Tag Archives: Muslim Brotherhood in America

Who Really Ought to be Banned? Geert Wilders or Terror Supporters?

Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Andre Carson (D-IN) have called for Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders to be banned from the country, in a recent letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Secretary of State John Kerry. The two Muslim lawmakers allege that Geert Wilder’s strong stance against the immigration influx of primarily Muslim migrants to Holland and his opposition to Islamization equates to a violation of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.

On its face the assertion is patently absurd. As Freedom House reports, the Netherlands maintains nearly perfect scores for political and civil liberties. Wilders is a lawmaker in his native Netherlands, and can be expected to weigh in on issues of importance to his constituents, which is exactly what the Dutch court found in 2011 when he was acquitted on charges that his comments regarding Islamic immigration rose to the level of criminal hate speech.

In fact in the Netherlands the violence has been directed almost solely in the opposite direction, with the assassinations of Pim Fortuyn and Theo Van Gogh for their speech deemed critical of Islam. Wilders himself lives under constant threat of death. In 2009, the Dutch security services reported that Wilders personally received two-thirds of the 428 death threats against all Dutch politicians.

In comparison, Carson and Ellison both wrote letters in praise of the Hamas-linked Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for their 16th annual dinner, which featured attendees from such repressive states as Sudan, Qatar, UAE and Oman, all of whom rank as “Not Free” on Freedom Houses’ reports. Sudan in particular is ruled by an indicted war criminal, Omar Bashir, known for its genocidal campaign against the predominately christian South Sudanese and against ethnic minorities throughout Sudan including Darfur. There’s no indication Carson or Ellison complained to CAIR about these states’ representatives.

Indeed, Reps. Ellison and Carson are more likely to be sharing the stage with the kinds of individuals who really ought to be banned from the United States.

For example, the Department of Homeland Security was ordered to place Canadian Muslim Brotherhood leader and vocal Hamas and Hezbollah supporter Jamal Badawi on a hands off list, despite the urging of DHS officers who called for him to be blocked from entry. Badawi has publically expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and sat on the board of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) that issued a 2004 fatwa permitting the murder of Americans in Iraq. Badawi was listed as an unindicted Co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial which provided funds to the terrorist group Hamas, whose charter calls for the extermination of the Jewish people.

In 2014, Jamal Badawi and Rep. Andre Carson shared a stage at the 39th joint convention of the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). MAS is recognized by federal prosecutors as the “overt arm” of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States, and ICNA is considered to be a front for the Pakistani Islamist organization Jamaat-e-Islami. The Muslim American Society has been listed as a terrorist organization in the U.A.E.

Also on the stage was Tariq Ramadan, a key European Muslim Brotherhood leader who was banned from the United States for his financial support for charities tied to Hamas until the Obama Administration reversed the decision. In 2013 Carson’s office also arranged for a room on Capitol Hill for an event by the Egyptian Freedom Foundation, a group close to the Muslim Brotherhood which was attended by convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizer Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian was deported from the United States two years later.

Rep. Keith Ellison has similar associations. Ellision also shared a stage with Badawi, in 2011 in Minnesota, and the two were both highlight speakers at the 50th Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in 2013. ISNA was also listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF funding trial and in that case Federal Judge Jorge Solis wrote that the government provided “ample evidence” for connecting ISNA to Hamas. Ellison has also shared the stage with Tariq Ramadan which he did during a Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) event in 2010. Ellison also expressed support for Sami Al-Arian, urging listeners of a Tampa Bay radio station to support al-Arian during the PIJ organizer’s terrorism trial.

Ellison and Carson are pretending that open and honest debate by an elected official about the role of Islamic immigration to the Netherlands is on par with incitement to commit violence.

Yet, when it comes to those who actually incite violence, or provide material support for terrorism, they are far more likely to be in the United States at Ellison and Carson’s invitation than against their objections.

Disagreement Among MB Fronts Over USCMO Statement on Armenian Genocide

As the Free Fire Blog noted last week, the Muslim Brotherhood umbrella organization the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) issued a statement supporting Turkey and downplaying calls to recognize the Armenian genocide. Now it appears the USCMO is receiving pushback from other Muslim Brotherhood front groups for the bad press generated by the press release. The American Muslim reports that USCMO member the Muslim Legal Fund of America was the first to begin to distance themselves from the USCMO release:

“It is not MLFA’s place nor is it part of its mission to question the Armenian genocide,” said Meek. “I apologize if the inclusion of MLFA’s name in this statement caused any confusion to our donors, supporters or anyone else.”

