Colorado Police Investigate Saudi Angle in State Official's Murder

This post has been updated to correct a reference to the Colorado Attorney General's trip to Saudi Arabia.

Updated March 22: The investigation now is focused on a white supremacist named Evan Spencer Ebel, who was shot and killed by police in Texas after a high-speed chase. Ebel's car matched the description of a car a witness saw idling outside Clements' home around the time of the shooting.

Refusal to send a convicted sex offender to his native Saudi Arabia to serve out his prison term is among the motives Colorado detectives are investigating in Tuesday's murder of the state's prison director Tom Clements.

The Denver Fox affiliate reported that the Saudi angle "is the primary working theory in the murder" and that others involved in the case, from the state prosecutor to the U.S. attorney, are under police protection.

Clements was killed after answering a knock in his home's front door. A witness reported seeing a vacant car with its engine running

"We're aware of that information. We're sensitive to the fact that there could be any number of people may have had a motive for wanting to target him for a crime such as this," Lt. Jeff Kramer of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office told reporters.

One week earlier, Clements denied a Saudi request to have Colorado inmate Homaidan Al-Turki returned to Saudi Arabia to serve out his prison sentence from a 2006 conviction for sexual assaulting a housekeeper, who was described as a "virtual slave." Al-Turki has refused to undergo sex offender treatment, saying it would violate his Islamic faith.

"Your successful participation in the Sex Offender Treatment and Monitoring Program would reflect positive progression and, although there can be no guarantees of future determinations, could result in your eventual parole or transfer to a Saudi Arabian prison," Clements wrote March 11 in explaining why he denied al-Turki's request.

The decision reportedly angered Saudi officials.

On Tuesday, the Investigative Project on Terrorism reported on a January agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and Saudi Arabia to allow Saudi travelers to apply for the Global Entry program, which allows pre-vetted passengers to avoid long Customs and Border Protection lines at U.S. airports. Critics, including former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, said the program appeared to be "a continuation" of an American policy of deference toward Saudi Arabia despite the role Saudi nationals played in the 9/11 attacks.

As Daniel Pipes has chronicled, the Saudis have long taken an interest in al-Turki's case, paying for his bond after his 2005 arrest and trying to intervene in the case. The State Department sent Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to Saudi Arabia to discuss al-Turki's conviction with members of the royal family, including King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan.

Clements' murder may turn out to be unrelated. Other reports indicate investigators say the killing did not look like a professional hit. They are looking into his telephone records and pursuing other theories.

But the dispatching of a state attorney general to quell Saudi anger is telling about U.S-Saudi relations. Saudi Arabia is in no position to cast aspersions on the American justice system. Two days after Clements decided not to repatriate al-Turki, Saudi Arabia executed seven men convicted of robbery and related crimes.

This drew strong condemnation from United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

"Under international safeguards adopted by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and reaffirmed by the General Assembly, capital punishment may be imposed only for 'the most serious crimes' and only after the most rigorous judicial process," Pillay said in a news release. "As I pointed out to the Government of Saudi Arabia before the men were executed, neither of those fundamental criteria appear to have been fulfilled in these cases."

American Islamist Selected to Run Syrian Opposition

The man chosen Monday to head Syria's opposition government is a naturalized American who worked closely with Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the United States, the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report (GMBDR) reported.

Ghassan Hitto spent years in Texas where he actively supported defendants in the Hamas-support prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). The charity and five former officials were convicted in 2008 on 108 counts of illegally routing money to Hamas.

Hitto served as master of ceremonies for a 2007 town hall meeting on the case in Plano, Texas, hosted by a coalition calling itself "Hungry for Justice." There, Hitto echoed HLF's line that it merely provided charity for needy Palestinians, a recording obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism shows.

"Hungry for Justice is a coalition that strongly believes feeding hungry children, orphans, widows or men is not a crime," he said. "Hungry for Justice is a coalition that strongly believes opposing the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine is not a crime. Hungry for Justice is a coalition that strongly believes in due process. Hungry for Justice is a coalition that strongly believes in the first amendment and the freedom of speech."

