Ignoring the Giant Islamist Elephant in Arab-Israeli conflict

Ever since Vice President Biden's recent trip to Israel, relations between the United States and its strongest ally in the Middle East have been shaky. Despite recent efforts on the part of the Obama administration to alleviate the tension, they are ignoring a giant Islamist elephant in the room—Hamas.

The President recently explained that Arab-Israeli peace is a "vital national security interest" to the United States. To that end, special Mideast envoy George Mitchell was back at the negotiating tables last week trying to pry concessions from both sides of the conflict. Rather than any concrete victories, all Mitchell got was a demand from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the United States impose a peace plan on the parties:

"Since you, Mr. President and you, the members of the American administration, believe in this, it is your duty to call for the steps in order to reach the solution and impose the solution—impose it."

All of this wrangling has led to political problems at home. Such discord is perhaps best exemplified by Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer's recent remarks, calling the administration's policies on Israel "counterproductive" and "terrible."

In response, as Politico reports, the White House:

"is engaged in an aggressive effort to reassure Jewish leaders that the tense relationship between the Obama administration and the Israeli government that has played out in public in the past few months does not signify any fundamental change in U.S. policy…what has changed is the public relations strategy for the policy, not U.S. policy."

While the Obama administration reconsiders how to sell its message to the public, it might want to spend some time reconsidering the underlying strategy. Its overwhelming focus on Israel ignores the reality that the Palestinian side of the equation is fractured.

Since their electoral victory, violent rejectionists in Hamas have been involved in a bloody power struggle with Fatah. Hamas refuses to recognize the state of Israel and its leaders continue to call for the kidnapping of Israelis. Just this week, a spokesman for Hamas said that the U.S. lacks credibility as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

In his Cairo speech, the President reiterated longstanding American policy that:

"Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed ... To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist."

If there's a plan to make that happen, it hasn't been unveiled. In its absence, the intransigence of the radical Islamist movement renders any U.S. effort to negotiate peace futile no matter what the Israeli government does.

Third Guilty Plea in Thwarted NYC Subway Plot

Another conspirator in the plot to blow up New York City subways has pled guilty, the Justice Department announced.

Zarein Ahmedzay appeared in federal court in New York Friday, where he pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to a terrorist organization—namely al Qaeda.

Ahmedzay was arrested in January in what has been described by federal law enforcement officials as "the most dangerous terrorist plots since 9/11." The al Qaeda plotters planned to construct and detonate suicide bombs throughout the New York City subway system around the eighth anniversary of the September 11^th 2001 attacks. The targets were ultimately selected, according to prosecutors, because "al Qaeda leadership emphasized the need to hit well-known structures and maximize the number of casualties."

Discussing the severity of the threat after Ahmedzay's guilty plea, Attorney General Eric Holder explained:

"The facts disclosed today add chilling details to what we know was a deadly plot hatched by al Qaeda leaders overseas to kill scores of Americans in the New York City subway system in September 2009…This plot, as well as others we have encountered, makes clear we face a continued threat from al-Qaeda and its affiliates overseas. With three guilty pleas already and the investigation continuing, this prosecution underscores the importance of using every tool we have available to both disrupt plots against our nation and hold suspected terrorists accountable."

The ringleader of the group, Najibullah Zazi, has already pled guilty and is said to be cooperating. Zazi is awaiting sentencing. An imam that tipped off the suspects that they were under investigation, Ahmad Afzali, pled guilty last week and was sentenced to time served and will be deported.

Ahmedzay remains in custody pending sentencing, and could receive life in prison for his role in the terrorist plot.

Comedy Central Censors Mohammad the Bear

The furor sparked by a satirical television show has reached new heights, and it looks like Comedy Central may be the newest victim of self-censorship in response to Islamist rage.

As we reported yesterday, the creators of "South Park" were threatened by Islamist propaganda machine RevolutionMuslim.com, after an episode of the television show aired included a portrayal of the prophet Mohammad in a bear suit. Wednesday night, the show continued the storyline, but with a twist—Comedy Central excised any reference to Mohammad.

In Wednesday's show, which is not available on the network's website, every instance of the words "Prophet Mohammad" was bleeped out and the character of Mohammad was once again hidden from view, this time covered by a large block labeled "censored."

Show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone aren't happy. They issued this statement on their production studio website:

"In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it."

Mohammad the Bear Draws Ire

It's tempting to view this week's media firestorm over a radical Islamist group's threats against creators of a television comedy cynically. The 200^th episode of the animated Comedy Central series "South Park" featured the prophet Mohammed in a bear suit.

South Park routinely lampoons religious figures including Jesus. In this episode, a central plot involved the question of whether and how an image of the prophet could be shown without offending radical Muslims. Because as that lovable scamp Cartman explains:

"Mohammad is the only person in the world that can't get ripped on."

Thus, the bear suit. Nothing negative was said about the prophet and no image of him was shown.

A radical, New York-based Islamist group posted a video in response saying the depiction defamed the prophet and compared show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to Dutch film maker Theo Van Gogh. Van Gogh was slaughtered on an Amsterdam street in 2004 following the production of "Submission," which presented a highly critical portrayal of the treatment of women in Islam.

Sounding every bit like a mafia extortionist, a Revolution Muslim official claimed the video is not a threat, but a warning of what might happen to Stone and Parker.

The story is among the hottest out there, drawing coverage from CNN, the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, just to name a few.

Revolution Muslim's web site was down Wednesday afternoon, perhaps overwhelmed by traffic. And the attention isn't likely to hurt "South Park" ratings.

But as the Van Gogh murder shows, the message is a threat and any lone extremist is capable of acting on it. It includes this:

"we have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing the show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."

Entertainment Weekly notes that the Revolution Muslim response includes a recording of Anwar Al-Awlaki, the American cleric considered an inspiration to a spate of recent terror attacks, including the Fort Hood massacre and the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing over Detroit.

Revolution Muslim long has offered radical rhetoric supporting "jihad" against the West and praising al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. As we previously reported:

"Revolution Muslim pushes the limits of the First Amendment freedom of speech protections in showing support for violence."

Their "warning" to Parker and Stone included the addresses of their Los Angeles production company and of Comedy Central's New York office.

This follows a pattern of intimidation and violence meant to silence literature and other expressions deemed offensive by the radicals after the Van Gogh murder. In 2007, British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for insulting the prophet. Her crime? The class of seven year-olds she was teaching at Unity High School in Sudan named a teddy bear Mohammad. As part of the exercise, Ms. Gibbons told her pupils to take the bear home, photograph it, and write a diary entry about it. The entries were collected in a book, "My Name is Muhammad." Her punishment of 15 days imprisonment and deportation was not viewed as harsh enough, with over 10,000 protestors taking to the streets to demand her execution.

Even more disturbing however, was the 2005 controversy which erupted over cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammad. On September 30, 2005, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a dozen editorial cartoons most of which depicted the prophet Mohammad. The result was violent protests throughout the Muslim and Western world, resulting in more than 100 deaths, the burning of Western embassies, and death threats against one of the cartoonists Lars Vilks.

In 2008, Random House dropped plans to publish The Jewel of Medina, a fictional account of the life of the prophet's wife A'isha due to a fear of a violent backlash. The home of the British publisher was the target of an arson attempt weeks later.

As we have previously reported, RevolutionMuslim.com has become a mouthpiece for radical Islamist ideology. The "South Park" episode was intended to be controversial. It mocked everybody. And Revolution Muslim took the bait and made a big deal out of a television show. An animated comedy at that.

"South Park's" critics find often some of its content offensive. But most just opt not to watch.

Iran's "Plausibly Deniable" Terror Network

Iran has seeded embassies throughout the world with members of its paramilitary Qods Force and the likelihood that American forces will fight with them is increasing, a new, unclassified Pentagon report says.

The Qods Force is an elite unit in Iran's Revolutionary Guard. It takes its orders from "the highest levels of government, and its leaders report directly, albeit informally, to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei," the report says.

Those forces have grown in Latin American nations, especially in Venezuela, increasing the odds of an engagement with Americans if the forces are tapped in response to any military conflict in the Middle East. The report details how the Qods Forces arms and trains terrorists from Hizballah in Lebanon to terrorist insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We assess with high confidence that over the last three decades, Iran has methodically cultivated a network of sponsored terrorist surrogates capable of conducting effective, plausibly deniable attacks against Israel and the United States."

Iran views Hizballah, which it helped create, fund, arm and train, "as an essential partner for advancing its regional objectives."

The report also assesses the Iranian nuclear program, finding it has "more than enough low enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon, if further enriched and processed." Production may have been slowed by problems at its Natanz plant, where half the centrifuges may not be working.

The report also projected that, with help, Iran could develop missiles capable of reaching the U.S. by 2015.

Read the 12-page report here. See other coverage of it here and here.

Senate Committee Subpoenas Fort Hood Investigation Records

Leaders of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs issued subpoenas Monday to Attorney General Eric Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, demanding they hand over information related to the November 5 Fort Hood massacre. Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of carrying out the attack, in which 13 people were killed and more than 30 others wounded. The massacre occurred at Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers about to be deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq receive last-minute medical checkups.

Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) - chairman and ranking member respectively of the panel - said the Obama Administration has ignored their requests for information related to the attack for five months.

A major area of contention is the administration's refusal to allow the committee to conduct interviews with Defense Department and FBI officials who investigated Hasan's communications with Al-Qaeda-linked Imam Anwar al-Awlaki. He represents "a violent Islamist extremism so notorious that this Administration reportedly has authorized killing him," the senators wrote in an April 19 letter to Holder and Gates.

The committee has sought to investigate several problems that may have hampered investigations of Hasan and his communications with Awlaki prior to November 5, Lieberman and Collins said. That includes information-sharing problems between FBI field offices and the Department of Defense and authorities' failure to investigate Hasan further by interviewing his associates and superiors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The committee also wants to know if investigators perceived any "impediments" that hampered efforts to investigate Hasan.

"The purpose of the Committee's investigation of the Fort Hood attack is to answer questions that are critical to our government's ability to counter homegrown terrorism: Given the warning signs of Major Nidal Malik Hasan's extremist radicalization and growing hostility toward the U.S. military and the United States generally, why was he not stopped before he took thirteen American lives, and how can we prevent such a tragedy from happening again?" "In order to answer these questions, we must assess the information that the U.S. Government had prior to the attack and the actions it took in response to that information."

They sent four request letters for information to the Defense Department (DoD) and two to the Justice Department (DOJ) and contacted senior White House and Pentagon officials. Their staffs have been engaged in lengthy discussions with DoD and DoJ to no avail.

"Our efforts have been met with delay, the production of little that was not already publicly available, and shifting lessons why the departments are withholding the documents and witnesses that we have requested," Lieberman and Collins wrote.

For example, at the outset of the investigation, aides to Holder and Gates refused to permit committee staff to interview FBI agents who had investigated Hasan. DoD and DOJ officials justified this on grounds that congressional interviews could compromise the independent recollections of agents who might be witnessed at Hasan's trial. These officials also claimed there was no precedent for Congress to interview potential witnesses in an ongoing criminal case and that such interviews would create information that would have to be disclosed to Hasan's attorneys.

But Lieberman and Collins write that "None of these arguments withstands scrutiny." When "our staff informed your staff that Congress's materials are protected from disclosure by the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause, your staff then shifted to arguing that the agents could be witnesses and that our asking questions could affect the agents' recollections.

"We are particularly skeptical of your department's current argument given that the FBI agents with whom we wish to speak have already been interviewed by an official who is not part of the prosecution. If those interviews are not harmful to the prosecution, then it is hard to discern why ours would be," they wrote.

The senators noted that there is "substantial precedent" for Congress interviewing FBI agents who could be witnesses in parallel criminal cases. One recent example was the trial of terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.

Muslim Brotherhood: Doing Stuff about Things

News emerged Friday that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is pondering an update to its long-standing slogan: "Islam is the solution." It is unclear at this point whether the existing statement will continue on, co-existing with other more tame assertions, or if it will be scrapped in favor of a new slogan altogether. Official comment by Brotherhood leadership on the move has, thus far, proven to be overwhelmingly ambiguous.

The lack of clarity should come as no surprise to those who closely monitor the actions of current and past leaders of the Sunni Islamist party and its global affiliates. Over the years, the Brotherhood's Egyptian leadership has remained committed to its core goals of restoring the historical Caliphate and dismantling all non-Islamic governments through a combination of warfare – both violent and political. However, the group's outward message – especially toward a Western audience – has been less than candid about these aims.

In the U.S., the Brotherhood's American progeny has acted in a similar fashion. During the 2007-08 trial of the Richardson,TX-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), evidence emerged demonstrating U.S.-based Muslim Brother, and former HLF President, Shukri Abu Baker's commitment to the way of the Brotherhood:

"War is deception. We are fighting our enemy with a kind heart and we never thought of deceiving it. War is deception. Deceive, camouflage, pretend that you're leaving while you're walking that way. Or do we have to be ...UI. Deceive your enemy."

Baker, and fellow HLF official Ghassan Elashi were both members of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee – an organization formed under direct order of the "executive office of the Brotherhood in the Levant countries."

While Brotherhood leaders explain today's action as a "precaution against obstacles that it might face from the government, especially as articles within the constitution emphasise [sic.] the danger of practicing politics based on religion," it may be part of something else – something all too familiar.

It may be yet another example of the Brotherhood's continued effort to hide its true doctrine beneath a veneer of "moderation" and to further deceive those not paying close attention to what's in motion beneath the surface.

In that light, perhaps the Brotherhood should consider something more outwardly and blatantly vague: "A Party that Does Stuff about Things."

Muslims Target Tariq Ramadan, Brotherhood

A group of moderate Muslims on Thursday warned Canadians not to be fooled by Islamist Tariq Ramadan, telling reporters in Montreal that his charisma masks a dark vision of tyranny over Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Speakers including Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress; Salim Mansur, a professor at the University of Western Ontario and newspaper columnist; and Danish Parliament member Naser Khader. Rather than the moderate he professes to be, the group agreed Ramadan (who will speak Friday night in Montreal), represents the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and its efforts to undermine the fabric of liberal democracy in the West.

At the press conference sponsored by Point de Bascule (an organization working to educate residents of Quebec about the danger posed by Islamism), speakers said Ramadan was behaving deceptively - talking about peace and interfaith dialogue on one hand, while acting like an apologist for terror and raising money for Islamist organizations on the other.

Jasser said that Western elites misconstrue critical issues in the current struggle with radical Islam. They erroneously believe that the most important aspect of the conflict is whether an Islamist organization is violent or nonviolent.

But truly moderate Muslims spend most of their time dealing with the factors that drive people toward radical Islam. And a major factor is "political Islam," which Jasser described as "the 800-pound elephant in the room."

A key component of this consists of making excuses for terrorism and objecting to U.S. defense actions against violent jihadists. Jasser cited an interview during which a reporter asked Ramadan about the recent announcement that the United States would target Anwar al-Awlaki –an Al Qaeda-linked imam who has endorsed terrorist attacks like the Fort Hood massacre and the attempted Christmas Day airliner bombing.

Ramadan voiced objections to U.S. efforts to kill Awlaki, saying the imam felt "estrangement" from mainstream American society and had been "pushed away."

Jasser and Mansur voiced particularly strong objections to this "root cause" argument, saying it was an attempt to make excuses for Awlaki's criminal behavior. Ramadan also accepted money from Iran as compensation for a television show on the regime controlled PRESS Television.

"I would not take remuneration from a government that engages in the oppression of Muslims," Jasser said.

Ramadan stands for "obfuscation and denial" and represents the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, he added.

Fatah, who also published this column on Ramadan in the Montreal Gazette, blasted the "cowardice of Western society" in refusing to confront efforts to "recreate the world of [Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, Tariq Ramadan's grandfather] in Canada."

Salim Mansur urged Canadians to read French author Caroline Fourest's book Brother Tariq, which illustrates Ramadan's "double speak." Ramadan is trying to tell Western audiences that it is possible to reconcile Islamism and Sharia with liberal democratic concepts of freedom. Mansur said that is impossible because "we cherish individual rights," while Islamism represents a form of "collectivism" where liberty is subordinated to clerical decree.

