The State Department's Islamist Partners

Last week, a leading Muslim Brotherhood front group in the U.S. met with a Palestinian television crew consisting of representatives from Al Quds Educational TV and the Jerusalem Center for Studies and Islamic media. The television crew, according to a State Department cable, is working on several documentaries on the life of Muslims in America and will travel to Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Salt Lake City between July 13-30 to conduct interviews with local Muslim leaders, visit Muslim organizations, and meet with U.S. government officials. The purported aim of the documentaries is to improve attitudes of Palestinians toward U.S. policies and Americans.

The visit, sponsored by the State Department under its International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), is yet another glaring instance of a government agency partnering with Islamist groups that are tied to terrorism or have links to the global Muslim Brotherhood and espouse its radical ideology. The Muslim Brotherhood group in question is the Muslim American Society (MAS). MAS hosted the Palestinian television crew at its Washington, D.C. office.

MAS was founded as the US chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, the international Islamist, anti-Western organization whose ultimate aim is to establish a worldwide caliphate dominated by Muslims, Islam, and Islamic Shariah law.

A MAS press release following the event claimed the delegation met with Mahdi Bray, who represents the public face of MAS through his position as the executive director of its "activist wing," the Freedom Foundation. An African-American convert to Islam, Bray has a long history of defending individuals and groups having alleged and in some cases proven ties to terrorism. He has been overtly critical of American foreign and security policies, alleging the government is engaged in a war with Islam.

A murky criminal history precedes Bray's foray into political activism. Records unearthed by the Investigative Project on Terrorism show that in the early 1980s Bray was convicted on drug and larceny charges and sentenced to three years in prison. Furthermore, during his incarceration and even earlier, Bray siphoned off more than $70,000 in workers' compensation money intended for his grandfather, even when the latter was deceased and no longer entitled to the benefits. Bray was later indicted and convicted for mail fraud and receipt of stolen U.S. securities and sentenced to 36 months in prison and ordered to make full restitution.

This is not the only instance of the State Department's collaboration with MAS and other Islamist groups. The press release claims MAS Freedom has hosted "numerous" other delegations from Muslim countries through the agency's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). A delegation of nine Danes had earlier met with CAIR-Chicago representatives at its Chicago office under the IVLP. CAIR, like MAS, has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood and has a history of supporting groups and individuals linked to terrorism.

More TIZA Troubles

A new report indicates the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) in Minnesota is now embroiled in a potentially questionable funding matter involving Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports the Muslim American Society (MAS) in Minnesota paid for Ellison's trip to Mecca in Saudi Arabia the end of last year.

The Star-Tribune story highlights how state-paid rent money for TIZA, at least until 2007, went to the MAS-MN Holding Corporation, an affiliate organization of MAS-MN and the owner of the property where TIZA is located. The holding company then transferred those funds to MAS-MN. This arrangement raises questions about the possibility of Minnesota public funds being used to pay for Ellison's supposedly private trip to Mecca. Ellison, TIZA and MAS-MN deny this.

Curiously, a review of available IRS nonprofit organization tax returns (Forms 990) for the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation for 2005, 2006 and 2007 revealed the holding company claimed an affiliation with MAS-MN, but made no statement of affiliation with any other organization, including TIZA. A review of the one available TIZA Form 990, from 2002, revealed it claimed no affiliation with any other organization.

Minnesota state records reflect the original corporate filing date for the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation was April 3, 2003, before the time period covered by the 2002 TIZA 990, though both entities identify Asad Zaman, the purported TIZA principal, as an official on their tax documents. The 2002 TIZA 990 document was signed January 10, 2004 by Asad Zaman.

Minnesota corporate records reveal two listings for the Muslim American Society. One for MAS and one for MAS-MN. The MAS listing identifies an original filing date as June 14, 2002 and lists "Hesham Hussein" as the corporate agent with an address in Hugo, Minnesota. The MAS-MN corporate records reflect an original filing date of January 29, 2003 with its address being the same as TIZA, in Inver Grove Heights. No agent name is provided. The 2002 TIZA 990, in the section identifying officials, identifies one "Hesham Hussein" as the treasurer, and lists for him the same Hugo, MN address as listed in the 2002 corporate filing for MAS.

TIZA Minnesota corporate records reveal an original filing date of January 29, 2003 (same date as for MAS-MN) and no agent is identified. Its address the same Inver Grove Heights address listed for MAS-MN, and that was owned by the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation.