Meek said that he believes it is important for Muslim organizations to work together on issues of common concern. However, he said he will make it clear to concerned parties that MLFA’s name should not be included on any international statements made by any organization.

MLFA was not as resistant to controversial issues in 2003, when they accused the U.S. and Pakistani governments of “kidnapping” Al Qaeda terrorist Aafia Siddiqui. Siddiqui, a regular of the Muslim Brotherhood-connected Islamic Society of Boston, is serving an 86-year sentence for attempted murder of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and terrorism activities related to a prospective plot to blow up New York City landmarks including the Empire State Building.

The USCMO’s position also faced push back from University of California Berkley’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) which issued a statement including the following:

We also would like to express our shock and dismay in reaction to the recently published statement issued by the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), which includes otherwise pro-justice groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), that denies the reality of the Armenian genocide. The cowardly and overtly political move by these groups calls into question their commitment to the struggles for justice and self-determination that they claim to champion.

The UC Berkley-SJP is the founding chapter of the organization, which now operates on college campuses across the country and which has been accused of providing material support for Hamas. SJP was founded by Hatem Bazian, a radical campus professor with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in order to establish a broader anti-Israel alliance of college students beyond the existing MB group the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA). Bazian is also a leading member of American Muslims for Palestine, a Brotherhood front organization which is also a USCMO member.

This is not the first time for Brotherhood-linked groups to show a public appearance of disunity. In the past these issues have centered over policy debates regarding whether achieving Muslim Brotherhood “Settlement” objectives in the United States were of more importance than fulfilling the Brotherhood’s obligation to support jihad, most particularly in Palestine. In their recent National Advocacy Day, for example, the USCMO purposefully divorced lobbying on behalf of Palestine from its overall effort, making the event a secondary (and less well-attended) day which raised criticism from some participants on twitter.

MB fronts in the United States have undertaken a very conscious policy of outreach, targeting perceived minority organizations on a wide range of “social justice” issues, and attempting to insinuate themselves into the discussion, as they did for example over the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.

Having successfully established deep ties with non-Muslim groups with a wide variety of interests, MB groups may now find themselves constrained as various groups fear losing outreach capability due to the risk of alienating partners with umbrella statements like the one issued by the USCMO.

On the other hand, the MB at the global level can ill-afford to alienate Turkey, which plays a key role in supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, in particular providing support for Hamas.  Turkish President Erdogan’s support for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s insurrection against the Egyptian government has also been widely publicized, along with a tight relationship with International Muslim Brotherhood figures like Qaradawi.

As with other cases where Brotherhood-linked groups have expressed public disagreements, such incidents should be viewed in the context of an internal debate regarding priorities of the Movement, but not necessarily as a long term disagreement or evidence of a wider split.

Muslim Brotherhood Stands by Turkey over Genocidal Jihad of Armenians

The always excellent Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch reports today on the decision of U.S. Muslim Brotherhood (MB) umbrella group the US Council of Muslim Organizations to issue a press release coming to the aid of Turkey, which is battling growing pressure in the United States and around the world to recognize the Armenian genocide, whose 100th anniversary will be marked this Friday April 24th. While the press release claims the MB groups “share the pain” of the Armenian community, it goes on to take a decidedly Pro-Turkish stance:

While Muslim Americans sympathize deeply with the loss of Armenian lives in 1915, we also believe that reconciliation must take into honest account the broader human tragedy of World War I. Muslim Americans expect our leaders to act accordingly to ensure that American-Turkish strategic relations are not damaged by a one-sided interpretation of the 1915 events.”

MB’s support for the Islamist government of Turkey, and especially its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been well documented previously, support which Turkey has repaid both with support to for the Brotherhood’s armed wing in Palestine, Hamas, but also in supporting the MB leaders against the current Egyptian government of Al-Sissi, assisting the MB with ratcheting up violent tensions within Egypt through Turkish hosted media.

The Turkish government proudly displayed the USCMO’s endorsement on a government website. It’s not the first time the USCMO has noted its friendly relationships with Turkey. The USCMO website hosts a number of photos showing MB-linked individuals including Oussama Jammal,Osama Abu Irshaid, and Naeem Baig attending a Justice and Development (AKP) Party Convention.

Given the role the Muslim Brotherhood plays in denying and dissembling about jihad and terrorist violence generally, it’s no surprise to see them weighing in in defense of what was, after all a jihad against the Armenians. As scholar Dr. Andrew Bostom noted earlier this week for PJ Media, the reason there tends to be a “one-sided interpretation” of the events of the Armenian Genocide, is because that interpretation is based on facts.

