09/25/13 Kenyan attack reminds us of the need for vigilance against the threat of Islamist radicalism

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MEDIA CONTACTS:         Gregg Edgar

Gordon C. James Public Relations

gedgar@gcjpr.com

602-690-7977

 

Kenyan attack reminds us of the need for vigilance against the threat of Islamist radicalism

Reported presence of American jihadist involvement clearly demonstrates the threat of radicalization

 PHOENIX (September 25, 2013) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith” released the following statement on behalf of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) regarding the recent attacks in Kenya and the revelation that Somali-American’s perpetrated this heinous crime.

“The recent terror attacks in Kenya thought to be committed by the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab are a stark reminder that not only is the battle against terrorism and Al Qaeda affiliates as dangerous as ever but homegrown Islamist radicals right here in the US can wreak havoc upon Americans and our allies both at home and abroad.

Only a few days after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) disseminated its so-called report on “Islamophobia” where they falsely and malignantly listed our Muslim group as “anti-Muslim”, the fact that American Muslims from Minnesota and Missouri have been identified among the militant Islamists responsible should be a clear reminder of how groups like CAIR both conceal and often facilitate the radicalization of American Muslims in the United States. Representatives of CAIR, like Dawud Walid from their Michigan chapter are on record repeatedly when discussing al-Shabaab to American Muslims telling American Muslim youth for example that “9 out of 10 times the person trying to influence you over the internet is not even real…it’s someone with the government trying to set you up.” He even casts doubt on whether Al-Shabaab is a terrorist organization. Yet when courageous American Muslims do speak out about radicalization in some mosques and among American Muslim groups, CAIR calls them “anti-Muslim”.

To that point, I testified to the House Committee on Homeland Security in March 2011 on American Muslim radicalization. I was proud to be joined by Abdirizak Bihi, a courageous American Muslim of Somali origin whose important testimony highlighted exactly the threat we again sadly realized this weekend. As he testified back in 2011, his work with other reform minded American Muslim Somali organizations constantly strove to prevent the disappearance of Somali youth to the jihad in Somalia.

When Minnesotans learned of Minnesota Muslims missing in Somalia, he was targeted by CAIR who joined some local Imams in telling Muslims to remain silent and not rush to work with the FBI on cases of missing American Somalis. He called out Imams and Islamic centers which glorified the Al-Shabaab and the jihad in Somalia. In exchange for that tough love to Minnesota Muslims, groups like CAIR labeled him and his colleague in Minnesota Omar Jamal as “anti-Muslim”. As the perpetrators of this weekend’s terror are brought to justice, I hope and pray the American public at the same time begins to remove the false veneer of victimization from groups like CAIR. Americans are beginning to realize the deep harm which CAIR’s denials about Islamism and false attacks upon other Muslims who care about our country and faith has upon our national security.

Also important to note here is that CAIR darling and fundraiser, Cong. Keith Ellison who testified at the same hearing in March 2011 has done virtually nothing to expose the radicalization of Muslims near his district in Minnesota while working with obstructionist American Islamists like CAIR. In fact he ignored all of Abdirizak Bihi’s testimony and in fact pathetically smeared him by saying that his courageous testimony to congress was “only invited to testify because he’s willing to diss the Somali and Muslim community in Minneapolis.” One can’t help but ask today after this weekend’s horrific attacks at Westgate, who was more honest in their dedication to national security and faith Mr. Bihi or Mr. Ellison?”

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

9/11/13 The Reason Syria is vital to U.S. national security

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Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

An American Muslim of Syrian descent makes the case that President Obama failed to do

PHOENIX (August 20, 2013) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith” released the following statement on behalf of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) regarding why the United States needs to engage in Syria.

“The use of American military power should never be taken lightly.  It is the highest duty that any Commander-in-chief can undertake.  It deserves thoughtful and full deliberation that delivers a strategy that is in the best interest of America’s national security.

The conflict in Syria has at long last sparked debate about Syria’s import to the security of the United States.  Unfortunately that debate has taken place after over 110,000 Syrians were killed by their genocidal leader and his military.  It has also been mired in a false narrative that the choice in Syria is a binary decision between the secular fascist Bashar Assad and the theocratic fascists of Al Qaeda. That narrative ignores the fact that there are more than 22 million Syrians who simply long for freedom.

What is the case for action? This isn’t about 1,400 people being killed by a chemical attack. This isn’t even about the 110,000 killed over 30 months – though those both should be enough. The stakes in Syria are about the direct threat to the United States from a rogue puppet nation of the Iranians that is directly tied to terrorism from Hizballah.  It is about the United States standing on principle and for the right of all people across the world to declare freedom from tyranny.  It is about the fact that Syria sits at the crossroads of the Middle East. The defense of liberty in Syria is for the hope of a secular, democratic Syria that recognizes that its power is derived from the consent of its people which could rewrite the destiny of the Middle East as much as the converse- a Syria that is allowed to be folded completely under the wing of an emboldened Iran that has chemical and nuclear capability.

While we may be war weary in the United States, we are not ready to write-off the next generation as being post-American.

There is no doubt that for 30 months President Obama and his Administration have mostly ignored if not mishandled Syria.  There is no doubt that they still have yet to create a national strategy for regime change despite explicitly calling for it in August 2011.  Instead, now the narrative has changed from regime change to punishment for chemical weapons to now the hope of a diplomatic and political solution brokered by Assad’s pal Putin. Congress should now turn around and direct our President to take back the lead and call the Russians on their lies over the past 30 months in Syria while telling rather than asking the psychopathic dictator of Syria how he is going to end his regime.

The world cannot stand by and allow chemical weapons to be used.  We cannot stand by while another 100,000 are killed and millions more are driven from their homes. The U.S. cannot stand by and let Iran develop hegemony over the region and spread their anti-Americanism for generations to come. We cannot stand by and leave a void against Iran, Hizballah, and Assad that is filled by Jihadists supported by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Assad like his father is a tyrant and a pathological liar who will do anything to maintain power.  His continued presence as the President of Syria will mean that tens of thousands more will die.  We have already seen that inaction by this White House has bred the radicalization of the Syrian people and turned Syria into the world’s biggest factory of jihadists.  It has created a vacuum that Al Qaeda and the Islamists in Turkey, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are more than happy to fill.

The President has finally woken up from his slumber over Syria. The speech he should have given in August 2011, he gave on September 10, 2013. Now can Congress keep its attention on Syria long enough to demand that our Commander-in-chief formulate and then lead with a coherent strategy rather than a reflexive short-sighted muddle?

We may be witnessing the end of America’s influence in the world as a superpower. That also means the end of any potent advocate or protectors of those who seek freedom in the world. Syria is not only about freedom for Syrian citizens, it is about regional security from Iran, Hizballah, Al Qaeda, and Jihadists and the protection of our ally, Israel.”

 

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

MEDIA CONTACTS:         Gregg Edgar,  Gordon C. James Public Relations,  gedgar@gcjpr.com,  602-690-7977

8/28/13 The West’s Denial at Fort Hood

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Read the article at National Review Online

We ignore Nidal Hasan’s trial — and continue to underrate the Islamist threat — at our peril.

The idea that America has been so successful in its war on terror that we have not been attacked since 9/11 is a lie. If the past few weeks should have taught us anything, it is that. Of course, we cannot blame people for buying into this lie — how much has been reported on the trial and conviction of Army major and psychiatrist Nidal Hasan? Very little, indeed. America’s attention has been elsewhere.

It’s not that the media doesn’t know how to cover what it deems an important trial. Recently, our national media and culture could not get enough of the George Zimmerman or Jodi Arias trials. The Zimmerman case received 96 stories in the New York Times and Jodi Arias received blanket coverage (along with George Zimmerman) on cable, radio, and television news. According to the research service LexisNexis, Jodi Arias was the subject of almost 1,800 stories on cable and network television this year while George Zimmerman rated well over 3,000. The Hasan case? Just about 400 since January. As for Hasan and the New York Times? A grand total of 23 stories up until his conviction.

But while Hasan’s trial may be deemed of less consequence by the media, it should not be. Indeed, the Hasan case, including his entire biography and modus operandi, should be taking up at least the same amount of media attention as the Zimmerman and Arias trials. The Hasan case should also have Americans marching in the streets. Beyond the horrific events of November 5, 2009, Hasan’s case contains within it a microcosm of the entire domestic and global threat we face from jihadism and Islamism.

 

First, the idea that America hasn’t been attacked since 9/11 is, as we stated, a lie. There have been over 45 planned terrorist attacks against the United States that have been thwarted. Second, there have been a handful of successful ones as well, with killings from Arkansas to Boston to Los Angeles and near misses from Times Square to Detroit and Toronto. But the Hasan story is the most egregious, and the least appreciated. If 9/11 did not wake Americans up to the lethal dangers of radical Islam once and for all, Nidal Hasan should have. If Americans cannot be kept safe from a Muslim terrorist inside an Army fort in Texas, they cannot be kept safe anywhere.

In the early morning of November 5, 2009, Hasan left his apartment in Killeen, Texas, to attend morning prayers at his mosque. Several hours later, he walked into the Soldier Readiness Center at Ft. Hood, he sat down, he bowed his head, and then he stood up and shot to death 13 of his fellow Americans and an unborn child (he also wounded 30 others). As he emptied 100 rounds into his fellow Americans, he shouted “Allahu akbar,” Allah is great. There was so much blood on the floor, according to one first responder, that those trying to get to the victims to help them had a hard time doing so without slipping and falling.

But a lot took place before that morning that should have kept Hasan from even being in Texas, or in the military at all. During his time at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, before he was transferred to Ft. Hood, Major Hasan was exceedingly vocal in his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He openly opposed those wars based on his religious views. But nothing was done.

Two years before the Ft. Hood attack, Major Hasan gave a PowerPoint presentation at Walter Reed titled “Why the War on Terror Is a War on Islam.” But nothing was done. Some of his fellow officers complained about him to their superiors. But nothing was done.

The PowerPoint contained statements from Hasan such as, “It’s getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims.” It contained violent excerpts from the Koran. And Hasan’s PowerPoint concluded with a quote from Osama bin Laden: “We love death more than you love life.”

The following year, a group of fellow Army physicians met to ask themselves if they thought Hasan might be “psychotic.” “Everybody felt that if you were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, you would not want Nidal Hasan in your foxhole,” said one. But nothing was done . . . except to transfer Hasan to Ft. Hood.

And just as Hasan didn’t keep quiet at Walter Reed, neither did he hold his tongue at Ft. Hood. Hasan’s record at Ft. Hood includes telling his medical supervisor there that “she was an infidel who would be ‘ripped to shreds’ and ‘burn in hell’ because she was not Muslim.” But nothing was done. Nidal Hasan made personal business cards; they mentioned no affiliation with the United States military but underneath his name on the cards, listed his profession as “SOA,” or “Soldier of Allah.” But nothing was done. And, finally, Hasan was in frequent e-mail contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical Muslim cleric who, even then, had been implicated in at least two other terrorist plots in America and had since fled to Yemen. But nothing was done. Indeed, taking all of this into account, it is difficult to imagine just what more Nidal Hasan could have done to broadcast his lethal views and intentions. According to an L.A. Times report, documents indicate that “months before the Ft. Hood shooting . . . [Hasan’s] military supervisors praised his unique interest in Islam’s impact on soldiers . . . repeatedly recommending him for promotion.”

 

8/21/13 Syrian nerve gas attack latest genocidal act of tyrannical Assad regime

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Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Syrian nerve gas attack latest genocidal act of tyrannical Assad regime

Enough is enough with Syrian death toll well over 100,000 redlines have vanished and the U.S. must provide genuine leadership

PHOENIX (August 21, 2013) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim and author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith” released the following statement on behalf of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) following reports of a nerve gas attack near Ghouta by the Syrian Army.

 “Reports indicate that the Syrian Army has killed hundreds with a nerve gas attack in the Ghouta region.  The Syrian Army fired rockets on civilians including women and children.  Medical experts on the ground indicate that incoming patients were convulsing and foaming at the mouth demonstrating classic nerve gas symptoms with little bomb trauma.

This attack is a significant escalation of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime and quite revealingly brazen considering the presence on the ground of apparently useless UN inspectors only a few miles away in Damascus.  The Assad regime clearly feels no restraint from attacking its own people with the most horrific weapons in its arsenal and shows no fear at all from any U.S. or western response.

Enough is enough – The Obama Administration needs to act. The current “Darwinian” Obama strategy will only allow the genocide to continue while the U.S. will be forever impotent in the future of Syria and the region. After over two years of wanton killing by Assadists, the U.S. is positioning itself squarely on the wrong side of history as over 100,000 Syrians have been killed and millions have been displaced from their homes by a genocidal tyrant. US inaction is only empowering and entrenching the evil of Assadists and their masters in Tehran while the Syrian people are left to be more and more radicalized or for dead.

Today’s use of chemical weapons flies yet again in the face of United Nations arms declarations. How much more evidence do we need in order to invoke the wrath of the world against the Assad regime? How much documentation from human rights organizations, media, and governments do we need to enforce international U.N. standards? If we have no doubt about the growing genocide in Syria and the crimes against humanity being committed, what purpose does the U.N. or NATO for that matter serve? It cannot be more clear that Assad will do anything to hold onto power.

More and more Syrian people are dying because the west is not engaged. Assad cannot be allowed to continue his barbarism. We are asking President Obama to step up and present a strategy that lays out for the leaders of the free world how they will usher the Assad regime into the dustbin of history!”

 

  

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

 

8/20/13 Al Jazeera opens propaganda front on US Shores

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Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Western veneer does not change ideological root of Qatari owned Islamist media

 

PHOENIX (August 20, 2013) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim and author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith” released the following statement on behalf of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) regarding the commencement of operations by Al Jazeera America.

“Imagine if at the height of the cold war the Soviet Union’s state run media Pravda had opened a major broadcasting arm that had access to over 50 million American homes.  The outrage would have been palpable. That outrage would have been led by American journalists who were offended that an American journalism label would be put on such a clearly state controlled message.

Fast forward to today as Al Jazeera America commences operations. Al Jazeera Media Group has been one of the greatest, if not the primary tool for the spread of Islamist ideas around the world. Meanwhile, the greatest threat to American security remains jihadist groups that are the byproduct of Islamist ideology which are fueled by an undercurrent of transnational political Islam.

Often trying to package itself as a legitimate global news service which adheres to Western standards of journalism, the reality is that Al Jazeera Media Group is wholly owned and operated by the government of Qatar and the royal family of the House of Thani. While they have attracted a number of high-profile American and Western journalists, Al Jazeera cannot disown themselves of the standards set by their own history, their operating government and family, and their close association with leading global Islamists like hate-monger Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi.

Qaradawi, a leading icon of Sunni Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood thought, broadcasts his anti-Semitic and anti-U.S. hatred on his program “Shariah and Life” on Al Jazeera Arabic to over 60 million homes across the world. He continues to have a travel ban to the UK and the U.S. because of his repeated advocacy for terror acts against Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Israelis. Sheikh Qaradawi’s programming has often been a clinic in sowing the seeds of virulent anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and deep-seeded sectarianism in the region.

Make no mistake. Regardless of the veneer of the product produced today on its Al Jazeera America brand, the total business model and ideological force of Al Jazeera Media Group is not compatible with liberal democracy and in fact is at odds with our Constitution and our national security.

As the Washington Post reported, there are a number of journalists like David Marash who have left Al Jazeera reporting endemic bias after short stints on the air. At the height of the war in Iraq, Al Jazeera served as the region’s central disseminator of horrific videos from Al Qaeda and the primary Islamist global influence operation against America. They blatantly misrepresented and exaggerated death tolls and incidents like Abu Ghraib.

Qatar hosts the world’s only foreign office of the militant Islamist Taliban and has just recently pledged $400 million to the militants of Hamas. Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations recently pointed out that “Qatar is no model for human rights, much less democracy.” This government which has deep problems with forced labor and human trafficking among many other human rights violations described by Human Rights Watch will be writing the paychecks of its American reporters and those who begin to give them advertising space.

The Arab Awakening is an opportunity not a destination. While the White House sleeps and presents no foreign policy strategy or doctrine, Islamists are putting their global influence operations into high gear to fill the vacuum.  Al Jazeera is clearly positioning itself to fill that vacuum with an operation that will package the news from Qatar to our own shores in a way that keeps the Islamist ship headed towards populist victories across the 56 Muslim majority nations.

Sadly, The New York Times this morning heralded the launch of Al Jazeera America as a “more sober look at the news.” Clearly the Times has little to no palpable concern over the journalistic hypocrisy peddled by the American arm of the Al Jazeera global operation.

Adding the thin covering of western anchors such as Soledad O’Brien and Ali Velshi cannot erase Al Jazeera’s Islamist roots. While Al Jazeera may not be airing live rants from Qardawi on this channel, the ideological influence at home base Qatar cannot disappear regardless of their denials.

Their access to American homes will give this foreign government owned organization unearned legitimacy in the American public space.

 

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS:         Gregg Edgar

Gordon C. James Public Relations

gedgar@gcjpr.com

602-690-7977

8/16/13: USCIRF Condemns Violence in Egypt

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August 16, 2013: USCIRF Condemns Violence in Egypt
 

For Immediate Release

August 16, 2013 | by USCIRF

USCIRF Condemns Violence in Egypt

USCIRF is deeply concerned by the violence against protestors and the targeting of churches in Egypt.  The government’s excessive use of force when breaking up protests, the high number of deaths, the return to a state of emergency, and the targeting of Christians by extremists are all profoundly troubling. USCIRF recognizes the grave issues at stake related to democracy, rule of law, and human rights in Egypt, and the Commission is particularly concerned about the immediate threats to religious minority communities.

“The level of violence against Coptic Christians, their property and businesses is unprecedented in modern Egypt, both in its scope and the number of churches and structures attacked,” said USCIRF Chairman Robert George.  “This could portend even worse violence ahead if the situation is not brought under control.  Assaulting religious minorities is not a legitimate form of protest against government action.” 

Continued Chairman George, “Copts in particular, as well as other religious minorities, are among the most vulnerable to extremist reprisal violence. Thus far, churches have been attacked.  But next could be indiscriminate violent acts targeting individuals and groups of Christians.  USCIRF calls on the Egyptian government to immediately ensure the protection of places of worship and urges justice and accountability for perpetrators, both inside and outside of government.  Impunity should not be allowed to prevail during such turbulent times.”

The Egyptian government confirmed that on August 14 more than 600 people were killed and thousands more injured after Egyptian security services dispersed a sit-in staged by former President Morsi’s supporters.  NGOs report that more than 50 Coptic Christian churches have been attacked across Egypt after the protest sites were cleared.

In USCIRF’s 2013 Annual Report, the Commission recommended that Egypt be designated as a “country of particular concern” for particularly severe violations of religious freedom and that U.S. military aid be withheld until the Egyptian government has demonstrated it is implementing policies to protect freedom of religion and related human rights in Egypt.  For more information, see the Annual Report’s Egypt chapter, available here.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at (202)523-3258 or media@uscirf.gov

8/15/13 CIS has a Poor Record on Religious Freedom

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Source: The Moscow Times

15 August 2013 | Issue 5192

This month marks the 22nd anniversary of the “August putsch,” in which hardline Communists held Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev under virtual house arrest for several days at his dacha in the Crimea. They sought to crush democratic reforms, including expanded autonomy for the Soviet republics. Who can forget Boris Yeltsinstanding on a tank in defiance of the coup attempt, or the Soviet Union’s dissolution several months later, leading to freedom and independence for the Soviet republics?

Yet a generation later, some of these republics are reminiscent of the old Soviet Union as they commit serious human rights violations, particularly through enacting and enforcing laws against freedom of religion or belief.
As the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF,  detailed in its 2013 annual report, the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan fit the congressionally established criteria for countries of particular concern, or CPC, marking them as some of the world’s most egregious religious freedom abusers.

Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/cis-has-a-poor-record-on-religious-freedom/484641.html#ixzz2cA66kiZp
The Moscow Times

8/9/13 Commentary: Threading the needle of democracy in Egypt, Jewish News

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M. ZUHDI JASSER

In a word, Egypt is a mess. But which democracies in history arose from order? Which tyrannical dictatorships ended their regimes with an epiphany in favor of freedom and gave their nation an orderly exit?

The hope and promise of a democratic awakening of the “Arab spring” that rocked Cairo and the Egyptian people in January 2011 has given way to the grim realities of a society long cultivated by tyranny. One year cannot right the course of democracy away from two generations of tyranny and corruption.

Make no mistake. The removal of President Mohammed Morsi on July 3 by Egyptian military generals was certainly not a democratic act, especially when delivered by the hands of essentially the same military that subjected Egypt to 60 years of despotism.

A coup or an act of people? