al-Massari was proof that British law 'has not silenced calls to kill for Islam'. It quoted other rants which continue to be made in the UK, including an incendiary speech before 8,000 followers in Manchester by Palestinian-born academic Azam Tamimi.

Dr Tamimi, an Islamic scholar, told an Islamic conference: "The greatest act of martyrdom is standing up for that is true and just. Martyrs are those who stand up in defiance of George Bush and Tony Blair."

Al-Massari, who has been granted refugee status by the Government, is known for choosing his remarks carefully, and does not advocate the use of violence in Britain.

He makes several distinctions that he says insulate him from being deported or prosecuted by the government. He says that he does not post any material on the website himself, he lets his members do that, most of whom sign up anonymously.

In 2004, he told the Sunday Times: "I am telling you (British soldiers in Iraq) are legitimate targets for the Iraqi people they are invaders, nobody invited them, they came by force and if we live long enough, we'll see them running out. Wait and see."

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2283

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This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2282
Yusuf Qaradawi advisory board member of Islamic 'think tank' which includes Georgetown U's Esposito gives advice on suicide bombing and hostage taking

August 22, 2006

Twisted mind of the "Agony Sheikh"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401634&in_page_id=1770

On a popular Islamic website he runs, Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and his colleagues host an advice column under the jaunty title 'Fatwa Corner', where all manner of thorny religious dilemmas are given an airing.

Questions seeking his advice range from whether it is permissible to put down a sick cat to asking for guidance on sending a teenager to a mixed summer camp.

But other subjects upon which the 'Agony Sheik' sits in judgment often have a considerably more chilling edge, such as: 'Is it lawful, under Islam, to take hostages?'

The answer, in his view, is yes.

But then this is the character claiming to be a man of peace who has heaped praise on Palestinian suicide bombers, called for the execution of homosexuals and backed a war on the Jews.

The opinions of Dr Al-Qaradawi in the Muslim world and beyond are well-aired, whether from his website or his weekly programme on the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera. Much more worryingly, they are also extremely influential.

But the first thing you need to understand about the Professor of Sunni Studies at the University of Qatar is that he seems to vary his opinions to suit the audience receiving them.

On the one hand he can condemn 9/11 yet on the other he can back suicide bombing – even where the victims are women and children – as 'heroic martyrdom'.

One U.S. think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, described him in 2001 as a 'Jekyll and Hyde figure'.

The contradiction, it explained, lay in the fact that Al- Qaradawi wanted to maintain his status not only in the eyes of Islamist fanatics, but also moderate Arab countries, where his scholarship still commands great respect.

Hypocrisy might be acceptable in the Gulf states, where unelected rulers are forced to tread the fine line between placating the West and quelling the near-revolutionary fervour of fundamentalist groups.

But beneath such ambiguities no one, least of all London mayor Ken Livingstone, should doubt the fanaticism of his venomously gaybashing and anti-Semitic views.

For if there are indeed two sides to Al-Qaradawi, then Mr Hyde certainly appears to have gained the upper hand – although it must be said in his defence that the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organisation representing some 400 different bodies, describes him as 'a voice of reason and understanding'.

On homosexuality, Al-Qaradawi is clear. It is a 'sexual perversion' for which the penalty should be death.

The only matter left for debate is whether participants should be thrown from a high cliff or flogged to death.

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2282

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This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2254
YMCA Camp Bernie hosts in New Jersey hosts Young Muslims Sisters 'Jihad' Camp with radical Islamist speakers Negm and Wahhaj

August 16, 2006

The Muslimah's Pearl Necklace 'Pearls of Her Character Unstrung" is the deceptively innocuous name for the upcoming Young Muslims Sister's 'Jihad' Camp being held on the premises of the YMCA's Camp Bernie in New Jersey. One of the speakers, Ibrahim Negm was a speaker at the 2001 YM Jihad Camp, which took place before 9/11. Negm is an 'educator' who has put together a curriculum which includes instruction for Young Muslims on how and when to wage Jihad. In 2001 Negm explained to a journalist that terrorism and jihad was simply mischief.

"Terrorism is not jihad, and aggression is not jihad. Such brutal and
violent acts, to use an Arabic word, are `fasad,' or mischief.

This story ran on page A27 of the Boston Globe on 10/19/2001.

Another speaker is Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombings, who has said that America will be destroyed and replaced with an Islamic state.

Wahhaj was recorded in a speech he gave at a mosque as saying, "I see the demise of the Soviet Union as a sign for the American people that what happened in the Soviet Union will definitely happen in America unless America changes its course from the new world order and accepts the Islamic agenda." http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/389\

http://www.icna.org/icna/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=33&extmode=view&extid=19
Young Muslims Sisters' Northeast Regional Camp will take place August 18-20 at Camp Bernie in Port Murray, NJ. Many sisters have wished to attend a real summer camp without stepping into settings that are unaccommodating to Islamic ideals. InshaAllah YM is determined to deliver a camp filled with inspirational lectures and activities focusing on the character of a Muslimah, which will encourage a long lasting connection between the creation and the Creator of the Heavens and the earth. With invited speakers such as Imam Siraj Wahaj, Br. Nouman Khan, Sr. Sumera Khan, Sheikh Ibrahim Negm, and Dr. Obeyd Choudry, sisters will get the personal attention they deserve while enjoying various outdoor activities such as archery, outdoor games, camp fires and more. Transportation will be provided from for those traveling from NY and NJ. Sisters ages 13-27 can register at http://www.ymonline.org/summercamp.

For more information visit our forum at www.forum.ymonline.org and click on
'YM Summer Camps 2006'.
The Young Muslims Sisters group have advertised their August Camp which will feature several radical Islamist speakers including Siraj Wahhaj and Ibrahim Negm. Negm is the editor of The International Mirror the magazine of the Islamic Circle of North America located in Jamaica, Queens in New York. Both Siraj Wahhaj and Ibrahim Negm lectured at the 2001 Jihad Camp and a 2002 ‘Preparing for the Afterlife (Akhira) camp. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2090 Ibrahim Negm has written a study syllabus for Young Muslims which includes entries about Jihad which includes the following entries: ‘Jihad, the highest act, sacrificing everything , Jihad, and dying in the way of Allah' and ‘The importance of waging Jihad',.

Negm is the editor of ‘The Mirror International' ICNA magazine and explained to Yong Muslims that the afterlife is more desirable then this life ; We should not be distracted or exploited by the greedy multi- national companies out to shape our beliefs and values as well as to rip us off. While these Satanic institutions try hard to keep us busy, we must bear in mind that Islam gives the young person a very high and rewarding role of being active followers of the true Deen. There are countless rewards available for the young person who fights the ills and temptations of this world in return for the sanctity of the hereafter, and those who can see beyond the fake surface of the media and capitalism..." http://www.readmirror.com/youth.html

Siraj Wahhaj is an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and appeared as a character witness on behalf of Omar Abdel Rahman the who was jailed for his role in the thwarted day of terror which targeted New York landmarks.

Wahhaj is best known for having his name on the list of potential co-conspirators in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, as compiled by the office of then-U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White. During the 1996 trial for the World Trade Center bomb plot,Wahhaj served as a character witness for the leader of the conspiracy, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman He testified that it had been an honor to host Rahman at his (Wahhaj's) mosque, and he described Rahman as a "respected scholar." In addition, he called another convicted member of the bomb plot, Clement Rodney Hampton-El (a.k.a. Dr. Rashid), "one of the most respected brothers [of his congregation]." It was around this time that Wahhaj was recorded in a speech he gave at a mosque as saying, "I see the demise of the Soviet Union as a sign for the American people that what happened in the Soviet Union will definitely happen in America unless America changes its course from the new world order and accepts the Islamic agenda." http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/389

At a recent demonstration against the Danish cartoons Wahhaj warned that Muslims "Had to make sure that they (infidels) do not do this again." Young Muslims is the youth division of ICNA and MAS. ICNA is the Islamic Circle of North America, and MAS is the Muslim American Society. Both groups have documented ties to Al Qaeda and the international terrorism network. One prominent New Jersey Imam, who often speaks at Muslim Youth camps, Mazen Mokhtar, is under investigation by the FBI for running an Al Qaeda website and was linked to a London bomb plot which targetted landmarks in New York City.http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/216 http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/212 The Muslim American Society has raised legal funds on behalf of Omar Abu Ali, who was jailed for a plot to kill President Bush http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1302 MAS also defended Ali Al Tamimi, who was jailed for recruiting students to wage Jihad. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/799

---

MIM: Ibrahim Negm is scheduled to become the head of the Young Muslims Learning Foundation where he will indoctrinate Muslim youth with the notion that 'terrorism is not jihad and aggression is not jihad' and is just a form of Islamist "mischief"

http://www.ymsite.com/ymlf/ymlf.pdf.

Young Muslims, a pioneering national youth organization is proud to introduce a new and exciting

venture, the Young Muslims Learning Foundation. This project is designed to further the work of Young

Muslims in enriching the lives of Muslim youth in North America by educating their minds and affecting

their hearts, by providing them with sound knowledge of Islamic shariah. Most Muslim youth get their

Islamic knowledge from lectures, tapes, MSA meetings and the weekly khutba. There are very few

institutes and programs in North America that can provide quality Islamic education for Muslims, and even

those can be costly with very limited space. The bottom line is that most youth are left out. Young

Muslims Learning Foundation seeks to change all that, YMLF would provide serious Islamic education to

youth across North America at their convenience.