In his column Bostom lays out numerous scholarly, contemporary and varied sources, both foreign, and indeed Turkish, detailing not only that the genocide against the Armenians occurred, but that it was carried out in the name of Jihad.

Bostom writes:

Contemporary accounts from European diplomats make clear that all these brutal massacres were perpetrated in the context of a formal jihad against the Armenians who had attempted to throw off the yoke of dhimmitude—non-Muslim subjection under Islamic law—by seeking equal rights and autonomy. For example, the Chief Dragoman (Turkish-speaking interpreter) of the British embassy reported, regarding the 1894-96 massacres:

[The perpetrators] are guided in their general action by the prescriptions of the Sheri [Sharia] Law. That law prescribes that if the “rayah” [dhimmi] Christian attempts, by having recourse to foreign powers, to overstep the limits of privileges allowed them by their Mussulman [Muslim] masters, and free themselves from their bondage, their lives and property are to be forfeited, and are at the mercy of the Mussulmans. To the Turkish mind the Armenians had tried to overstep those limits by appealing to foreign powers, especially England. They therefore considered it their religious duty and a righteous thing to destroy and seize the lives and properties of the Armenians.

Historian Bat Ye’or confirms this reasoning, noting that the Armenian quest for reforms invalidated their “legal status,” which involved a “contract” (i.e., with their Muslim Turkish rulers). This

…breach…restored to the umma [the Muslim community] its initial right to kill the subjugated minority [the dhimmis], [and] seize their property…

This most recent attempt to downplay the genocide against the Armenian and Assyrian population under the Ottoman Turks is just yet another reason why politicians ought to be extremely reluctant to associate with this latest MB lobbying group. Unfortunately, as we noted during the USCMO’s national advocacy day, not all lawmakers were willing to distance themselves from the USCMO, despite the presence of a USCMO official who had served as a webmaster for a Taliban fundraising website.

Perhaps this most recent statement downplaying the genocide of over a million Christians will better be able to convince lawmakers that USCMO is not an appropriate partner.

Why is the former Webmaster of a Taliban Funding Website on Capitol Hill?

Yesterday, April 13, The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), an umbrella organization made up of multiple Muslim Brotherhood front organizations, were on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers, and their staff. Among the leadership of the USCMO is Mazen Moktar, a man identified in federal court as having established a website for the purpose of fundraising for Taliban and Chechen jihadist fighters. The Washington Post reported in 2004:

Mazen Mokhtar, an Egyptian-born imam and political activist, operated a Web site identified in an affidavit unsealed Friday by the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut. The Web site solicited funds for the Taliban and Chechen mujaheddin, according to the affidavit. It is an exact replica of Web sites operated by Babar Ahmad, who was arrested in England on a U.S. extradition warrant this week. The affidavit said the New Jersey home of the mirror Web site operator, identified on a Web site as Mokhtar, was searched in the recent past and that copies of Azzam Publications sites, operated by Ahmad, were found on Mokhtar’s computer’s hard drive and files. Officials at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, which is leading the investigation, declined yesterday to comment on Mokhtar or the New Jersey investigation.

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While Babar Ahmad was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for his role in providing material support to terrorism, Mokhtar is now the executive director of the Muslim American Society (MAS), and a board member of the USCMO. Federal prosecutors have described  MAS as the “overt arm” of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States, a reality confirmed by Muslim Brotherhood’s former Supreme Guide  Mohammed Akef:

 In fact, Akef says he helped found MAS by lobbying for the change during trips to the U.S. “We have a religion, message, morals and principals that we  want to carry to the people as God ordered us,” he says. “So why should we work in secrecy?” But U.S. members would remain guarded about their  identity and beliefs. An undated internal memo instructed MAS leaders on how to deal with inquiries about the new organization. If asked, “Are you  the Muslim Brothers?” leaders should respond that they are an independent group called the Muslim American Society. “It is a self-explanatory name  that does not need further explanation.”

That information is confirmed by convicted al Qaeda Financier, and self-identified Muslim Brotherhood Abdurrahman Alamoudi, who told federal investigators, “everyone knows MAS is the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Confronted by activists who asked Mokhtar whether or not there was a Muslim Brotherhood in the United States, Mokhtar himself neither confirmed nor denied. All of which raises the question, who in Congress would meet with an organization whose members include those “everybody knows” represent the Muslim Brotherhood, and with a board member is known to have registered a Taliban fundraising website?

Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 10.30.49 AMAccording to pictures and posts to the USCMO’s event hashtag “#MuslimHillDay” those willing to meet with the group included Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep Don Beyer (D-VA), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), and unsurprisingly, Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), who has a long history of ties to Muslim Brotherhood linked organizations, as the Center For Security Policy has previously documented.

This is somewhat ironic, seeing as Rep. Andre Carson went to great lengths to deny serving on a panel with Mazen Mokhtar at a recent MAS-ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America) Conference, as detailed by investigative reporter/ terrorism analyst Patrick Poole. As a result, for Carson at least, there can be no excuse that he is unaware of who Mokhtar is. Perhaps if informed about Mokhtar’s previous associations the other representatives would be forced to wonder why Carson declined to warn them of the nature of the associations they were developing by speaking at the USCMO Muslim Advocacy Day.

Who is ICNA- the Group tied to Islamic State-inspired Bomb Plotter?

News is breaking today that Noelle Velentzas, one of the two women indicted in New York City court for an alleged bomb plot in support of Islamic State, had ties to the Islamic Circle of North America, a U.S. Islamic group. CNN reports ICNA admitting it’s connection to the woman saying:

“She stayed for a short period of time between 2008 and 2009,” the statement said. “While she was staying in our shelter, our staff helped her get on her feet. During this time she successfully completed studies to become a home health care provider after which she became gainfully employed. She left the facility when she married.”

Velentzas appeared to have experienced hardship in her life but was “working towards self-development and long-term stability,” the statement said.

“She also appeared to be someone who had greatly benefited from the assistance ICNA Relief provides through our shelter system, so we asked her to speak about the experience of our shelter. She appeared at several fundraisers and was the subject of videos as well.”

But who is ICNA, and why is it significant that they played a part in the life of Noelle Velentzas?

ICNA has described itself as being founded on the principles of massively influential Jihadist ideologue Abul Ala Maududi, founder of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).  Specifically they describe themselves as:

“using the organizational development methodology of [JI founder] Maulana Mawdudi and the Jamaat Al-Islami of Pakistan, which lays special emphasis on spiritual development, ICNA has developed a strong foundation.”

ICNA is widely considered JeI’s front in the United States, and ICNA Relief has been accused of soliciting funds for a Pakistani charity known to donate to Hamas. ICNA’s former Secretary General  Ashrafuzzaman Khan was convicted in Bangladesh of engaging in war crimes as part of a JeI militia operating on behalf of Pakistan during Bangladesh’s liberation war.

Maududi’s writings on the political nature of Islamic doctrine, and especially “On Jihad“, and was highly influential on a number of key Islamist figures, including Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan Al Banna, MB ideologue Sayyid Qutb, as well as Al Qaeda and Hamas Co-Founder Abdullah Azzam, whom the two New York girls reportedly praised by name.) While relying on established Islamic sources, Maududi’s writing married Islamic doctrine with more a modern language of “world revolution.” Maududi wrote:

Muslims are in fact an international revolutionary party organised under the ideology of Islam to implement its revolutionary programme. Jihad is the term, denoting the revolutionary struggle to the utmost, of the Islamic revolutionary party to bring about Islamic revolution.”

ICNA’s 2010 “Tarbiyah Guide” for it’s “Sisters’ Wing” features heavy use of Maududi’s works, along with other ideologues including Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan Al Banna, Chief MB Jurist Yusuf Al Qaradawi, and other  MB members, including Canadian Muslim Brotherhood Member Jamal Badawi, who was subject to the DHS “Hands Off” List current being investigated by Sen. Chuck Grassley. ICNA unified with the Muslim Brotherhood in North America in the 1990s, according to Muslim Brotherhood archival documents acquired by Federal law enforcement and submitted during the Holy Land Foundation Trial. The Tarbiyah guide does not shy away from commenting on Jihad, noting in a comment on regarding the As’hab us-Suffah (Men of the Platform, a group of men close to Muhammed who were homeless following the hijra to Medina and known for their learnedness and memory):

Their services to Islam were not limited to the Suffah and whenever the call for Jihad was made they were ever ready to sacrifice their lives on the battlefield despite being hungry, without proper provisions and with insufficient armor.

Ironically, Noelle Velentza was herself homeless when she encountered ICNA.