Hitto also served as vice president of CAIR's Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, GMBDR reported. He also was secretary-treasurer with the American Middle Eastern League for Palestine, which GMBDR said is another name for the Islamic Association of Palestine. CAIR founders had been IAP directors. In addition, Hitto is listed as a director of the Muslim American Society's Youth Center in Dallas.

The Muslim American Society was created by Muslim Brotherhood members in the United States. Last year, Abdurrahman Alamoudi – once the most prominent Islamist activist in America – told federal investigators that "Everyone knows that MAS is the Muslim Brotherhood."

CAIR officials appear in numerous records from the HLF investigation, including court exhibits placing them and the CAIR organization itself within an umbrella organization founded by Muslim Brotherhood members in America to help Hamas politically and financially. That evidence prompted the FBI to break off relations with CAIR, with an official explaining "until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner."

A New York Times report Tuesday cast Hitto as "the choice of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has long been banned and persecuted under the Assad family's government and that plays a powerful role in the coalition."

His selection won quick praise from Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). "Washington should support the newly elected interim prime minister of Syria," Awad wrote in a Twitter post Tuesday morning. The night before, he posted an Arabic tweet congratulating "my brother and friend Ghassan Hitto on his election as President of the Interim - God willing permanent - Government in Syria. Ghassan is an aware and active person everyone can work with."

PA Continues to Advocate for Israel's Destruction

Calls for liberating "Palestine" have been reverberating among the various Palestinian political factions for decades.

Hamas actively pursues Israel's destruction, but how does the Palestinian Authority (PA) differ from the terrorist organization?

A recent Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) report highlights the PA's continued efforts to propagate the Palestinian refugees' "right of return" within Israel. This narrative is perpetuated at the core of PA schools and is clearly disseminated throughout history, civics, and Arabic language textbooks. For example, MEMRI points to a fourth grade textbook, which says, "Four and a half million Palestinians live in the diaspora outside Palestine… Most are refugees waiting to return to the motherland, from which they were expelled."

Other examples start as early as second grade and run throughout primary school textbooks. By subjecting children to continuous propaganda regarding an eventual "return" to Israeli cities like Haifa and Jaffa, the PA is clearly indoctrinating future generations on the virtues of a one-state solution. In that scenario, Palestinians would outnumber Israelis stripping Jews of a homeland.

This tactic is part of the broader strategy of subjugating younger generations of Palestinians to propaganda that glorifies terrorists and advocates for violent jihad for the purposes of destroying the Jewish state.

The Palestinian culture of death has been exposed in various forms throughout the years. Among the more notorious examples was a children's television program that featured a Mickey Mouse knockoff calling for martyrdom and violence against Jews. Moreover, MEMRI reports that the PA continues to praise terrorists such as Dalal Al-Mughrabi, commemorating the anniversary of a terrorist attack which killed 35 Israelis and injured dozens of civilians. Former and current PA officials continue to glorify such atrocities, describing Mughrabi as an inspirational figure and role model.

Furthermore, PA President Mahmoud Abbas recently claimed that there is "no difference between [the PA's] policies and those of Hamas." Based on the PA's educational curriculum, media dissemination, and terrorist glorification, the international community must look behind the PA's doublespeak before pressuring Israel to make further concessions.

Illinois Police: Terror Ties Cost Imam Chaplain Post

Court papers filed in an Illinois federal civil lawsuit make it clear that a Hamas-supporting imam would have been a state police-sanctioned chaplain in 2010 if not for disclosures made by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT).

Attorneys for the Illinois State Police (ISP) have asked a federal judge to grant their clients' motion for summary judgment, effectively ending a lawsuit brought by Imam Kifah Mustapha. Mustapha cleared an initial background check to the ISP's first Muslim chaplain in late 2009.

In his application, he failed to disclose his work as fundraiser for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The foundation was convicted a year earlier of illegally routing millions of dollars to Hamas. The IPT reported on Mustapha's documented connections to the Holy Land Foundation in January 2010, after he received a state identification card.

The ISP received an e-mail alerting it to the IPT report a day later, a legal memorandum filed with the motion Thursday said. The state police "were previously unaware of Plaintiff‟s association with HLF, as it was omitted from his resume," the memo said. A second background check resulted in Mustapha's invitation to be a chaplain rescinded. He sued, claiming violations of his 1^st and 14^th Amendment rights.