YMLF is seeking the full time services of an Islamic Scholar, to be dedicated to the service and

education of the youth who enroll in our classes. This experience will take learning beyond the setting of

the weekly halaqa, or lecture, and bring it into a formal classroom. Local YM (Young Muslims) chapters

will host classes in major cities and states such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Houston, California

and Toronto. Now your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews can learn how to better themselves and

their communities through professionalism and excellence. With added features like Internet broadcasting,

YMLF will bring these classes to you, all but eliminating the hefty travel costs that are usually incurred

when attending quality Islamic courses. The YMLF goal is to start with a two-year program, with a

curriculum that will cover Aqeeda, Arabic, Fiqh, Quranic studies, Hadith studies, and the contemporary

issues Muslims are faced with today.

This program cannot happen without your help. In order for YMLF to launch, at least $40,000

must be raised to cover the costs of the program. This cost includes facilities, and the most crucial element

of a course like this, a qualified teacher. Please help us achieve our goal of training a capable and

intelligent generation of Muslim Youth.

The leading candidate who we are looking to employ as our full time teacher is Sheikh

Ibrahim Negm. The following is a brief profile of his credentials:

Sheik Ibrahim Negm:

Hafiz,

graduated #4 in the nation from al-azhar high school (Egypt).

Finished Ijaza in Islamic Studies from Al Azhar in 1995 as class Valedictorian.

Visiting scholar and researcher (1996) in Harvard law school Islamic Legal Studies

program.

Visiting researcher at the school of Islamic and social sciences in 1997.

PhD in comparative religious studies from the American College of Theology, MN in

1999.

Imam and director of the Islamic Center of South Shore, Li, NY.

Assistant professor of Arabic and Islamic studies @ St. Johns University, Queens, NY.

Editor of The Mirror International, an Islamic paper based in NY.

Make checks payable to:

Young Muslim Inc.

166-26 89

th

Ave

Jamaica NY 11432

Tax Exempt ID #: 05-0552240

You can learn more about our organization by visiting our website at http://www.ymsite.com

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2254

[nw_arizona_granny]

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/389
Terror U Part I and II - Florida Atlantic University - Siraj Wahaj and the Muslim Student Organisation's radical Islamist ties

MIM press release urges FAU president Brogan to disallow use of campus facilities for radical Islamist event 1/22/05
January 21, 2005

Militant Islam Monitor Press

Release MIM urges Florida Atlantic University to disallow use of it's premises to unindicted co conspirator in 1993 WTC bombings Siraj Wahaj

1/20/05

MIM is calling on President Frank Brogan of Florida Atlantic University to deny the use of campus facilities to host Siraj Wahaj, an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombings, and an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman , who was jailed for orchestrating the attack. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/382

The Muslim Student Organisation of FAU, presided over by Asmaa Metwally, is bringing Siraj Wahaj to speak at an event on Sat. January 22, at the Lifelong Learning Center on the university's Boca Raton campus. Last year Metwally attempted to bring neo Nazi William Baker to the FAU campus. http://bocanews2.accrisoft.com/index.php?src=news&prid=8268&category=LOCAL%20NEWS

The event is being co sponsored by the MAS youth group (The Muslim American Society ), an Islamist group which merged with the Islamic Circle of North America, and aims to Islamise the United States . Several affiliates of MAS and ICNA have been linked to terrorism. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/216

Siraj Wahaj is a board member of the Council of American Islamic Relations(CAIR) which is a Saudi fronted front group for Hamas which was named as a defendant in a 9/11 terror lawsuit. http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/394

Wahaj has repeatedly called for the replacing the US government with an Islamic state and extolled the joys of martyrdom. In a taped speech Wahaj declared: "I see the demise of the Soviet Union as a sign for the American people that what happened in the Soviet Union will definitely happen in America unless America changes its course from the new world order and accepts the Islamic agenda". http://www.freeman.org/m_online/sep96/emerson.htm

Wahaj extolled the joys of martyrdom in this Jihad website entry: "No one who dies and go to Paradise is going to want to come back to this world, except a Martyr, a person who gave their life for Islam, for Allah, they will want to comeback to the earth and die ten more times in the way of Allah, because of the great gifts Allah has given them in Paradise."http://www.geocities.com/minutesage1/jihad.html

Wahaj often writes and speaks on the subject of martyrdom in Islam. Some of his works are entitled: "Are you ready to die ?" "The Blessing of Death ", "The easy way to Paradise - How to get there" .In addition to martryrdom Wahaj is a proponent of polygamy and has produced many tapes on the subject.

Several organisations which Siraj Wahaj is a member of, including CAIR and ISNA have been connected with terrorism funding. At a time when United States is currently waging a war on terror both at home and abroad it is a travesty that FAU university administration is allowing the Muslim Student Organisation to bring an unindicted co conspirator of the 1993 WTC bombings to their campus and use the Lifelong Learning Center auditorium as a venue.

Militant Islam Monitor is urging people to voice their concern to FAU President Brogan that Siraj Wahaj's appearance on campus is a threat to Homeland Security and to appeal to the FAU administration to disallow the use of their facilities and premises for the event . http://islamicbookstore.com/audio-lectures-speeches-single-tapes-imam-siraj-wahaj.html

Please contact FAU president Frank Brogan and voice your concern that Florida Atlantic University is allowing use of its campus as a forum to Siraj Wahaj ,who is an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Florida Atlantic University Office of the President

Administration Bldg., Room # 339 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, FL 33431

Tel: 561-297-3450 Fax: 561-297-2777 brogan@fau.edu

---

Text of progam :

FAU MSO Inspirational Youth and Educational Services M.A.S. Youth Group of South Florida Present:

Imam Siraj Wahhaj at FAU-Boca Saturday January 22nd, 2005 6:00pm-10:00pm

*Life Long Learning Auditorium for the Lecture *Live Oak Pavilion for the Dinner Students with FAU ID are free

Public $10 for lecture in advance, (or $25 at the door) Complimentary Dinner & Entertainment

For More Information: MSO FAU Students

Contact Asmaa Metwally @ 772-285-7206

---

MIM: The director of communications at FAU Aileen Izquierdo thanked MIM for the 'message about the scheduled appearence of Siraj Wahaj. It is reassuring to note that "the University is working with the Muslim Student Organisation fot make certain that appropriate security measures are in place for this event" (!)

Thank you for your message about the scheduled appearance of Siraj Wahaj at Florida Atlantic University. Mr. Wahaj was invited to come to FAU by the Muslim Student Organization, which is governed by the same rules that apply to all campus groups that wish to bring speakers to campus. Security must be addressed as a priority issue when the speaker and/or the subject matter are controversial and may provoke a heated response. The University is working with the Muslim Student Organization to make certain that appropriate security measures are in place for this event.

As a public educational institution functioning in the world's most successful democracy, Florida Atlantic University fully understands the importance of freedom of expression. Our democratic way of life stands as a model for the world precisely because the basic rights guaranteed by our Constitution are extended to everyone, regardless of the popularity or unpopularity of ideas an individual may espouse. Abandoning that standard would erode the very foundation of our democracy. Like most universities in the United States, FAU has a policy of non-interference in the selection of guest speakers by campus organizations except, as stated above, to require attention to security concerns. That policy remains in place in the current situation.

---

Terror U.


By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com | January 21, 2005

Prelude

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16714

One year ago, I wrote a piece exposing radical Islam within Florida Atlantic University (FAU). My goal was twofold: [1] to bring awareness concerning a growing problem within FAU [2] to push the university to take action so that this problem ceases to exist. Unfortunately, only the first part of my goal was accomplished, as FAU is continuing to allow radicals on its campus, the latest being this Saturday's (Jan.22, 2005) return engagement of potential co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Siraj Wahhaj.

The Enemy Thrives at FAU

In recent times, a fairly large list of Islamist radicals and/or those that sympathize with the Islamist cause have passed through the university.

This list includes professors that the university had itself hired to teach its students (two of which still teach there).

Professors such as:

1. Mustafa Abu Sway, who was discovered to have had numerous ties to the terrorist organization HAMAS
2. Khalid Hamza, who had used a Texas A & M internet forum to defend Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian
3. Bassem Alhalabi, who was found guilty of exporting a $13,000 thermal imaging device to Syria
4. Imadeldin "Imad" Mahgoub, who was featured on a panel discussion with HAMAS fundraiser Raed Awad

At least one FAU student, Syed Khawer Ahmad, was found to have played a role in the world of radical Islam. While Ahmad was attending classes at FAU, he was the webmaster of the homepage for the Islamic Society, the Palestinian group that spawned HAMAS.

The final bunch are those that were invited by the FAU Muslim Student Organization (MSO) to speak on campus. This is the same MSO that created two Islamic centers in Boca Raton, one of which houses two "religious leaders" that have been accused of having direct ties to terrorist organizations.

The guest lecturers included:

1. Rafil Dhafir, the past Vice Chairman of the Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA), who was convicted of raising money for terrorist organizations through an Iraqi children's charity called Help the Needy
2. Al-Haaj Ghazi Khankan, the Executive Director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who is quoted as having pledged his support for the HAMAS and Hezbollah terrorist groups
3. Kathy Kelly, the co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness, who served time in a federal prison for trespassing onto the Ft. Benning military base in Georgia
4. William Baker, who has been described by many as a "neo-Nazi" for his hate-filled writings and his involvement in a white-supremacist organization

Siraj Wahhaj

The most disturbing of all of those that have made their way to FAU's campus is yet another guest lecturer that the MSO invited to speak, the Imam of Masjid Al-Taqwa in Brooklyn, Siraj Wahhaj.

Wahhaj is best known for having his name on the list of potential co-conspirators in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, as compiled by the office of then-U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White.

During the 1996 trial for the World Trade Center bomb plot, Wahhaj served as a character witness for the leader of the conspiracy, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. He testified that it had been an honor to host Rahman at his (Wahhaj's) mosque, and he described Rahman as a "respected scholar."

In addition, he called another convicted member of the bomb plot, Clement Rodney Hampton-El (a.k.a. Dr. Rashid), "one of the most respected brothers [of his congregation]."

It was around this time that Wahhaj was recorded in a speech he gave at a mosque as saying, "I see the demise of the Soviet Union as a sign for the American people that what happened in the Soviet Union will definitely happen in America unless America changes its course from the new world order and accepts the Islamic agenda."

Other statements Siraj Wahhaj has made include:

1. About the United States government: "In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing. And the only thing that will remain will be Islam."
2. About Osama bin Laden's involvement in the September 11th attacks: "I'm just not so sure I want to be one of the ones who say, ‘Yeah, he did it. He's a horrible man.'"
3. About the stoning of women accused of adultery: "If Allah says stone them to death, through the Prophet Muhammad, then you stone them to death, because it's the obedience of Allah and his messenger -- nothing personal."

Wahhaj also speaks about the glories of jihad and martyrdom.

About killing oneself in the cause of Allah, he is quoted, "I once (had) heard the Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘When a Muslim dies as a Martyr, gives his life for the will of Allah, the pain that he suffers is like the bite of an ant.' I said, ‘Isn't this something, you mean I could die for Allah and all I would feel is the pain of an ant.' I said, ‘Yeah this thing is nice.' And you know something, brothers and sisters, I believe what Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘No one who dies and go to Paradise is going to want to come back to this world, except a Martyr, a person who gave their life for Islam, for Allah, they will want to comeback to the earth and die ten more times in the way of Allah, because of the great gifts Allah has given them in Paradise.'"

And he currently has audio tapes on sale affirming such beliefs, including such titles as: ‘Are You Ready To Die?,' ‘The Blessing Of Death!,' and ‘The Easy Way To Paradise – How To Get There.'

And he has tapes on sale extolling the virtues of polygamy, as well.

Wahhaj has served or currently serves on the boards of the following militant Islamist organizations: Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Muslim Council (AMC), and North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).

In addition, Wahhaj was also a longtime member of the Nation of Islam, the anti-Jewish, anti-white hate group headed by Louis Farrakhan. His name, while with the Nation, was Jeffrey 12X.

Radical Islam Continues at FAU

Wahhaj spoke at FAU, in April of 2003.

Wahhaj is now set to speak once again at FAU, this coming Saturday.

This last bit of information was derived via an e-mail that was sent out by the President of the FAU Muslim Student Organization (MSO), Asmaa Metwally, an individual whose name appears on an endorsement of a 2003 event put on by the rabidly anti-Israel group, the Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM).

The e-mail states that the event is to be held in the Life Long Learning Auditorium of FAU. This is the same place where Wahhaj and all the other radicals previously spoke.

The e-mail also states that the event is being co-sponsored by the M.A.S. Youth Group of South Florida. The M.A.S. or Muslim American Society is an Islamist organization that publishes materials calling suicide bombings against Israelis "justifiable."

It's surprising that this event is even taking place. It was under Metwally's leadership that alleged neo-Nazi William Baker was also invited to make a return appearance/speech at FAU. However, the event was later cancelled after community pressure was placed on the school.

Why would FAU allow Wahhaj to speak? Is a potential bombing conspirator somehow better than a neo-Nazi?

Take Action!

FAU must stop this event and any further events like it from occurring. And an investigation must ensue upon the university and its policy of allowing Islamist fanatics to teach, study and give guest lectures there.

And furthermore, an investigation must ensue upon the FAU MSO itself… from its leaders, including Metwally, to its advisor, Rodney W. Desmond, who is a prodigy and past colleague of both Bassem Alhalabi and the previous advisor to the MSO, Khalid Hamza, to Desmond's own prodigy, Hanadi Kassem Saleh, who led an "educational study" entitled ‘University Students in Lebanon, Background and Attitudes,' which repeatedly refers to the Hezbollah terrorist organization as a "political party."

Until then, and only until then, this school will be known as ‘Florida Atlantic Terror University' or short ‘Terror U.'

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate, an Investigative Researcher at The Klayman Law Firm, and the host of the Politics of Terrorism radio show. Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.

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Siraj Wahaj biographical article reveals his ties to the Nation of Islam-Louis Farakhan,and convicted terrorists including Omar Abdel Rahman.

Excerpts:

"...The blind Sheik Abdel-Rahman, who became a celebrity in certain Islamic circles as he toured the U.S. in the early 1990s, gave a provocative lecture at the mosque. Standing before about 150 congregants, the sheik suggested that Muslims should rob banks to benefit Islam. Imam Wahhaj says he interrupted to point out that there were convicted felons in the audience, and the sheik, laughing, retracted the remark..."

"...The FBI soon figured out that two members of that network had worshipped at Masjid At-Taqwa: Sheik Abdel-Rahman and Mr. Hampton-El. In a Feb. 2, 1995, letter to defense lawyers in the landmarks-bombing case, then-U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White named about 170 people as "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators." Imam Wahhaj was on the list, but was never charged. Ms. White declined to comment.

Five months later, the imam appeared as a defense witness in the landmarks-conspiracy trial, held in a packed Manhattan courtroom heavily fortified against possible terror attacks. The imam testified that it had been an honor to host Sheik Abdel-Rahman at Masjid At-Taqwa, and described him as a "respected scholar" known for having memorized the Quran. "He is bold, as a strong preacher of Islam, so he is respected that way," Imam Wahhaj testified..."

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One Imam Traces Path of Islam in Black America

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/4820-.html

In the burgeoning world of Islam in America, Imam Siraj Wahhaj is a star. In 1991, he was the first Muslim ever to lead a prayer before the start of a session of the House of Representatives. Four years ago, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright hosted him and other Muslim notables at a State Department banquet of lamb, lentils and saffron rice to break the Ramadan fast. One of the country's most popular Muslim preachers, he travels widely, extolling the Quran to large crowds at immigrant Islamic centers, conventions and universities.

But to his followers in Brooklyn's inner-city Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and elsewhere, the imam sometimes shows a different side. He has proclaimed that the "real terrorists" are the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency. In another of his sermons, widely available for purchase on audiotape, he says, "In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing. And the only thing that will remain will be Islam."

Few religious leaders of any faith could rival Imam Wahhaj's combination of militant notoriety and mainstream honors -- a mix that says much about the complexity of Islam in the U.S. today. Over the past few decades, two powerful currents have come together in America: the black-separatist movement of the 1960s and 1970s and the training of Muslims, including Imam Wahhaj, in programs financed by Saudi Arabia. Today African-Americans are thought to make up about 30 percent of the fast-growing Muslim population of six to seven million in the U.S. (The higher approximations of the black Muslim population would make it about 5.6 percent of the 36 million blacks in the U.S.)

Islam is gradually becoming a significant part of the nation's diverse social fabric. But since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it has become clear that a hard-edged and intolerant form of the religion has taken root here. As African-Americans embrace Islam in growing numbers, many are moving toward a more orthodox version influenced, in part, by Saudi Arabia's puritanical brand of Sunni Islam. These foreign ideas have combined with homegrown black experience to form a mindset that condemns alcohol and drugs and hails self-sufficiency -- but one that sometimes also stresses an unsettling hostility to American government and secular society.

Imam Wahhaj's journey from Brooklyn's public-housing projects, where he was raised a Baptist, to his position as one of the nation's most prominent Islamic clerics, mirrors the spiritual passages of many African-American Muslims. Their movement's beginnings can be traced to the stirrings of black nationalism in the early part of the 20th century, and before that all the way back to the 1600s, when Muslim slaves were imported to this continent from Africa. Throughout the generations, the black Islamic odyssey has a common theme: a search for an autonomous African-American identity in an often-hostile white society. For many black Muslims, conversion opens "the road back to virtues obscured by the forces of subjugation and injustice," writes Robert Dannin, an urban anthropologist at New York University, in his 2002 book, "Black Pilgrimage to Islam."

Imam Wahhaj wears a full beard, tending toward white, and the sort of loose-fitting tunic-and-trouser ensemble popular in Pakistan and India. Commanding as a lecturer, he mixes Baptist cadences with plaintive Arabic chanting. In private, he has a scholar's gentle demeanor and often carries thick religious texts under his arm. In sermons, he often denounces terrorism and encourages law-abiding behavior.

But he also praises Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who visited the imam's mosque several years before he was was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to bomb New York City landmarks. While decrying the events of Sept. 11, the imam takes great pains to remain neutral about Osama bin Laden. He says the al Qaeda leader's videotaped boasting about the attacks may have been a media ruse: "I'm just not so sure I want to be one of the ones who say, 'Yeah, he did it. He's a horrible man.' "

He has told his followers that a society governed by strict Islamic law, in which adulterers would be stoned to death and thieves would have their hands cut off, would be superior to American democracy. Speaking of unnamed forces in the U.S. government and media, he has preached, "These people want the destruction of Islam."

With heightened concern about Islamic radicalism in the U.S., Imam Wahhaj has become a target of critics ranging from liberal Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, to conservative activist Daniel Pipes. Mr. Pipes wrote last year in his book "Militant Islam Reaches America" that the imam represents Muslims who "both despise the United States and ultimately wish to transform it into a Muslim country."

Others have praised Imam Wahhaj's involvement in his community. An array of framed civic commendations, including one from a black police organization, hang on the wall behind his desk. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz proclaimed this Aug. 15 "Siraj Wahhaj Day," in honor of his "lifetime of outstanding and meaningful achievement."

Imam Wahhaj was born Jeffrey Kearse and raised by his mother, who was a nurse, and his stepfather, a hospital dietitian. When he was 12 years old, he won an award for perfect attendance at his church and went on as a teenager to teach Sunday school. He was a talented artist, and regularly painted portraits of visitors to his family's Brooklyn home.

As a boy, he learned about discrimination from books, not experience. "We were kind of isolated from it," Imam Wahhaj says. "We lived in Brooklyn among African-Americans." To him, Martin Luther King's campaign for nonviolent change embodied the Christian ideal.

On April 4, 1968, 18-year-old Jeffrey Kearse was playing basketball at a recreation center near his home when word spread that Dr. King had been assassinated. "He was my hero. I went home crying," the cleric says. "When Martin Luther King was killed, that killed the dream." Afterward, he says, he went "looking for more militancy."

As he saw it, his options were to become a Black Panther or join the , a defiant black religious sect that had adopted some Muslim beliefs. He considered both as he enrolled at New York University on a partial scholarship and joined the basketball team. The team captain, Jerry 10X, belonged to the Nation of Islam and invited him to one of the sect's temples.

Mr. Kearse was particularly drawn to Malcolm X, who had broken with the Nation of Islam before his assassination in 1965. "Malcolm was bodacious," the imam says. "He was bold, courageous: 'Look at him, talking to the white man like that!' That's appealing to the African-American, when usually the African-Americans are bowing to the white man." In 1969, he joined the Nation and changed his name to Jeffrey 12X, because he was the twelfth Jeffrey in New York to become a member.

Like many black Muslims, Imam Wahhaj refers to his conversion as a "reversion" to Islam. Centuries ago, thousands of African slaves were pulled from tribes practicing varying forms of Islam and shipped to North and South America. Although their faith was submerged in slave-owners' Christianity, some elements remained. After emancipation, Islamic motifs surfaced in the rituals of black fraternal lodges and storefront religious organizations that rejected Christianity because of its association with slavery.

Founded in 1913 in Newark, N.J., the Moorish Science Temple of America adopted the Islamic crescent and star as one of its symbols. Members attached Arabic suffixes, such as "-El," to their names and greeted each other by saying "Islam." Founder Noble Drew Ali called for a return to Islam as a means of deliverance from racial oppression.

The Nation of Islam emerged two decades later in Detroit, attracting black migrants from the South. Its self-proclaimed messenger of God, Elijah Muhammad, taught his followers that whites were devils and that Christianity had helped enslave blacks. He urged them to seek economic independence and help rehabilitate drug addicts and criminals.

This message resonated with Jeffrey 12X, and he quit NYU to participate in the Nation's door-to-door businesses, selling fresh fish, bean pies and the newspaper Muhammad Speaks. "It wasn't the theology that attracted me to the Nation of Islam at all," Imam Wahhaj says. "It was the kind of do-for-self black pride." Still, he took religious classes from Louis Farrakhan, the controversial minister who was then supervisor of the Nation's New York operations, and rose quickly to become a minister himself, running Temple 7C in Brooklyn.

It was an article of faith among Elijah Muhammad's followers that he would live for generations to come. When he died in 1975 at age 77, "his teachings began to unravel in my mind," Imam Wahhaj says. He and thousands of other Nation of Islam members began to study the Quran. With the encouragement of Elijah Muhammad's son W.D. Muhammad, they spent the late 1970s groping their way toward the kind of orthodox Sunni Islam followed by most of the rest of the Muslim world.

That coincided with the move by Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest sites, to step up its world-wide campaign to spread the harsh version of Sunni Islam favored by its rulers. Mounting oil profits in the 1970s fueled the expanded Saudi proselytizing, which escalated further in the 1980s in response to the perceived threat to Sunni domination from the Shiite Islamic revolution in Iran. Saudi-funded Islamic teachers began arriving in the U.S. just as black Muslims began exploring their faith.

Jeffrey 12X changed his name to Siraj Wahhaj, which means "bright light" in Arabic, and stopped painting portraits, in deference to the orthodox Muslim prohibition on depicting human images. In 1978, he traveled to Naperville, Ill., for religious training sponsored by the Saudis. His class of 50 African-American Muslims received 40 days of intense instruction on the Quran and the teachings of the original Prophet Muhammad.

Imam Wahhaj and four others from the program were chosen to travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for four months of advanced training in Islamic religion and law and Arabic. Awaking each morning before dawn, he walked to the mosque under a star-filled desert sky. He says he felt "absolute awe. ... I was on a spiritual high for four months." The first to arrive at class after prayers, he sat in the front row and taped every lecture.

He started his own mosque in 1981 in a friend's Brooklyn apartment. They moved the furniture from the living room to the bedroom so that 25 people could pray toward Mecca. Soon afterward, the congregation, known as Masjid At-Taqwa, bought an abandoned clothing store at a city auction for $30,000 and converted it into a mosque. The congregants had to chase away the junkies who were using the property.

Fighting drugs became one of the missions of Taqwa, which means "God consciousness" in Arabic. In January 1987, the imam led a group of his followers to oust crack-cocaine dealers squatting in a nearby building. The Taqwa group banged on the door, and Imam Wahhaj says he announced, "It's the Muslims. We're here to recover the property." Behind the door, he could hear someone say, "It's the Muslims. Don't do anything stupid."

The dealers promised to vacate, and the Muslims retreated to a car parked outside to wait. But instead of leaving, the drug dealers called the police, according to the imam. He and four of his followers were arrested on weapons-possession charges. A state court later dismissed the sole misdemeanor count of illegal possession of a knife filed against the imam.

About a year later, he led a series of well-publicized antidrug patrols that helped police put a dent in the crack trade in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The imam also maintains close relations with non-Muslim groups that protest police brutality. "He's very effective, particularly within the Muslim community and very respected in the community at large," says one activist, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, of Brooklyn's Pentecostal House of the Lord Church.

Masjid At-Taqwa occupies a large corner storefront, divided into spacious, windowless rooms painted green and beige. At well-attended Friday afternoon prayers congregants wearing do-rag stocking caps and Sean John sweatshirts mingle with those who wear finely embroidered Muslim caps and flowing robes of crimson and gold. About half are African-Americans. The others are immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Worshipers range from poor Brooklynites to the occasional celebrity, such as boxer Mike Tyson.

Also attending, according to the imam, is the occasional U.S. government spy seeking incriminating evidence against him. In the mid-1980s, a man he believes was a government agent offered to help the mosque obtain hand grenades. The imam says he sent him away.

Since the mosque's arrival 20 years ago, Islam has come to dominate the immediate neighborhood. Nearby are more than a dozen Muslim restaurants, food stores and bookshops, most run by immigrants. On the sidewalk, vendors sell body oils, incense and audiotapes of Imam Wahhaj's sermons.

The mosque operates on an annual budget of about $200,000, the imam says, raised from weekly donations by individuals, rent from its six commercial properties and occasional checks from predominantly immigrant organizations.

His own $44,000 salary comes out of that budget and sometimes is supplemented by honoraria of $1,000 or $2,000 for giving speeches, he says. He lives with his wife, Wadiyah, a legal secretary, in part of a three-family house in East Flatbush, a mostly African-American neighborhood. His eight children, some from a previous marriage, range in age from 12 to 32, and all but two daughters are observant Muslims.

Within the confines of his mosque, the imam preaches Islam as a faith of personal responsibility but one that is sometimes at odds with mainstream life in the U.S. He glorifies hard work, even if it means sweeping the streets, and exhorts the stream of black men who adopt Islam while behind bars to avoid crime, liquor and drugs. But his preaching also suggests a yearning for the religion as it was practiced centuries ago.

He has said of thieves and adulterers: "If Allah says 100 strikes, 100 strikes it is. If Allah says cut off their hand, you cut off their hand. If Allah says stone them to death, through the Prophet Muhammad, then you stone them to death, because it's the obedience of Allah and his messenger -- nothing personal."

And to an audience of 75 mostly black women wearing Muslim head coverings at an Islamic conference in Orlando, Fla., he lectured recently that Islam condones a man's marrying up to four wives. He stressed that when this rule was introduced in the seventh century, it served as a restriction on arrangements involving even more wives per husband.

Mr. Wahhaj's views are well known in the Muslim community because he has a busy speaking calendar, and tapes of his sermons are readily available in Muslim stores, at Islamic conferences and on the Internet. Many of his beliefs -- such as his deep antipathy toward the U.S. authorities -- are echoed by other black Muslim clerics. "We don't trust the American government and the way that it does things and sets people up," says Al-Hajj Talib 'Abdur-Rashid, the imam of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, a large congregation in Harlem. Imam 'Abdur-Rashid points to slavery, generations of segregation and government investigations of Dr. King and other black heroes as the cause of the widespread skepticism.

Stephen Schwartz, author of "The Two Faces of Islam," a book published last year, blames Imam Wahhaj for spreading an extreme form of the religion known as Wahhabism. Embraced by the forebears of the current Saudi royal family, Wahhabism was named for Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, the leader of an 18th-century movement to re-create the religion of the 600s, as practiced by the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Strict Wahhabis despise Western cultural and religious influences. Osama bin Laden and his followers adhere to a strain of this ideology.

"People like Wahhaj went from Nation of Islam to Saudi Wahhabism, and they preach those extreme views to their followers," says Mr. Schwartz, who says he himself has embraced a moderate version of Islam. "Wahhabism is hostile to all 'nonbelievers,' to secular society, certainly to American society, and it can fit with black radical thought."

In an interview in his tiny mosque office, Imam Wahhaj says that he isn't a Wahhabi and that the Saudi-funded programs he attended years ago were "definitely not what you would call Wahhabism." American Muslims, he says, "have never looked to Saudi Arabia for guidance, especially African-Americans."

He says he regrets the tone of some of his harshest comments about democracy. His anticipation of its collapse, he says, "is similar to a Christian saying eventually God's kingdom is going to come." He notes that "obviously, in the American context, we can't cut off the hands of thieves." He says that he hopes Americans one day will be persuaded -- not coerced -- to embrace Islamic law.

Still, over the years, Imam Wahhaj has welcomed some significant players on the militant Muslim scene into his Brooklyn mosque. Clement Hampton-El, an African-American Muslim who in the 1980s fought with the Muslim resistance against the Russians in Afghanistan, regularly worshipped at At-Taqwa upon his return to the U.S. He was sought out by young and old for his advice as an "elder in the community," says Imam Wahhaj.

The blind Sheik Abdel-Rahman, who became a celebrity in certain Islamic circles as he toured the U.S. in the early 1990s, gave a provocative lecture at the mosque. Standing before about 150 congregants, the sheik suggested that Muslims should rob banks to benefit Islam. Imam Wahhaj says he interrupted to point out that there were convicted felons in the audience, and the sheik, laughing, retracted the remark.

Imam Wahhaj's worlds collided when the World Trade Center was bombed in 1993. The FBI investigation of the bombing led to charges not only against the bombers but also a network of anti-American Muslims who planned to destroy the United Nations' headquarters, the George Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and other New York-area landmarks.

The FBI soon figured out that two members of that network had worshipped at Masjid At-Taqwa: Sheik Abdel-Rahman and Mr. Hampton-El. In a Feb. 2, 1995, letter to defense lawyers in the landmarks-bombing case, then-U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White named about 170 people as "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators." Imam Wahhaj was on the list, but was never charged. Ms. White declined to comment.

Five months later, the imam appeared as a defense witness in the landmarks-conspiracy trial, held in a packed Manhattan courtroom heavily fortified against possible terror attacks. The imam testified that it had been an honor to host Sheik Abdel-Rahman at Masjid At-Taqwa, and described him as a "respected scholar" known for having memorized the Quran. "He is bold, as a strong preacher of Islam, so he is respected that way," Imam Wahhaj testified.

The imam called Mr. Hampton-El "one of the most respected brothers" in his congregation. He also testified that he had met a third defendant, Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, and that he had a favorable impression of a fourth, Ibrahim El-Gabrowny. All four were convicted and sentenced to prison terms.

In March 2001, the imam returned to the same court to testify as a religious expert at the trial of four Muslim extremists convicted in the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa. He testified that holy war could never justify such bombings.

In July of this year, the New York Daily News in an editorial described Imam Wahhaj as "an unindicted co-conspirator linked to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing." The imam appeared to relish responding to the attack. "I had dinner with Secretary of State Albright -- after the list" of unindicted co-conspirators was circulated, he thundered in a sermon shortly after the editorial. "They know it's bogus!" Ms. Albright declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

The government has never offered evidence linking him to any terrorism, the imam said. "How am I linked? Tell me?" he bellowed, as members of his congregation nodded in agreement. "They have to get me like they got Malcolm (X), like they got Martin Luther King, like they got everybody else -- that's what they do!"

He would welcome the chance, he told his followers, to give his life to serve Islam. "If they kill me," he said, "don't be crying."



Some major events in the history of African-American Islam:

Early 1900s: Islam begins to emerge as an alternative to Christianity among African-Americans, some of whom are descended from Muslim slaves forced to abandon the faith.

1913: The Moorish Science Temple is founded in Newark, N.J., and promotes Islamic beliefs along with black nationalism.

1931: In Detroit, Wallace D. Fard starts the movement that would be known as the Nation of Islam, or the Black Muslims. His successor, Elijah Muhammad, expands the organization, stressing the evil of white people and the need for black self-sufficiency.

1960s: Black adoption of Islam accelerates in Northern cities, as a divide develops between Nation of Islam members and African-Americans practicing more orthodox Sunni Islam.

1965: Malcolm X, who had become the Nation of Islam's most prominent spokesman before breaking with the group to embrace Sunni Islam, is assassinated in New York.

1975: Elijah Muhammad dies, and his son W. D. Muhammad leads thousands of Nation of Islam members toward more orthodox Islamic beliefs. Louis Farrakhan leads another group, which retains the Nation of Islam name and gains considerable media attention in the 1980s and early 1990s.

1991: Imam Siraj Wahhaj becomes the first Muslim to give the opening prayer at a session of the House of Representatives.

1993: The investigation of the first bombing of the World Trade Center reveals that two men ultimately convicted in connection with a terrorist plot to blow up New York landmarks had worshipped at Imam Wahhaj's Masjid At-Taqwa.

1995: Imam Wahhaj provides supportive testimony for Omar Abdel-Rahman, the "blind sheik," who is later sentenced to life in prison for inspiring the landmarks bombing plot.

1999: Imam Wahhaj, invited as an official guest, attends a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner at the U.S. State Department.

2001: The imam provides testimony helpful to the prosecution in the trial of four terrorists convicted for their role in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa.

2003: African-American Muslims are estimated at two million out of a total of about seven million Muslims in the U.S.
Florida Atlantic Terror University
By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com | February 19, 2004

Introduction

http://wwww.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=12246

In the summer of 2002, a flyer vilifying Jews and Christians and threatening "confrontation and conflict" was circulated around the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) campus. It stated: "When we Arab-Muslim students came to America for study, we had no idea that we would be forced to mingle with Jew students and take instruction from Jew teachers. This is offensive to us since it is well known that the Jews are the most corrupt and violent people on Earth."

The flyer, which was put out by a group calling itself the Islamic-Arab Students Defense Committee, went on to list a series of demands addressed to the FAU administration:

"Separate Jew students from Muslim students. Jews should be taught only by Jew professors and instructors. Muslim students should not be forced to take education from Jews."

"Require Jew students to wear some sort of identification so Muslim students can avoid them socially. Indicate Jew professors in the university course listings."

"Remove Jew names from college buildings, such as the Friedberg Center."

"Refuse to accept donations from Jew sources for scholarships, programs, buildings, etc."

"Cease Jew-Zionist and Christian activities in the Breezeway, such as the Hillel desk, the Rabbi and the ministries. It is offensive to Muslims to be solicited by other faiths."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which looked into the matter, deemed the flyer a "hoax," as no one admitted to having any knowledge of the offending group. [What's amusing (and foreboding) is that the ADL web page that discusses the matter, instead of being titled "Flier," was accidentally titled "lier Found at Florida Atlantic University a Hoax."]

According to the ADL, representatives of the FAU Muslim Student Organization (MSO) "strongly condemned the flyer and distanced themselves from its message" and said that "the message [ran] counter to everything the group [had] worked toward." But did it?

Part 1: Florida Atlantic Islamic Jihad

The website of the Muslim Student Organization (MSO) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) is, at the moment, barren. All that's left is one line on the bottom of the page paying tribute to a past when the school could get away with overlooking that which threatens us all. The line reads, "founded by Drs Hamza & Alhalabi as a window to an innovative world of possibilities and imagination." But this window is now shattered with shards of glass that cut into the hearts of everyone that has ever suffered the effects of terrorism.

Mohammad Khalid Hamza and Bassem Abdo Alhalabi, while being the founders of FAU's MSO, also co-founded (through the MSO) the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR). Numerous reports have since come out exposing the ICBR's connection to extremism and hate, including having a website that featured links to terrorist charities and an essay that stated Jews "are known for their treachery and corruption throughout the world"… words eerily similar to the FAU hate flyer that stated "Jews are the most corrupt and violent people on Earth." (see above)

The radical connections of the ICBR have not skipped over either Hamza, Alhalabi or the MSO.

Recently, Khalid Hamza was one of the main speakers at the Texas Dawah Annual Conference, an event featuring "addresses broadcast from Riyadh by clerics who have praised holy war and Osama bin Laden."

Khalid Hamza used a Texas A & M University internet forum to defend Sami Al Arian. Al-Arian was taken into custody by the United States government for his role as the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, was found to have aided in the murder of Americans, and has in the past screamed "Death to Israel."

Hamza wrote (complete with anti-Jewish imagery), "[sic] technology advances were used but they weren't the reason behind the poisoning of people's minds, it is the power behind the media, the power that controls the american media and had been controlling it since early 1900s. for example, what happened to Dr. Sami Alaryan just recently… is unheard of in the 3rd world, but it can only happen now in US and only to the ones who do not belong to the power line."

Hamza was the author of a novel entitled The Veil, which was being heavily promoted on the FAU MSO website. The book is about a Muslim family living in Boca Raton. The first member of the family, as listed in the forward, is fittingly named Jihad.

Prior to being denied tenure from FAU for "misstating his qualifications on his resume and behaving unprofessionally in the classroom," Hamza was an advisor to the MSO. He took over for FAU Professor Imadeldin "Imad" Mahgoub, who served from '93 till ‘99.

Mahgoub, the President of Boca's Assalam Center, was featured on a panel discussion with Alhalabi and Raed Awad, the former fundraiser for the Holy Land Foundation, a Hamas charity that was closed down by the United States government. Awad is also said to be the imam responsible for dirty bomber Jose Padilla's conversion to Islam. The video of this panel event is found at FAU.

Under Khalid Hamza's "leadership and guidance," the group brought numerous radicals to speak at the university. This normally happened under the guise of an annual event called "Scholars' Night," which was originally founded by Hamza, in his words, "to help our community of learners to come together to better the world they live in."

On April 21, 2001, the MSO had its second annual Scholars' Night, an affair the MSO touted as featuring "several scholars, heroes and heroines." Of this event, Hamza declared, "Let us build in solidarity a world of peace and harmony; a world of humanity!"

One of the speakers representing that "peace, harmony and humanity" was the Vice Chairman of the Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA) Rafil Dhafir, a man that now sits behind bars for raising money for terrorist organizations in the guise of an Iraqi children's charity called ‘Help the Needy.' [On November 16, 2002, Dhafir was also a featured speaker at a fundraiser for the ICBR.] He is quoted as saying, "The United States and England are vicious in their war with Iraq."

In a lecture entitled ‘Dealing with Non-Muslims,' Dhafir unequivocally states that "Muslims must not befriend Jews and Christians." In addition, Dhafir has said, "Islam has permitted female circumcision… and none has the right to forbid that what Allah, the Creator, has permitted." He claimed that those that call female circumcision "a form of genital mutilation" are practicing "misinformation."

Also speaking at this event was Kathy Kelly, the co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness, an anti-war organization that fervently denounces the U.S. government, while cavorting with the enemy (including those that America has imprisoned). She describes the war on Iraq as "unjust, illegal, and immoral." Kelly is, herself, currently serving a three-month term in federal prison for trespassing onto the Ft. Benning military base in Georgia.

The contact for this event was David "Da'ud" Johnson, who at the time was the President of the FAU MSO. According to the FAU website, Johnson and Alvira Khan, the registrant and technical contact for the MSO website, make up the two highest ranking offices of the Boca Raton student government. Johnson as the Boca Raton Campus Senate Speaker, and Kahn as the Boca Raton Campus Governor.

Khan caused "outrage" on the campus, when she used her position -- with the help of her Chief of Staff Farid Hamidzadeh -- to appoint her political friends to university positions. This included the position of associate director of the campus trained escort service, which accompanies students around campus late at night. This action took away prior input into the position from the police department.

The MSO's fourth annual Scholars' Night was held on April 21, 2003. Khalid Hamza was listed as the contact for the event, and he acted as moderator for it.

One of the "scholars" was Siraj Wahhaj, a man named by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Wahhaj, who is the Imam of Masjid Al-Taqwa in Brookyn and an advisory board member for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), testified as a character witness for convicted terror mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. Wahhaj has been called "the ‘spiritual leader' of the Islamist Sudanese in America." (Yossef Bodansky, TERROR! The Inside Story of the Terrorist Conspiracy in America, 1994)

The next "scholar" was William Baker. Described by many as a neo-Nazi, Baker was the past Chairman of the racist and antisemitic organization, the Populist Party.

As Jonathan Calt Harris, in his October 2003 expose in Frontpage Magazine, explains it: "Baker has a long record of anti-Semitism; for example, his self-published 1982 diatribe, ‘Theft of a Nation,' called for the dismantling of the ‘Zionist State.' In a 1983 speech to the racist Christian Patriot Defense League in Missouri, Baker referred to the Reverend Jerry Falwell as ‘Jerry Jewry' (for his friendliness to Jews), and his disgust at traveling to New York City, getting off the plane to meet, ‘pushy, belligerent American Jews.'"

Another speaker was Al-Haaj Ghazi Khankan, the Executive Director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. As a Board Member of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), Khankan renounced his group's support for then Senatorial Candidate Hillary Clinton, after she refused to accept the endorsement, and sent out a press release calling her opponent, Congressman Rick Lazio, a "racist" and "bigot."

Khankan has declared that "‘Jihad' is known in the West as waging holy war, which is utter nonsense." Yet, at an anti-war rally held in Washington, D.C., where a previous speaker "called for the overthrow of the U.S. government," Khankan addressed the protesters by stating, "I bring you salaams and greetings from the Mujahadeen at CAIR." In Yossef Bodansky's book, BIN LADEN: THE MAN WHO DECLARED WAR ON AMERICA, Mujahadeen is defined as "Those who wage the jihad; Islam's holy warriors." At another anti-war rally, Khankan was a featured speaker along with Sami Al Arian.

On numerous occasions, Khankan has refused to acknowledge that Osama bin Laden was responsible for the attacks on 9/11. And on a live chat hosted by ABC News, when asked the question, "What happened that these terrorists hate us so much?" Khankan answered that it was the United States' own fault. He stated, "I believe that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Look at what our government has done overseas to other countries."

In the November 15, 2001 edition of The Advocate, Ghazi Khankan stated the following: "We don't support Hamas and Hezbollah just to support them. I look at the issues. The reason there is a Hamas and a Hezbollah is that the Israelis have terrorized the poor Palestinian people for the last 53 years." When discussing possible Hamas targets, Khankan is quoted as saying, "Those who are below 18 should not be attacked."

Through CAIR, Khankan helped set up the Emergency Family Fund to raise finances, including legal funds, for families of possible terrorist detainees, whom the United States has taken into custody. This was done in association with other groups, including the Islamic Circle of North American (ICNA), which "openly supports militant Islamic fundamentalist organizations, praises terrorist attacks, issues incendiary attacks on Western values and policies, and supports the imposition of the shar'ia." (Steven Emerson, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us, 2002)

The Scholars' Night events took place right inside the university, in the Barry and Florence Friedberg Lifelong Learning Center Auditorium on FAU's Boca Raton campus. [Interesting that the only building mentioned in the FAU hate flyer is the Friedberg Center.]

Bassem Alhalabi, the other co-founder of the MSO, was charged with exporting a $13,000 thermal imaging camera to Syria. The Department of Commerce (DOC) restricts the export of the camera to foreign countries. The device is used to produce heat-sensitive images of buildings, landscapes and ground areas. According to the DOC report, "thermal imaging cameras are controlled for export to Syria for national security, regional stability, and anti-terrorism reasons." Alhalabi claimed his brother wanted it, so that he could search for gold. The sentence he received was a one-year denial of export privileges.

Alhalabi was a colleague of Sami Al Arian's at the University of South Florida, and according to his resume, wrote various publications with Al Arian around the time that Al Arian was beginning to set the groundwork for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in America. Alhalabi gave Al Arian as a reference, when he sought employment at FAU.

Another person that Bassem Alhalabi wrote publications with is Hussam Jubara. Along with Al Arian, Jubara co-founded the ICP (Islamic Committee for Palestine a.k.a. Islamic Concern Project), a think tank that solicited funds for the express purpose of assisting families of suicide bombers. Alhalabi admits to having worked for Jubara and states that he is a "close friend." Jubara was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of lying on immigration forms.

FAU's connection to the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad should raise suspicions. The school's relationship to Hamas should raise hell.

Part 2: Florida Atlantic Hamas

The year was 1998. A charity was set up, through the Florida Department of Corporations, using the designation Health Resource Center for Palestine (HRCP). The corporation transmittal letter was written in the name of Lamyaa M. Hashim, a well-traveled poet, journalist and all-around Islam activist who was to be the Chairman of the group. On January 14, 1999, the letter was amended as "Health Resource Center for Palestine, Inc. C/O SYED AHMAD."

Syed Khawer Ahmad, prior to getting involved with the HRCP, was taking courses at FAU. He was so proud of this fact that he created (and preserved) a web page on his personal website dedicated to his school. The link to the page (www.gate.net/~sahmad/fau.htm) states, "Visit FAU – Yep, My School in South Florida." But that wasn't the only page he made for his site.

Another page he created was devoted to the Islamic Society (Al Jamiya Al Islamiya) a.k.a. Islamic Association, the largest charitable foundation in the Gaza Strip. Ahmad's page (www.gate.net/~sahmad/islamic_association.htm) was, at the time, the official website to the organization.