If it was ICNA that helped Noelle Velentza with her “Self-development” in the manner of Abul Ala Maududi and the JeI, then perhaps we should not be surprised by the outcome being a young woman enamored of jihadist violence and seeking to join the “Caliphate” as she has been taught is her obligation. Until we are prepared to address the actual role of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-e-Islami in training and indoctrinating young people that they have an obligation to engage in jihad, Islamic State will continue to find potential recruits susceptible to their message.

U.S. and U.A.E. To Run Joint “Digital Communications Hub” on Terror Propaganda But Disagree About Who Terrorists Are

One of the few concrete deliverables being touted as having come out of the President’s Countering Violent Extremism Summit is the creation of a new joint communications hub operated between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, looking to target terrorist propaganda and recruitment. From the Blaze.com:

Obama said that all governments have a role to play to curb the propaganda and announced that the government of the United Arab Emirates is joining the United States in the effort to connect youth. “At minimum as a basic first step, countries have a responsibility to cut off funding that fuels hatred and corrupts young minds and endangers us all. We need to do more to help lift up voices of tolerance. and peace, especially online,” Obama said. “That’s why the United States is joining, for example, with the UAE to create a new digital communications hub to work with religious and civil society and community leaders to counter terrorist propaganda.”

There is a kind of palpable irony here, considering that the United Arab Emirates and the Obama Administration have been far from the same page regarding what constitutes a terrorist group. The U.A.E. recent terror list, for example, names more than a dozen Muslim Brotherhood (MB) organizations worldwide, including those in the United States, namely the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim American Society (MAS), as terrorist groups. The UAE defended their more extensive list, which includes both Al Qaeda and other Jihadist organizations as well as Muslim Brotherhood political organizations, by saying:

“[The list is] a clear message to the world about the UAE’s stance against terrorism, extremism and fanaticism, focusing on and putting a cordon around all subversive entities that seek to undermine the security and stability of the state and seeks to protect the community from extremist ideology,” a top UAE official said.

The objective is “to cut off access to all forms of material and moral support for terrorism, to drain its resources, to prevent the incitement of terrorist crimes, to prevent the praising of terrorism and to work to stop the spreading of such crimes or any encouragement of the committing of them.”

By contrast the Muslim American Society has been a featured CVE partner in the United States, and the State Department intervened on behalf of CAIR and MAS opposing the U.A.E decision. The White House also aggressively rejected a petition from over 100,000 calling for the Brotherhood to be declared a terrorist organization, as the U.A.E. has done.

Indeed the President used his bully pulpit at the CVE Summit to obliquely support Islamist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood (although not by name), and blamed their suppression, rather than their proliferation, for the spread of terrorism (h/t: @Davereaboi):

There’s a strain of thought that doesn’t embrace ISIL’s tactics, doesn’t embrace violence, but does buy into the notion that the Muslim world has suffered historical grievances — sometimes that’s accurate — does buy into the belief that so many of the ills in the Middle East flow from a history of colonialism or conspiracy; does buy into the idea that Islam is incompatible with modernity or tolerance, or that it’s been polluted by Western values.

So those beliefs exist. In some communities around the world they are widespread.

Ultimately the Joint Communications hub is likely to be a failure, because there is no shared understanding between the two countries on how individuals are indoctrinated to jihad/terrorism. The U.A.E. recognizes that as the role of the Muslim Brotherhood as the gateway to jihad,  while President Obama believes the Muslim Brotherhood as having “legitimate grievances” both at home and abroad.

Faisal Gill: When Being Surveilled Becomes a Badge of Honor

Recently, former Bush appointee, former Republican Candidate for the Virginia Legislature and lawyer Faisal Gill spoke before an audience at the Newseum, on the subject of “Privacy V.S. Security: A Conversation.” Gill was elevated to the position of subject matter expert on the discussion of NSA Surveillance and legal privacy concerns based on his own experience, having been surveilled electronically at the request of the FBI, and in a manner entirely legal according to current law, as Gill himself admitted.

Gill professed himself shocked to discover that the FBI was monitoring his communications, and posited that it was due to his religion (Gill is a Muslim originally born in Karachi Pakistan). Gill limited his discussion of the controversy regarding his tenure at the Department of Homeland Security to describing it as the effect of “a Salon article” regarding Gill’s association as a “spokesman” with The American Muslim Council and the Islamic Institute, and having met convicted Al Qaeda financier Adurrahman Alamoudi a few times and that Alamoudi was arrested for attempting to assassinate the then Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

Gill did not bother to mention that Alamoudi was in fact the founder of the American Muslim Council, and a financial supporter of the Islamic Institute and an open supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah. Nor did Gill note that Alamoudi was identified as being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing Trial. The Islamic Institute was established by Republican activist Grover Norquist (for an exhaustive statement of facts on Alamoudi and Norquist’s MB associations see CSP Press’s “Agent of Influence: Grover Norquist and the Assault on the Right), with whom Gill was also associated.