The suit should not be allowed to continue because Mustapha was never deprived of pay or benefits, something required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which covers workplace discrimination, state lawyers wrote. In addition, Mustapha's attorneys have not shown evidence of actual discrimination. All the pending chaplain candidates went through additional background screening, but they all were cleared.

Ahmed Rehab, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) Chicago chapter, tried to deflect attention away from Mustapha, telling a television reporter that the state police were "kowtowing to articles online published by notorious anti-Muslims who have been in the business of smearing Muslim activists leaders and Imams for the longest time."

But there's a funny thing about court records. They show what they show no matter who finds them. When the state police looked, they found exactly what the IPT reported.

The additional investigation on Mustapha led to court records tying him to Hamas support. That includes a videotape admitted into evidence in the Holy Land case showing Mustapha singing, "O Hamas, teach us the rifle … O Hamas, raise the banner of Jihad." A child holding a machine gun joins the singers on stage, along with "a man wearing a mask traditionally associated with Hamas."

Illinois State Police officials "were profoundly disturbed" by that video, the memorandum said, because their chaplains have to deal with people of all faiths as part of their work.

"The expression in the video is conveyed in a manner that is militant and certainly not peaceful. At best, its message could be reasonably interpreted to advocate violence and vigilantism, highly inconsistent with ISP's mission of maintaining order and legal compliance," the memorandum said. "More likely, the video and Plaintiff's fundraising activities for the [Holy Land Foundation] could lead the public to believe that ISP looked the other way when confronted with evidence that Plaintiff aided and abetted, or at least cheered for, terrorism."

Mustapha remains an imam at the Mosque Foundation, in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview. A number of other mosque officials have been tied to Hamas support and other radical activity. That has not deterred public officials, including Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, from legitimizing the mosque with high profile public appearances.

Mustapha's attorneys will file a response before any order is expected. Read the full memorandum here.

UN Confirms Hamas Rocket Kills BBC Reporter's Son

During Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, media outlets jumped on a report about innocent Palestinian casualties at the hands of the Israeli military. One episode, the death of a BBC reporter's infant son, included heart-breaking images of the grieving father cradling his dead child.

"Spare a thought for Omar, 11-month son of our BBC Arabic Service colleague in Gaza, killed in today's Israeli air strike," BBC Washington correspondent Paul Adams wrote in a Twitter post.

The Elder of Ziyon blog reports on a little-noticed investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which determined that Omar Mishrawi died as a result of a Hamas rocket that fell short of Israel. The UN report also made clear that Hamas repeatedly violated international human rights law by launching rockets from densely populated neighborhoods in Gaza and firing "the vast majority" of its rockets at civilian communities. Palestinian terrorists admitted "that their intended targets were civilians or large population centres in Israel, or objects that are prima facie civilian objects, such as Israel's parliament, in clear violation of international humanitarian law."

Elder of Ziyon called the Hamas criticism "pretty astonishing" since it came from "the notoriously anti-Israel UN Human Rights Council."

The report cites a second case of a child, Mahmoud Sadallah, whose death was blamed on Israel but was in fact caused by Hamas.

Palestinian exploitation of casualties is nothing new. In the past, many incidents have been proved to be fabricated or conducted by the Palestinians themselves. This tactic, commonly referred to as "Pallywood," is vital for the Palestinians to wage the increasingly crucial media war against Israel in an effort to win the hearts and minds of the international community.

While there were civilian casualties, the UN report notes the Hamas rocket fire was coming from residential areas. And it settles the debate over who was responsible for the toddler's death, showing the BBC and other outlets incorrectly jumped to blame Israel.

Egyptian Court Suspends Election Amid Turmoil

An Egyptian court suspended the nation's parliamentary elections Wednesday amid increasing turmoil, including boycott threats from Muslim Brotherhood opponents. The two-month-long, multiphase election was scheduled to start April 22.

Parliament had not allowed the constitutional court review the election law to ensure its constitutionality, the court ruled. The law must now be reviewed by the Supreme Constitutional Court to ensure it conforms to the new constitution.

