1992 Islamic Committee for Palestine Conference
Chicago, IL
Hamas
At an Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP) conference in Chicago on December 25, 1992, Saffet Abid Catovic moderated a panel consisting of now-convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian and Mohammed Al-Asi, a radical cleric. Catovic was formerly a Bosnian diplomat and the New York representative of the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), an international charity that was found by the U.S. government to be supporting al Qaeda and financing terrorism in November 2002.
Between August 20-26, 2001, Catovic was a featured invitee and speaker at a "Jihad Camp," organized for Muslim men between the ages of 14 and 25, sponsored by the northeast regional branch of the "Young Muslims of North America." Though there was no explicit mention of any martial purpose, the flyer was printed in camouflage colors and the text was in military-style block print. The conference registration form began with a quote from the Quran:
"Jihad is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike something which is good for you and that you like something which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know."
In introductory remarks at the ICP conference, Catovic said the following.
...I am going to emphasize this to our panelists – specifics, they call bullet items concerning this action plan for Muslims in America and what's next. Keep in mind a time frame of two to five years, long range insh'Allah (God willing) so it dispels any myths about what's been said from any podium. We as Muslims of course long range would like to have the Khilafah (Caliphate) back, ok. So if anyone has any misunderstandings that is our long range intention insh'Allah and any Muslim and any activity, any Islamic activity anywhere wants that. So we are not talking about that long range plan which insh'Allah we are all in agreement upon. I feel I can safely say that but what we are talking about is specific bullets, to use the marketing term that would be included in such an action plan.[1]
[1] Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP) conference in Chicago, December 25, 1992 http://www.investigativeproject.org/275/catovic-the-caliphate-is-our-goal