As  the author of that Salon.com article, Mary Jacoby noted at the time:

“The ties among Alamoudi, the Muslim Brotherhood and Gill help explain why officials are concerned about whether Gill was adequately vetted. These relationships are difficult to understand without immersion in the indictments, court transcripts and case exhibits; the concerned officials said they fear that busy political operatives in the administration simply do not grasp the national-security issues at stake. “There’s an overall denial in the administration that the agenda being pushed by Norquist might be a problem,” one official said. “It’s so absurd that a Grover Norquist person could even be close to something like this. That’s really what’s so insidious.”

The revelation that Faisal Gill was surveilled at the request of the FBI ought to have been vindication of the questions raised regarding his background and troubling associations. Indeed of the seven individual Muslim leaders mentioned by Glenn Greenwald in the piece exposing Gill’s surveillance, two (Anwar Alwaki and Samir Khan) were Al Qaeda terrorists killed by hellfire missiles, and four out of remaining five were individuals, like Gill, with known or suspected ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. (The fifth is known to have ties to Iranian government front organizations.)

Indeed of the other three individuals, Asim Ghafoor worked closely together with Gill, and the two were partners together at Gill’s law firm. Ghafoor was also the spokesman for a foundation (Global Relief Foundation) designated for financing Al Qaeda. Global Relief Foundation was also one of the charities CAIR (headed by Nihad Awad, also among those surveilled according to Greenwald) directed donations to following 9/11.

Indeed, far from showing that the U.S. government engaged in surveilling Muslim who have absolutely nothing in common except their faith as Gill alleges, the reality is that the individuals have EVERYTHING in common, most especially a series of overlapping associations and connections which has the Muslim Brotherhood as the pivot point. Yet its precisely the surveillance reevaluation which is now being used as an excuse to rehabilitate Gill’s image as a noble victim of government surveillance overreach.

Hunting Known Wolves

The Sydney Siege once again reminded us that terrorist so popularly characterized as nigh undetectable “Lone Wolves” are really nothing of the sort. Rather they are “Known” wolves. That is, far from being invisible, they are terrorists who have had repeated brushes with intelligence or law enforcement but against whom no action was taken. The phenomenon suggests, that, far from what critics like Glenn Greenwald would have us believe, government surveillance efforts actually do work.  Should we really be outraged that some 280,000 individuals have made the U.S. electronic surveillance list despite having “no known affiliation”? It’s a designation which includes those comparable to Sydney hostage taker Sheikh Haron, who did not declare his allegiance to the Islamic State until the beginning of December only a week or two before his terrorist attack which killed two, injured more, and drew non-stop media attention.

The problem of course is that even though individuals are perhaps being surveiled for their support for jihad, whether abroad or domestically, or perhaps even publicly advocating for violence, this doesn’t always put them within the range of a prosecutable crime.

While material support laws may come into effect for those conducting propaganda on behalf of declared terrorist groups (Al Qaeda, Hamas, etc), a generic call to wage jihad or “slay the unbelievers wherever you find them” may be alarming, but would not, under U.S. law, necessarily be illegal. Nor should it be. Freedom of speech is an inalienable right, and a cherished western freedom. In places where hate speech laws exist, the tendency has been for them to be enforced in a one-sided manner which actually leaves pro-Jihadi preachers alone while targeting those who oppose them.

What options are available? Firstly, law enforcement efforts to introduce informants to prospective terrorists or conduct “stings.” Such operations have proven highly effective at ferreting out and leading to the successful prosecution of would-be jihadists before they strike. This can be done in online chatrooms, but also needs to be permissible in all places where these “unaffiliated” potential “known wolves” congregate, including mosques aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood or other groups who play a role in indoctrination for jihad, as well as Muslim Student Associations, and other area “incubators.” To be successful however, informants and undercover operatives need to be able to talk the talk, which requires an understanding of jihad doctrine, which cannot be effectively done without understanding Shariah law.

Of course for this precise reason the use of informants and sting tactics have been under incredible pressure by Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and far-left groups, as I have previously written. Despite what Al Jazeera and groups like Human Rights Watch say, law enforcement stings are not “human rights violations” but a necessary counterterrorism tactic.

Secondly, In the U.S., federal law enforcement are reluctant to name jihadist attacks as terrorism which creates a need for state-level options. One possibility is “Andy’s Law,” named for Private Andy Long, killed by supposedly “lone wolf” Carlos Bledsoe. Andy’s Law works to strengthen state-level material support for terrorism statutes by both increasing criminal penalties and greatly increasing the civil liability of individuals and entities which provide material support for terrorism.

In civil court, under Andy’s Law, someone who commits an act of terrorism or supports terrorism would be subjected to attorney fees, plus treble damages. This creates a civil cause of action for a victim of terror, which means it incentivizes attorneys to come to the victim’s support and to go after an entity suspected of radicalizing them. The possibility of civil action creates the opportunity for legal “discovery” which in turn helps bring to public view more information about how jihadist incubators radicalize adherents. Andy’s Law has already passed in a number of states.

There may be other possible avenues for reform which could help crack down on would-be jihadists without hampering free speech, and a discussion of what reforms would be necessary should take place. But it is long past time to stop feigning helplessness, simply because would-be terrorists subscribe to a violent ideology, rather than swearing allegiance to a specific violent group. Let’s stop hiding behind the moniker of lone wolves, and make the changes that are necessary to help law enforcement start hunting.

Man arrested for threatening Ferguson police may have ties to radical group lauded by CAIR

A Washington State man arrested for issuing interstate threats targeting Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson may have ties to the radical Islamist group known as “Al-Ummah” led by Jamil Abdullah Amin and Luqman Abdullah, two radical imams recently lauded by a Council on American Islamic Relations representative on a phone conference for the Muslims for Ferguson group as reported by Fox News.

Jaleel Tariq Abdul-Jabber, a Kirkland, Washington man and former convicted felon, was arrested for allegedly threatening to murder police in connection to ongoing protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Abdul-Jabber, whose social media profile indicates that he self-identifies as a Muslim, reportedly wrote numerous threats targeting Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson, as well as other law enforcement officers. According to press reports the complaint alleges that Abdul-Jabber engaged in making “interstate threats,” including:

“Then we can find where that cop’s child goes to school at and hope that the same can be returned back to that white [racial slur],” he allegedly wrote according to the charging documents. On Aug. 30, Abdul-Jabbaar allegedly reposted a news report claiming video surveillance contradicted the official story of what had happened during the Ferguson shooting, writing “we really need to start killing the police.” Other messages and posts included “I would love to smoke a white motha [expletive] cop,” as well as “We the oppressed people need to kill this white cop” along with a repost of a news story containing Wilson’s address. On Nov. 11, Abdul-Jabbaar allegedly wrote “Are there any REAL BLACK MEN that would love to go down to Ferguson Missouri to give back those bullets to Police Officer [D.W.] fired into the body of Mike Brown. If we’re unable to locate Officer [D.W.], then We’ll return them to his wife and if not her then his children.”

In response to a news article relating the story of two FBI agents shot while serving a warrant in Ferguson, Abdul-Jabber wrote, “this is how you put your work in, thats what the f*** I’m talk’n about.”

“Put in work” is a slang term often used to refer to engaging in illegal or criminal activity, typically on behalf of a crew or gang.

Abdul-Jabber’s social media profile indicates he was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the groups joined by Abdul-Jabber on Facebook is a Philadelphia Mosque, the Majilis Ashura of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, which was a co-sponsor of a 2011 event entitled “A CONVERSATION ON THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF IMAM JAMIL ABDULLAH AL-AMIN — The former H. Rap Brown.”  A Facebook page established for Imam Jamil Abdullah Amin lists Abdul-Jabber as a friend, while Abdul-Jabber’s Facebook friends list has apparently been purged. A post on the Majilis Ashura Facebook page from November 5th of this year features a youtube video posted by one of the Masjid’s Imams, showing young men conducting firearms drills.


Additionally,Majilis Ashura also lists on its website a connection to the Jawala Scouts, an Islamic paramilitary youth group, which engages in firearms training, survival skills, and hand to hand combat training. A Facebook page established for the Jawala Scouts lists Abdul-Jabber as a friend. The Jawala Scouts are associated with Luqman Al-Haq, aka Kenny Gamble, being registered at the same physical space as his Universal Muslim Movement. Gamble is a famed former musician, but also known for allegedly attempting to create a Muslim-only enclave in Philadelphia. Gamble sits on the board of the Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA), together with the (now deceased) Luqman Abdullah, and Jamil Abdullah Amin was instrumental in the founding of MANA according to webpage dedicated to Amin:

Last month, on a balmy, spring day in Philadelphia, 18 Muslim leaders met and resolved to further the process of establishing a new national organization–the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA). The purpose of MANA as stated in its mission statement is to pursue an agenda that reflects the points of view and experiences of the indigenous Muslims of North America and one that addresses their needs and aspirations. The effort to form an alliance for indigenous Muslims is not new. MANA is merely part of the continuing struggle to unite Muslims in America. However, this particular initiative began almost two years ago when Imam Jamil Al-Amin made a call for the formation of such an alliance.

In addition to his support for Al-Amin, and ties to the paramilitary Jawala Scouts linked to Gamble, on November 28th, Abdul-Jabbar shared a link to the CAIR-Washington Chapter  Facebook Page discussing CAIR efforts to encourage Muslims not to talk to Federal Law Enforcement. A similar story, also by CAIR, was shared on the Muslims for Ferguson Facebook group on the same day that the call discussed the FBI shooting which killed Imam Luqman Abdullah.

Although there is no immediate evidence to suggest that Abdul-Jabber was a participant in the Muslims for Ferguson phone conference (he is not listed as a supporter on the group’s facebook page, although several other members of the Masjid Ashura of Philadelphia facebook group were), there is reason to suspect that Abdul-Jabber may have some connection to the Al-Ummah group. The possibility that Abdul-Jabber may have ties to a group training for future conflict with law enforcement deserved deeper investigation by the appropriate authorities.

The threat of violence from radicalized elements in the African American Muslim community remains present. As we have previously reported, Zale Thompson –who was shot and killed while attacking NYPD officers with a hatchet- also expressed support for the Al-Ummah Imam by featuring multiple Jamil Abdullah Amin videos in a youtube video playlist linked to his account.

Given the willingness and ability of Al-Amin followers to engage in violence, CAIR’s efforts to link Al-Ummah leader Luqman Abdullah with the Ferguson protests continues to represent a very real potential threat to the safety of local, state and federal law enforcement.

White House Refuses to Designate MB a Terror Group-But Why Now?

The Blaze is reporting that the WhiteHouse.gov petition site, where the administration has previously said it would respond to issues which receive over 100,000 signatures, has finally responded to a year long request to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. In addressing the petition, the response says only:

We have not seen credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood has renounced its decades-long commitment to non-violence. The United States does not condone political violence of any kind and we continue to press actors of all viewpoints to peacefully engage in the political process. The United States is committed to thwarting terrorist groups that pose a threat to U.S. interests and those of our partners.

The refusal of the administration to denounce the Muslim Brotherhood is entirely unsurprising.  The Obama Administration has repeatedly associated with Muslim Brotherhood-linked individuals and organizations on a wide variety of topics, from domestic counterterrorism, to international “democracy promotion.” The White House response ignores the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in engaging in violence in Egypt following the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, as well as its role in fundraising for designated terrorist organization Hamas. What is particularly interesting about this announcement appears to be the timing.

Although the petition received over the requisite number of responses within 30 days of its first posting in July of 2013, the Obama Administration chose now to reply. It seems likely this is a subtle response to the decision by the United Arab Emirates to name the Council on American Islamic Relations, and the Muslim American Society, two known Muslim Brotherhood front groups, as terrorist organizations.  For one the reply comes at a time when the U.A.E has doubled down on its terrorism declaration, as Ryan Mauro of Clarion Project reported:

UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was asked about the specific designations of CAIR and MAS as terrorists. “We cannot accept incitement or [terror] funding when we look at some of these organizations. For many countries, the definition of terror is that you have to carry a weapon and terrorize people. For us, it’s far beyond that. We cannot tolerate even the smallest and tiniest amount of terrorism,” he answered.

Additionally, rather than agree with the UAE and tightening up of Muslim Brotherhood-linked terror finance, The U.S.  recently dropped a suspected terror funder with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood from its Special Designated Nationals list. Finally, there is the language.  In particular, the response notes that the U.S. “remains committed to thwarting terrorist groups that pose a threat to U.S. interests and those of our partners.” Given that it is one of those partners, the U.A.E., which is anxious to see the Muslim Brotherhood listed, this seems a not so subtle jab at the U.A.E’s concerns as either unfounded, or else, questioning U.A.E’s status as an “ally.”

It seems that the Administration intends to continue its course of outreach and association with Muslim Brotherhood groups, and continue to reject the encouragement-both by allies, and the American people, to finally reject cooperation with, and instead designate the Muslim Brotherhood for its role in “incitement or [terror] funding.”