The suspension follows a week of clashes that has left six people dead since Sunday in the Suez Canal city of Port Said. It also follows the refusal by some opposition leaders to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during his recent visit due to the Obama administration's perceived support for the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.

Low-ranking police officers went on strike across Egypt Thursday, protesting the Brotherhood's politicization of the police force.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's Islamist supporters had hoped the parliamentary election would help generate stability.

Several Coptic Christian leaders, such as former Parliament Member Ehab Ramzi, urged that Copts not run in the election because the voting would be rigged in favor of Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidates.

"I called Copts who were intending to nominate themselves across the country to ask them not to run," Ramzi told Egypt's state newspaper Al-Ahram. "I argued the need to boycott a farce in which boundaries were altered only to secure a Brotherhood victory and then give the chance to claim this was a fair vote. We must boycott the candidates and voters.

"We cannot give legitimacy to the cynical manipulations of the Brotherhood."

Ramzi was not alone. Last month, opposition National Salvation Front leader Mohamed ElBaradei criticized Morsi's decision to hold elections in April, saying they were "a recipe for disaster" due to the turmoil in Egyptian society.

Wednesday's court ruling proves that Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood have mismanaged Egypt, ElBaradei said Wednesday.

"The mess continues courtesy of epic failure of governance," ElBaradei said in a Twitter post. The Brotherhood ignored the rule of law, he said, something that has the "characteristic of a fascist state."

Canadian Immigration Minister Slams 'Israel Apartheid Week'

"Israel Apartheid Week" has become a staple on many university campuses in the United States and Canada. It usually offers an excuse for Israel-bashing and other extreme rhetoric.

Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, issued a statement Monday on the issue that needs no additional comment:

"Everyone in this country has the right to freely and publicly express their views. That being said, I share the concerns of other Canadians about the reckless and overheated rhetoric associated with anti-Israel activities on many Canadian university campuses, and the toxic manner in which these activities are often carried out.

"There is no better example than the so-called 'Israel Apartheid Week' (IAW). Its organizers and participants have a regrettable history of promoting and holding events in ways that disregard the security and rights of Jewish faculty and students, censor other points of view, and limit academic discourse.

"The disproportionate vitriol directed against the democratic State of Israel during 'Israel Apartheid Week' stands in stark and ironic contrast to the silence of IAW organizers on the ongoing atrocities committed by the Syrian regime against its own citizens, and on the rampant brutalities and denial of rights in non-democratic countries in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world.

"In free societies such as Canada's and Israel's, it is absolutely legitimate to debate and criticize government policies and practices. Indeed, Israel supports the right of free expression more than any other country in its part of the world. But with the freedom to criticize comes the responsibility to guard against hateful and intolerant rhetoric.

"Operating under the guise of academic freedom, Israel Apartheid Week is a misleading attempt to delegitimize and demonize the only true liberal democracy in the Middle East. IAW's organizers choose to promote inflammatory propaganda over civil and enlightening debate. Their approach is at odds with the Canadian values of tolerance and mutual respect, and prevents meaningful dialogue from taking place.

"As Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, I encourage Canadians to speak out against all forms of discrimination, intolerance and anti-Semitism."

Esman: Turkey Placing Islam Above Child Welfare

The government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants immigrant Turkish children adopted by non-Muslims in Europe removed from their new homes and given to Muslims. If adoptive Muslim families can't be found, they should be returned to Turkey.

That, writer Abigal Esman says, exposes a disturbing reality about Erdoğan's government: "That for the Turkish government, the safety and security such [adoptive, non-Muslim] families might (or might not) provide is less important than their religion."

"In cases where a child must be removed from an unsafe situation, or where he or she has been abandoned, the only thing that matters is finding a loving and stable home, and doing so as quickly as possible," Esman adds.

More than 5,000 Turkish children have been placed in new homes in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. But in the Netherlands, for example, officials say they have no Muslim foster families.

A report from Human Rights Without Frontiers International cites the case of a boy placed with a lesbian couple "after his parents allegedly dropped him on the ground" as a driving force in the campaign.