These records indicate that TIZA shared officials (Zaman and Hussein) and an address with MAS, MAS-MN and the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation.

Yet TIZA was not identified by the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation as an affiliate organization on its IRS tax returns. Further, TIZA did not identify MAS (or any other entity) as an affiliate organization on its IRS tax return.

Clerical oversights or deception? These matters deserve further inquiry.

NY Man Charged in Afghan Attack on U.S. Soldiers

A Long Island man accused of firing a rocket at U.S. troops in Afghanistan and plotting attacks against New York transit targets reportedly is cooperating with law enforcement officials here and in Europe.

Bryant Neal Vinas, 26, is charged with providing material support to Al Qaeda and conspiring to kill American soldiers in papers unsealed Wednesday. The support came "from specialized knowledge of the New York Transit system and Long Island railroad." The attempted attack on American troops came last September.

A New York Times report indicates information Vinas provided after his arrest in Peshawar, Pakistan last November prompted a warning about possible attacks on New York transit. He also may be a significant witness in two pending European terror trials:

"The cases there, in Belgium and Italy, center on two groups of French and Belgian nationals, several of whom trained in the camps, as well as on a Moroccan-born woman, Malika El Aroud, who has been accused of using the Internet to recruit the young Muslim men to train with Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

Mr. Vinas, according to European officials, is expected to be a key witness in those attacks because he spent time in the training camps with the men, who officials have said were recruited through Ms. El Aroud's Web site."

Vinas converted to Islam through a Long Island mosque, the Times reports. The complaint against him lists aliases including "Ibrahim," "Bashir al-Ameriki" and "Ben Yameen al-Kanadee." The original grand jury indictment is here and a superseding charging document is here.

The Los Angeles Times has a must-read with incredible details about the Vinas and the "massive" scope of the investigation here.

TIZA in a Tizzy

A federal court ruling in Minnesota clears the way for a lawsuit alleging a charter school operated by the Muslim American Society there is in violation of U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause.

As we reported in January, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. The lawsuit, also named the Minnesota Department of Education as a defendant. It claims TIZA operates substantially as a religious public school and in violation of the 1^st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A judge dismissed the Department of Education from the suit but allowed claims against the school to continue.

On July 19, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writer Katherine Kersten reported the ongoing ACLU lawsuit may shed light on the notably secretive TIZA. The school maintains a direct affiliation with the Muslim American Society in Minnesota (MAS-MN) and a MAS-linked property holding company is reportedly involved in providing funds from rent received from the state, to MAS-MN.

MAS was created as an American extension of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose stated goal is the establishment of a worldwide Islamic Caliphate under Sharia law. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that the complaint alleges "MAS Minnesota Property Holding Corp. donates rent that it receives to MAS-MN, thus effectively transferring government funds intended by the State ... for charter schools to a sectarian organization devoted to the advancement of Islam."

The Star-Tribune noted the connection between Hassan Mohamud, an official of both TIZA and MAS-MN, and the Minnesota Dawah Institute in St. Paul, where he is the Imam. The Dawah Institute is the focus of an inquiry into the disappearances of a number of young Somali men who may have gone to Somalia to engage in the ongoing Islamic terror war being waged there.

A particularly important part of the Court's ruling specifically states the plaintiffs' establishment clause claims against TIZA are worthy of further litigation:

"...The Court also notes that, at least with respect to TIZA's motion, there are several alleged sectarian practices, such as TIZA's busing schedule, that TIZA does not address.

That not all allegedly sectarian practices and policies are addressed underscores the premature nature of TIZA's motion. It is inappropriate, at this early stage of the litigation, to dismiss Plaintiff's Establishment Clause claim, particularly because it requires an analysis of all the allegedly impermissible religious practices together.

For all of the above reasons, the Court concludes that the Establishment Clause violations asserted against both TIZA and Islamic Relief are sufficient so as to survive the pending motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6)."

The Star-Tribune report notes TIZA officials have engaged in significant efforts to conceal their operations from public scrutiny, including a handbook that requires staff to refrain from publicly discussing the school's internal operations. The ACLU lawsuit, now that it is cleared by the Court to continue, may finally pry open some of TIZA's closely held secrets.

Meanwhile, TIZA sued the Minnesota Department of Education after a state inquiry revealed nearly two dozen TIZA teachers "lack proper licenses." TIZA claims in its lawsuit the State has refused to provide proper documentation so TIZA can defend itself against the allegations.

The state is withholding some $1.4 million in public funding as a result of the license issues. TIZA reportedly has an annual budget of $4 million in taxpayer funding and has already been penalized $125,000. A spokesman for TIZA claims any monetary penalties are "illegal" since the school has not exhausted the appeals process.

State officials made an unannounced inspection of TIZA in March, discovering 23 of 35 teachers weren't properly licensed. TIZA received time to fix the problem, but as of June 1, the State notified TIZA that 14 of its teachers remained out of compliance.

Curiously, the TIZA website has been out of service for the past several days. That site contained a segment listing the names of the school's teaching staff. The Minnesota Department of Education website contains a section that allows the public to query the licensure status of any teacher purportedly licensed in the state.

Asad Zaman, a defendant in the ACLU lawsuit, is identified as the director and at least one-time (possibly current) principal of TIZA. Minnesota Department of Education records reveal Zaman possessed a license allowing him to be a "short call substitute" and that license expired on June 30, 2007.

TIZA claims the license matter, involving some 14 of its teachers, is the result of confusion, misspelled names and clerical errors that were not its fault. Presumably, TIZA places that blame on the Minnesota Department of Education - the very governmental entity responsible for issuing teacher's licenses. Is it reasonable to believe more than a dozen teachers in one school have improper or no licenses and the school administration has no knowledge of such issue? Is the public to believe the TIZA school administration, including the principal himself who appears to have an expired license, has no responsibility to verify the credentials of its teaching staff?

TIZA's lawsuit appears to involve school officials attempting to shift blame, publicly diffuse the real issue with generic diversions and claim it is all a misunderstanding. As the lawsuits proceed, we'll get to see.

Jihad Terror Advocate to Lecture in Toronto

Is someone who opposes democracy and supports the Taliban and Hamas the right person to teach young Muslims how to apply their faith in Canadian society? The Al-Fauz Institute of Islamic Thought in Mississauga, Ontario apparently thinks so.

The institute claims its purpose is to encourage civic-mindedness and develop a new generation of Canadian Muslim leaders. Journalist/blogger Terry Glavin, writing in Tuesday's National Post, makes clear that Azzam Tamimi - a British political activist and writer that Al Fauz has brought in to lecture in Canada - would be a terrible role model for young Muslims.

Tamimi, who is listed as a member of the institute's "faculty," has renounced democracy. He explicitly praises suicide bombers and says he is willing to blow himself up in Israel: "It's the straight way to pleasing my God and I would do it if I had the opportunity." Tamimi, an advisor to Hamas, distinguishes good Muslims from their enemies, saying, "We love death. They love life."

Watch Tamimi declare his support for terrorism against Israel here. Glavin quotes Tamimi saying "Long live the Taliban."

Despite his pro-terrorist stance, the Al-Fauz Institute is bringing Tamimi in to deliver a four-day "intensive course on Islamic history" from July 24 to July 27 at Ryerson University in Toronto. When asked about Tamimi's record, Iqbal Masood Nadvi, the institute's "senior patron," denied any knowledge of it.

"I am hearing this from you for the first time," Nadvi told Glavin. "I don't believe in the Taliban. What I know about Tamimi is he is an academic person." Nadvi referred further questions to the Al-Fauz Institute's coordinator, Junaid Mirza. Mirza said he was familiar with Tamimi's political background, but invited him because of his expertise in Islamic history.

According to Mirza, Tamimi's support for the Taliban should not disqualify him to speak because he was coming to Ryerson for an "academic discussion" rather than politics.

Terry Glavin counters: "Is the Al-Fauz Institute really interested in helping young Muslim Canadians make healthy contributions to this country's mosaic? Azzam Tamimi preaches a toxic, anti-democratic Islamism and espouses a decidedly oppressive way of life. The Al-Fauz Institute must be called to account."

Read more about Tamimi here.

Iran Revives an Ancient Evil

The Islamic Republic of Iran often is accused of engaging in barbaric medieval practices, such as amputating the hands of thieves. Not content with that, the Iranian government now has brought back a hideous, pre-medieval custom: the violating of virgins before executing them.

The Jerusalem Post has published a shocking story in which a member of the paramilitary Basij militia speaks of his activities in suppressing the recent opposition protests. He also details his raping young Iranian girls before their executions at the behest of his superiors.