The content on the page, at first glance, looks very amiable, if not commendable. It discusses a summer youth camp run by the foundation that includes "Educational activity, Sports, Arts, Fun & Entertainment, Scout & Civil [sic] defence, Field trips and even Marine trips…" And it gives details about Islamic Society orphan sponsorship and kindergartens.

There are messages on the page from the Director of the Islamic Society, Ahmad Bahar. He states that the goal of the camp "is to prepare an intellectual future generation," and the kindergartens "open for the child horizons of [sic] bright and flourishing future."

The page contains things that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, warm enough to make the donations they're asking for ("We greatly appreciate your cooperation and generosity.") Then you lift the veil and find out what evil lies behind!

In the beginning of 2001, the Islamic Society created two new websites, one for its main headquarters in Gaza City (www.jislamia.org), which replaced Syed Ahmad's site, and one for its Nusirat location (www.islam-society.org).

On the main site, before it was shut down in June of 2002 [the Nusirat site is still up at its new location www.islamso.org], it contained on its homepage a picture of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. Yassin founded the Islamic Society in 1976. That's eleven years before he founded the Hamas terror organization, to which he is currently the spiritual leader.

In a letter of request for funds, written by Yassin and found on the site, Yassin states [cleaned up English], "Islamic society in Gaza strip is a radical benevolent society," and it serves Palestinians in many fields, including "care of martyrs' families." He ends the letter by stating, "Allah is the greatest, so we in Jihad (holy war), Rebat (strength through fear) request from all sincere Moslems -- in and out of Palestine -- and all brothers in Islamic Ideology to help and support their brothers in Islamic society, in order to help and support our patient people in this crisis." And he signs it, "Your Brother Al sheekh / Ahmad Yasein Established The Islamic Organizational Resistance / HMAS Palestine."

The current head of the Islamic Society is, as stated previously, Ahmad Bahar. Bahar is also a leader in Hamas. It is not surprising then to find out that he, "along with masked armed men affiliated with the Qassam Brigades," the military wing of Hamas, "took part in the funeral procession of Reem Saleh Al-Rayashi who blew herself up at the Erez crossing to the north of Gaza Strip," killing four and wounding ten others. The camps and kindergartens that Bahar runs are, in reality, training grounds for future suicide bombers.

On the Islamic Society website, one finds various pictures of disturbing images taken from their 2001 kindergarten graduation ceremony. They include children dressed in military fatigues brandishing and aiming rifles and burning Israeli flags. One picture is of a child made to resemble Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, while reciting a speech made by the terrorist leader. And another is of a girl raising her red ink stained hands, "in imitation of the terrorist murderer who raised his bloodstained hands after the lynch of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers in Ramallah."

At the graduation, the children acted out a series of plays, one of which had the children pledge their "duty to revenge the blood of the shahids (martyrs) and to continue the resistance and the Intifada."

The ceremony ended with a speech made by Bahar. In the speech, he praised suicide bombers, including Mahmud Marmash, a member of Hamas who blew himself up in the Sharon Mall in Netanya, killing five and wounding 74. In Bahar's words, Marmash "blew up the conquerors in Netanya."

On the Islamic Society website, you will find a link to what was then the official website of Hamas (www.palestine-info.org). You will find a photo (in the site's "Sport" section) of a soccer team posing for a team picture, holding a painting of a martyr. You will find how much money it takes for the Islamic Society to carry out "goat sacrifices." And you will find a summary of the foundation's activities, which include:

"Distributing about $60,000 to injury and martyrs families and some food boxes"

"Making fast breaking meals for martyrs families"

"Making Respecting party for martyrs families in beach camp… and other areas in Gaza… every martyrs family was given $1000 and gave some prizes as martyrs picture"

In February of 2002, Syed Ahmad removed two pages from his website. One was the Islamic Society page noted previously and one was the homepage for a non-profit organization established by the Islamic Society called Dar-ul-Qur'an Al-Karim (www.gate.net/~sahmad/daralquran/).

However, one page Ahmad did not remove was the homepage for the Sanabel Asthma-Allergy Society a.k.a. Sanabel Charitable Society (www.gate.net/~sahmad/sanabel.htm). According to the page, Sanabel was established in 1992 as "the first and only allergy-asthma society in Gaza."

Listed on the page as the "Representative in the USA" is Lamyaa Hashim, the Chairman of the Health Resource Center for Palestine (HRCP), and the center's name, address and e-mail is given as the "USA contact" for the Gaza charity.

In a report published in October 2003, the HRCP is said to have closed down due to its ties to the terrorist organization Hamas, which probably includes the HRCP's past affiliation with the Hamas front Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). The HRCP website, which has in the past admitted to raising money for "shuhada" (martyrs), states that it was closed down for "unforeseen reasons."

Of course, none of this would matter much to someone who was creating Hamas related websites. While Syed Ahmad was with the HRCP, he took on many tasks, including that of Secretary, Treasurer and Webmaster. In May of 2002, Ahmad gave up his jobs as Secretary and Treasurer to Karina "K.A." Rahim, who also was a student at FAU.

On October 14, 2000, Rahim found herself at a rally in Miami where Israeli flags were burned and where "pro-jihadi slogans" were chanted, "such as ‘We don't want negotiation, with jihad we'll claim our nation,' and ‘With jihad we'll claim our land, Zionist blood will wet the sand.'"

In addition, the Imam of the ICBR, Ibrahim Dremali, told the crowd "not to be sad for those who were martyred and to not be afraid to die for what they believe in." Rahim, herself, had what to say at the rally. She stated, "I think what the Israeli Jews are doing is a crime against humanity. They [the Israelis] need to get out of that land [Palestine]."

This information is found in an article written for www.islamonline.net, a site that "publishes religious/legal opinions in support of suicide bombings" and a site that has sponsored a live internet chat with Hamas leader Ahmad Yassin. After negative press, some of the material found in the article was deleted. The piece was written by Lamyaa Hashim (under her alter ego "Um Ahmad").

Syed Ahmad was a Director for the HRCP, up until the charity's dissolution on April 18, 2003. And Syed Ahmad was also a Director for the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, from its inception in 1998 till April 30, 2002.

Question: What has come of Syed Ahmad, following his departure from the HRCP and ICBR?

Soon all was quiet at FAU. Talk about Professors Hamza and Alhalabi (see Florida Atlantic Terror University Part 1) had died down, and Syed Ahmad was little more than an afterthought. But something happened to change all that.

On October 3, 2003, Matty Cohen, the Deputy Consul General of Israel stationed in Miami, sent out a letter conveying the fact that one of FAU's professors was tied to Hamas. It stated, "I can confirm to you that Dr. Abu Sway is known as an activist in the framework of the Hamas organization."

The information reached Middle East expert Daniel Pipes, who promptly followed it up with an article exposing the professor to the public. Indeed, there was and is much to expose.

In 1998, Mustafa Mahmoud Abu Sway was the co-editor of the book ‘Islam in Focus,' which is distributed by Amana Publications, a company that publishes a Koran -- whose editor was raided by the FBI -- that describes Jews and Christians with such incendiary terms as "arrogant," "illiterate," "cursed" and "treacherous."

Abu Sway is not only an editor, but an author as well. In a recent essay he wrote, entitled ‘Said Nursi and the People of the Book,' Abu Sway works diligently to explain and expound upon the statements made by "religious scholar" Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.

Abu Sway undoubtedly holds a fondness for Said Nursi, stating in the introduction that Said Nursi's ideas are "attractive." And Abu Sway describes him as being like that of a prophet, where his ideas "hold up a light to the future."

Some of Said Nursi's "attractive" and "futuristic" ideas that Abu Sway chose to highlight in his essay are as follows:

"The Dajjal (Islamic Anti-Christ) will draw his main strength from the Jews. The Jews will follow him willingly… both Dajjals will win the assistance of a secret Jewish society which nurtures a terrible desire for revenge on Islam and Christianity…"

"And there is no question, after it [Judaism] has been purified of corruptions, of Judaism acting together with Christianity in the future… As for the second group [Christians], being overcome by the power of anger they become aggressive, and abandoning the precepts of religion they fall into sin and wrongdoing. Like the Jews in their obduracy."

"It is because of these fearsome rules governing the destiny and character of this nation [Jews] that the Qur'an acts so severely against them. It deals them awesomely punishing slaps."

"These two statements of the Qur'an directed at the Jews, comprise the two fearsome general rules, that that nation hatches plots in human social life with their trickery, which shake human society… and through usury and compounded interest, made the poor clash with the rich, and caused the banks to be founded, and amassed wealth through wiles and fraud; so it was again that nation who, in order to take its revenge on the victors and governments under which it always suffered deprivation and oppression, was involved in every sort of corrupting covert organization and had a finger in every sort of revolution."

"For the Jews, who have been persecuted by every state, gathered in large numbers in Germany in order to take their revenge. Then, due to the important role he played in the founding of the revolutionary communist party, the terrible Trotsky, who was a Jew, took over the leadership of the Russian Army, then the government after the famous Lenin, who had trained him, and they [the Jews] set fire to Russia and laid waste whatever it had achieved over a thousand years."

"In the human kingdom, the Jews have clung to the world more greedily and have loved its life with more passion than any other people, but the usurious wealth they have gained with great efforts is merely illicit property over which they exercise temporary stewardship, and it benefits them little. It earns them, on the contrary, the blows of abjection and humiliation, of death and insult, that are rained down on them by all peoples."