Ayhan Sefer Üstün, leader of the Turkish Parliament's Human Rights Commission, said children removed from their parents' custody "should be placed with a family closer to his or her culture." Another official suggested letting the natural parents – those who lost their custody rights – select their children's new homes.

The effort comes a year after Erdoğan launched a campaign to raise "a religious generation," Esman writes. While Turkey is a NATO ally and considered a Westernized state, Erdoğan has moved in clear Islamist direction, supporting terrorist groups like Hamas and terror supporters like IHH. He made headlines last week when he denounced Zionism as a "crime against humanity."

As Andrew McCarthy recently noted, labeling things he doesn't like as "crimes against humanity" is becoming "a verbal tic" for Erdoğan. Assimilation is another.

"Either he does not know what a crime is or he does not know what a phobia is, but since a rational mental state is required for the former the latter doesn't qualify," McCarthy wrote. "Or maybe Erdogan knows exactly what crimes and phobias are, but as an Islamo-fascist he figures such niceties should never get in the way of a good smear."

And, apparently, they should not take a back seat to providing safe homes for abused or neglected children.

Syrian Rebels Seize U.N. Peacekeepers in Golan Area

Syrian rebels announced Wednesday that they had seized 20 United Nations peacekeepers tasked with monitoring the 1974 cease fire between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights. The area has been described by U.N. officials have as "unstable and tense."

The "Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade Abu Kayed al-Faleh" posted a YouTube video showing militants posing with a convoy of U.N. vehicles that they had captured.

"The command of the Martyrs of Yarmouk announced that it is holding forces of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force until the withdrawal of forces of the regime of (President) Bashar Assad from the outskirts of the village of Jamla," a militant wearing civilian clothes said, according to a Reuters translation of the video. "If no withdrawal is made within 24 hours we will treat them as prisoners."

Jamla is located about a mile from the Syrian-Israeli border. Syrian troops are not allowed in the zone under the terms of the cease-fire agreement.

This is not the first time that the demilitarized zone has been affected by the fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the rebels. According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.N. force came under attack in December and two of its peacekeepers were seriously wounded.

The Syrian army has been accused of disguising itself as U.N. forces by using white vehicles by Maj. Gen. Iqbal Singha of India, the U.N.'s top general in the area.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the latest act and demanded their immediate release.

"The members of the Security Council demanded the unconditional and immediate release of all the detained UN peacekeepers and called upon all parties to cooperate with UNDOF in good faith to enable it to operate freely and to ensure full security of its personnel," Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said, who chairs the Security Council for the month of March, in a statement read out to the press following closed-door consultations on the matter.

The larger Free Syrian Army rebel faction similarly condemned the seizure of the U.N. peacekeepers and promised to find them and their captors.

Without Islamism: Men and Women Running Together!

Hamas officials did their best Bill Murray imitation this week, refusing to allow a United Nations agency to sponsor a marathon in Gaza that would have included women runners.

Rather than yield to a demand for gender segregation, the UNRWA pulled the plug on the third annual race. That's a disappointment to the 551 Palestinians who signed up for the event, including 266 women. Another 256 people from outside Gaza registered for the race, including 119 women.

"We regret this decision to cancel the marathon but we don't want men and women running together," Hamas cabinet official Abdessalam Siyyam, told the Agence France Presse. "We did not tell UNRWA to cancel the marathon and we haven't prevented it, but we laid down some conditions: We don't want women and men mixing in the same place."

One can only imagine the horror that might result.

At least they are consistent. Since taking control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas has issued strict dress codes for school girls, banned male hair stylists from cutting women's hair and cracked down on unmarried men and women socializing at Gaza beaches.

The UN tried to be sensitive to Hamas religious restrictions, issuing instructions that women dress modestly, but that wasn't sufficient.

"UNRWA regrets to announce that it has had to cancel the third UNRWA marathon which was to be held on 10 April," a statement from the agency said. "This disappointing decision follows discussions with the authorities in Gaza who have insisted that no women should participate."

Proceeds from the event would have benefitted summer camps for Palestinian children in Gaza. That won't happen, but the kids will be spared the horror of men and women exercising together.

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