TSA Follows Protocol Despite CAIR Claims of Bias

A recent USA Today article highlighted increased allegations of religious discrimination by women wearing hijabs to show that the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) is improperly singling out Muslim women at security checkpoints. Unfortunately, the issue is a bit less clear cut than critics claim.

According to the story, a Muslim woman was traveling through a TSA checkpoint at Dulles International Airport when she was ordered to remove her hijab before going through a metal detector. She refused, went through the metal detector without setting it off, and was subsequently subjected to a full-body search.

In response to this report, Khadija Athman, the civil rights manager for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) argued:

"most people understand the need for safety, including Muslim women, who want to make sure they are safe too…. But at the same time, Muslim women would appreciate it if their religious beliefs would be accommodated.

Rather than this being a case of failing to accommodate religious beliefs, it was the likely the result of a TSA screener attempting to ensure the security of flights.

While TSA policy allows passengers to wear head coverings at security checkpoints, the TSA screener was following protocol when he asked this passenger to submit to additional screening, including a pat-down search. As the TSA policy says:

"the new standard procedures subject all persons wearing head coverings to the possibility of additional screening, which may include a pat-down search of the head covering."

TSA security screeners must have every tool at their disposal to ensure the safety of air travel. With the increased use of weapons and explosives that can pass through security checkpoints, the flexibility to require secondary screening is a necessity.

Tariq Ramadan...Tripped Up By His Double-Speak?

His first U.S. speaking tour in six years did little to settle the wildly conflicting image of Oxford University Professor Tariq Ramadan. A voice of moderation to many academics and other supporters, he remains a source of suspicion – "an Islamist in sheep's clothing" as CNN's Christiane Amanpour put it.

The debate rages in Canada, too, where Ramadan, the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna speaks tonight.

For six years, American officials refused to grant Ramadan a visa, saying he donated to a Hamas-linked charity. Ramadan denied knowing the charity was tied to Hamas and his supporters won an appeal in U.S. federal court which would have given him a chance to prove his claim.

That challenge was still in the appellate review process when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reversed course in January and opened the door to a visa. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said that Hillary Clinton had "signed an exemption" based on her authority contained in the Immigration and Nationality Act. He cited the following as one of the key reasons:

"But in the Secretary's judgment, and consistent with President Obama's outreach to the – to Muslims around the world, we want to encourage a global debate. We want to have the opportunity potentially to have Islamic scholars come to the United States and have dialogue with other faith communities and people here in our country."

Curiously, the exemption cited by Crowley contains a specific provision that actually disallows such waivers in cases involving people who have "endorsed or espoused or persuaded others to endorse or espouse or support terrorist activity..." on behalf of designated FTOs.

Someone should explain why Ramadan still qualifies for the exemption. He has justified terrorist attacks on American military personnel in Iraq at least twice.

In an interview published by the Italian magazine Panorama in September 2004, Ramadan said "resistance to the army is just" because "Iraq was colonized by the Americans." He drew a line at "kidnappings and car bombings that don't differentiate between civilians and soldiers."

He made a similar distinction about violence against Israel and in Chechnya, saying it's okay to fight repression and dictatorship, "But the killings or the kidnapping of civilians are illegitimate tools of a legitimate resistance."

He drew similar lines last week during an interview on CNN:

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: There are people here who are very confused about how to judge what you believe and what you're talking about and what you're trying to preach about Islam and reform.

RAMADAN: So anyone who is telling you, I was not clear in suicide bombings, for example, or targeting innocent, he is wrong or she is wrong. This never happened. My position on this is, the Palestinian resistance or the Iraqi resistance is legitimate. The means should be ethical. You cannot target innocent people. You cannot target civilians. I was always clear.

His justification of attacking Americans in Iraq that has not received the attention it deserves. Ramadan clearly stated, "The resistance to the army is just." That "resistance" includes al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda in Iraq, both officially designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).

For Ramadan, it's fine for Hamas and Hezbollah to kidnap and murder Israeli Defense Force soldiers and for al-Qaeda in Iraq to blow up American soldiers with IEDs. Such endorsements can have real world consequences. If he's as respected a figure as his supporters claim, his words may be viewed as sanction by violent Islamists who revere his grandfather and the ideology he espoused.

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