"He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion predicts with complete certainty that ‘the religion which the Noble Messenger brought would triumph over all religions'… The future confirmed this prediction, with the sword of Islam extending from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west... It is Islam that will be the true, and spiritual, ruler over the future."

In the course of the essay, Abu Sway, who seems in agreement with everything Bediuzzaman Said Nursi states, makes his own opinions known:

"The Qur'an addresses the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] saying: ‘O People of the Book! O People of the Book!' Bediuzzaman did the same. It seems that the Qur'an addresses the People of the Book in this way because they are the people who are in most need of its guidance."

"If considered analytically, it is seen that Said Nursi expressed views similar to those of other Islamic scholars, for he believes that the Jews have been the object of Divine wrath and chastisement because of the corruption they have caused on the face of the earth. As for their stand on the Palestine question, it is tied to Zionist ideology. In reality this is corruption of another sort. For which reason most people are expecting the Jews to again be chastised. For up to the present, Divine wisdom has never delayed in meting out chastisement. In the above passage, Said Nursi is indirectly criticizing the Jews, because the Arabs are more numerous and possess more land. However, in my opinion, while referring to the future of the Muslim Umma, these words hint that he wants Muslims to make wide preparations in order to foil the enemies' plans."

In 2001, Abu Sway co-wrote a seventh-grade school textbook for the Palestinian Authority entitled ‘Kitab Al-Tarbiyah Al-Islamiyyah, whereby Jews are portrayed as the enemy. He writes, "The Jews adopted a position of hostility and deception towards the new religion. They called Muhammad a liar and denied him, they fought against his religion in all ways and by all means, a war that has not yet ended until today, and they conspired with the hypocrites and the idolaters against him and they are still behaving in the same way." (Kenneth R. Timmerman, PREACHERS OF HATE: Islam and the War on America, 2003)

Furthermore, in the textbook, Abu Sway states a fundamental position of Hamas: "If the enemy has conquered part of its land and those fighting for it are unable to repel the enemy, then Jihad becomes the individual religious duty of every man and woman, until the attack is successfully repulsed and the land liberated from conquest..." In another passage, he writes: "These noble verses prove the virtue of jihad... and warn against evading a jihad in the path of G-d… and warn Muslims not to defy His word nor refrain from jihad." And "This religion will defeat all other religions and it will be disseminated, by Allah's will, through the Muslim Jihad fighters." And "Martyrdom is when a Muslim is killed in the path of G-d... A person who dies thus is called a ‘martyr'... Martyrdom for G-d is the hope of all those who believe in G-d and have trust in His promises... The martyr rejoices in the paradise that G-d has prepared for him."

In a debate concerning the motives of suicide bombers held on September 17, 2001, Abu Sway said that there are verses in the Koran which "clearly state that there is a place in heaven for… martyrs."

On April 28, 2000, Abu Sway participated in a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) event, entitled ‘The Evolution of Islamic Movements in the Arab World,' along with Jordanian Abdul Latif Arabiyat. Arabiyat is the president of the Shura Council (the legislative body) of the Islamic Action Front (IAF). According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the IAF is "an Islamist party affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas" and "articulates support for terrorism vocally and actively." The IAF "hailed the June 1, 2001 Tel Aviv suicide bombing that killed 20 Israelis, most of them teens, as a ‘heroic martyrdom operation.'" About the videotape the Bush Administration released showing Osama bin Laden gloating over the September 11th attacks, Arabiyat flippantly asks, "Do the Americans really think the world is that stupid to think that it would believe that this tape is evidence?"

From 1997 till 2002, Abu Sway is documented as participating in a series of PASSIA dialogues and roundtable discussions with various terrorists, including Hamas leaders Sheikh Jamil Hamami and Sheikh Hassan Yousef (who is currently in prison). Others that Abu Sway participated with included:

Muzaffar Iqbal ("These Jews are absolutely devoid of any respect for the faith and religion of others. But it should not surprise anyone, since they learn such abusive and dirty tricks from their own SCRIPTURES, which are filled with shameless stories of incest and pornography…")

Fatah leader Hatem Abdel-Qader ("If we have the choice of an Israeli presence or Hamas in Gaza, of course we would choose Hamas or any other Palestinian faction.")

Grand Mufti Ekrima Sabri ("The younger the martyr, the greater and the more I respect him… I talked to a young man who said, ‘I want to marry the black-eyed women of heaven.' The next day he became a martyr. I am sure his mother was filled with joy about his heavenly marriage. Such a son must have such a mother.")

Waqf director Adnan Husseini ("We'll not let Jews, Christians on Temple Mount.")

Al Aqsa mosque director Mohammed Hussein ("We, as Moslems, are serious about protecting the Haram as-Sharif. We will not allow any non-Moslems here.")

Mahdi Abdul Hadi ("If we do not want to lose everything, we must send a message to the Israeli public that we are in favor of a peaceful solution. If this does not happen, we will all become Hamas…")

On June 5, 2002, ABC News Nightline held a forum in which Abu Sway acknowledged that there is an acceptable "darker interpretation" of the term "jihad," a definition "used by militant Muslims to justify everything from the battles against the crusaders to the mujahideens' first Afghanistan war against the Soviets." Abu Sway stated, "We have to admit that at one point it is permitted for Muslims to have self-defense and this is the equivalent of a ‘Just War' in Christian theology."

At a 2002 interfaith conference, Abu Sway "remarked, to audible gasps from Jews in the audience, that he wished the state of Israel ‘would disappear'" and that "Islamic law proscribes war against any nation in dar-el-islam, land once occupied by Moslems, including Spain and Israel."

In a report published in September 2003 by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) entitled ‘Healing the Holy Land,' Abu Sway is quoted as saying, "When traditional Muslims find themselves as a minority in society [in Israel or Western countries], their aspiration is to restore or establish sovereign majority status. To imagine shared sovereignty or dual sovereignty is not being faithful to Islamic tradition." The report goes on to say, "For Abu Sway, the idea of two states existing side by side is unrealistic… He advocates a single state, governed in accordance with Islamic principles…" Abu Sway calls this a "utopian position."

This position is not out of the ordinary for someone like Abu Sway who, in a March 2003 interview with the Islamic Broadcasting Network, claimed that Al Jezeera, also known as "Jihad-TV," was more "fair" in its coverage of the ‘war on terrorism' than Fox News!

In December of 2003, Abu Sway participated in a Chicago conference that was organized by the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), two organizations said to have ties to Hamas.

In a July 2003 interview of Abu Sway done by the MAS – an interview where he admits that he was at the al Aqsa mosque "the first day of the new Intifada" – Abu Sway again discusses his dream of an annihilated Israel. He states that he "wishes to reclaim the holiness of the land" and that even though the Arab gambling casino in Jericho "almost exclusively destroys the lives of Jewish families," even then he "cannot accept it Islamically." He declares that it is his belief that "the future rule has to be a post-Zionist entity."

In the same interview, Abu Sway described Israeli self defense as "state terrorism" and then touted the Hamas line that "ultimately, if one targets the military forces of the occupier, then I don't think that it is terrorism." In an interview with Islam Online, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, stated, "My brother, certainly we don't target women, children or the elderly in our operations. But the ‘Mujahed' goes out to find a concentration of soldiers and military men, whether in civilian or military clothes and attack them. This is our first and last target…"

And in the interview, Abu Sway repeated an often told lie that Arabs were driven out of Israel in 1948. He states, "What I hope for the future is to see the Palestinians going back to their homes from which they have been uprooted, from which they were driven by force in 1948." From BATTLEGROUND: FACT & FANTASY IN PALESTINE, by Samuel Katz, "The Arab refugees were not driven from Palestine by anyone. The vast majority left, whether of their own free will or at the orders or exhortations of their leaders, always with the same reassurance – that their departure would help in the war against Israel… Their victory was certain, they claimed, but it would be speeded and made easier if the local Arab population got out of the way. The refugees would come back in the wake of the victorious Arab armies and not only recover their own property but also inherit the houses and farms of the vanquished and annihilated Jews."

This was certainly a big lie… but not as big as the one Abu Sway would later tell when he made the claim that he has "no connection to Hamas."

As reported by Daniel Pipes and Asaf Romirowsky in January of 2004, according to Israeli sources, Abu Sway:

was a board member and raised funds for two Jerusalem-based Hamas-related organizations shut down by the Israeli government, the Heritage Committee and the Foundation for the Development of Society.

has worked with the Palestinian "Charity Coalition" that includes such organizations as Al-Aqsa Foundation of South Africa and France's Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens, both known Hamas fund-raisers which have had their assets frozen by the American government.

is connected to Sheik Ra'ed Salah's Islamic Movement in Um al-Fahm, Israel, 14 members of which were arrested in May 2003 for Hamas fundraising.

Florida Atlantic University has claimed that it has not ignored the situation concerning Mustafa Abu Sway. The school insists that it has asked the State Department to investigate the matter, and it cannot be said enough just how serious this matter truly is. However, with all the radicals that have either been hired by FAU or have passed through the school, one would think that FAU itself should not be ignored.

Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate. You can visit the group's website, at www.americansagainsthate.com. And you can view all of Joe's archived articles, at www.joe4rep.com.



This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/389

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Above this post there are several posts on mosques and imans.

This has up to the date reports, mosques, imans.

http://www.americansagainsthate.com/