As the Post reports:

He said he had been a highly regarded member of the force, and had so "impressed my superiors" that, at 18, "I was given the 'honor' to temporarily marry young girls before they were sentenced to death."

In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a "wedding" ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard - essentially raped by her "husband."

"I regret that, even though the marriages were legal," he said.

Why the regret, if the marriages were "legal?"

"Because," he went on, "I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their 'wedding' night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.

"I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over," he said. "I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her." [emphasis added]

The Basiji's story distressingly brings to mind a story the Roman author Tacitus relates about Tiberius (reigned AD 14–37), the second Roman emperor, and the first to be known for his cruelty and inhumanity:

"It was next decided to punish the remaining children of Sejanus, though the fury of the populace was subsiding, and people generally had been appeased by the previous executions. Accordingly they were carried off to prison, the boy, aware of his impending doom, and the little girl, who was so unconscious that she continually asked what was her offence, and whither she was being dragged, saying that she would do so no more, and a childish chastisement was enough for her correction. Historians of the time tell us that, as there was no precedent for the capital punishment of a virgin, she was violated by the executioner, with the rope on her neck. Then they were strangled and their bodies, mere children as they were, were flung down the Gemoniae. [emphasis added]"

Nearly 2,000 years later, the regime of Supreme leader Ali Khamenei shows itself no less cruel and inhumane than the most notorious tyrants of the past.

James Zogby's One-Sided View of Middle East Peace

Dr. James Zogby, the founder and president of the American Arab Institute (AAI), authored an article for the AAI website earlier this month which bore the seemingly benign title What Arabs Can Do to Support Peace. In it, Zogby lamented what he perceived to be the ongoing hardships created for Palestinians by Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Zogby states in 1991, the Israeli settler population in the West Bank and Jerusalem was 243,000 and nearing 300,000 by the end of 1994. Zogby contends "there are now almost 500,000 settlers in the occupied lands!"

By Zogby's calculations, that's a doubling of the settler population since 1991. Zogby made no corresponding assessment of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

A review of the CIA World Factbook, widely considered a solidly reliable statistical database, listed the 2009 population in the West Bank and Jerusalem:

Palestinian population: 2,461,267

Israeli settlers in the West Bank: 187,000

Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem: 177,000 (fewer than)

This would make the total Israeli settler population 364,000 – far less than Zogby's 500,000 - among an overwhelming Palestinian population of nearly 2.5 million. Assuming Zogby's 1991 settler population of 243,000 is accurate, the settler growth rate is close to 50%, not 100%. In 2008, the State Department's Voice of America reported that in the previous decade Palestinian population in the Territories grew by 30%, from 2.89 million to 3.76 million.

But more important than quarreling over numbers is Zogby's failure to mention Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza, an effort that rewarded Israelis with bombardment by thousands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rockets, suicide bomb attacks and cross-border raids by Islamic terrorists based in Gaza. Zogby focuses solely on a demand that Israel halt all settlement construction, remove outposts, checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Zogby does not profess that Palestinian terrorists would stand down from attacking Israelis if those outposts, checkpoints and roadblocks were dismantled. The reality is Israelis have their Gaza experience by which to judge likely Palestinian reaction to another unilateral withdrawal.

Zogby further called on Israel to engage in "serious" negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA). He apparently believes such past negotiations have been lighthearted. Zogby ignored the very serious threat posed to the PA by Hamas, and how that threat might well result in there being no PA. With whom would Israel then negotiate? Hamas? Curiously, Zogby never mentioned Hamas in his article.

It's not clear whether Arab states would change their stances if Israel implemented the actions he recommended (ending settlements, removing proven security measures and getting "serious" in negotiations with the PA). He would have Arab states send representatives to participate in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations but he doesn't suggest those states halt their financial and military support to the likes of Hamas and Hizballah.

Zogby cautions that "positive Arab gestures should not be seen as a reward for Israel" and "the Arab gestures offered must be carefully considered, so as to be calibrated...and conditioned on Israeli performance."

Zogby's unilateral demand for Israeli action and his failure to call on terrorist groups to cease their violence and seek peace speaks volumes about his true posture.

While Raising Money in Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch Boasts About Israel-Bashing

Human Rights Watch (HRW), an organization that routinely attacks Israel, is trying to raise money in Saudi Arabia. The Arab News, a Saudi English-language newspaper, reported that Sarah Leah Whitson, director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa Division, was given a welcoming dinner in Riyadh hosted by a prominent Saudi businessman and attended by "human-rights activists."

The Saudi businessman, Emad bin Jameel Al-Hejailan, said the credo of human rights was rising in Saudi Arabia. He commended Human Rights Watch for its work on Gaza – which included issuing a report depicting Israel as violating human rights and international law during its recent military campaign against the terror group Hamas.

"Human Rights Watch provided the international community with evidence of Israel using white phosphorous and launching systematic destructive attacks on civilian targets," the Arab News quoted Whitson as stating. "Pro-Israel pressure groups in the U.S., the European Union and the United Nations have strongly resisted the report and tried to discredit it."

After NGO Monitor (a website that documents the anti-Western, anti-Israel bias of many nongovernmental organizations) publicized the Arab News story, the Wall Street Journal reprinted a blog posting on the site by George Mason University law professor David Bernstein. Now the Israeli government is pointing to the story as an example of HRW's fervent anti-Israel bias

"A human rights organization raising money in Saudi Arabia is like a women's rights group asking the Taliban for a donation," a spokesman for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Jerusalem Post on Monday. "If you can fundraise in Saudi Arabia, why not move on to Somalia, Libya and North Korea?"

HRW's Whitson claimed in an interview with the Post that she did in fact criticize Saudi human rights problems during her trip to the kingdom. But Whitson did not say that she publicly voiced any of those criticisms.

Bernstein responded that "it's extremely unwise for a human rights group to raise money in a totalitarian country, even from human rights advocates in that country; the organization may become dependent on that funding, which in turn could be cut off by the government at any time." He added that "it's more than unwise for HRW to specifically raise money in Saudi Arabia by portraying itself as an 'organization doing battle with pro-Israel forces,' which implies that HRW is serving as an 'anti-Israel force.' This suggests either that HRW isn't concerned about its reputation for evenhandedness, or that it's so maniacally anti-Israel that its leaders just assume that being anti-Israel is somehow the obvious evenhanded position that it embraces."

Another Problem ISNA Speaker

The anti-Semitic, homophobic, pro-jihad diatribe by a radical imam at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)'s annual conference earlier this month has the group engaging in damage control. It seems the group has some more explaining to do.

ISNA issued a statement rejecting Umar's bigotry, but has not explained how they were unaware of his extremism despite a well-documented history, nor apologized for allowing him such a platform.

Now, blogger Patrick Poole notes that ISNA featured holocaust-denier Yassir Qadhi at its 2008 convention. Poole cites this excerpt from a 2001 speech by Qadhi:

"All of these Polish Jews which Hitler was supposedly trying to exterminate, that's another point, by the way, Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews. There are a number of books out on this written by Christians, you should read them. The Hoax of the Holocaust, I advise you to read this book and write this down, The Hoax of the Holocaust, a very good book. All of this is false propaganda and I know it sounds so far-fetched, but read it. The evidences [sic] are very strong. And they're talking about newspaper articles, clippings, everything and look up yourself what Hitler really wanted to do. We're not defending Hitler, by the way, but the Jews, the way that they portray him, also is not correct."

Qadhi later tried to walk back his Holocaust denial, but at the 2008 ISNA conference, he praised holocaust denier David Irving, Poole writes.

Qadhi also teaches at the Al Maghrib Institute, which had a booth at the ISNA convention this year. Al Maghrib instructors, Poole writes, routinely dabble in Holocaust-denial and extremist speech, noting this recording by the Investigative Project on Terrorism among others.

Appellate Court Remands Denial of Tariq Ramadan Visa

Tariq Ramadan's desire to obtain a visa to enter the United States received new life Friday when the 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court ruling upholding a decision not to grant such a visa.

Ramadan, the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Banna, is considered a reformist by some, and a radical cloaked in academic moderation by others. The visa spat began after Notre Dame University offered Ramadan a teaching position.

U.S. officials denied his visa application, saying he gave contributions to the Association de Secours Palestinien, a group tied to the Hamas terrorist organization. Ramadan claims he didn't know of such a connection and the court ruled he must be given a chance to prove his argument. The burden is on Ramadan "to demonstrate, by clear and convincing evidence, that he did not know, and should not have reasonably known, of" the charity's support for Hamas.

Read the 2^nd Circuit ruling here.

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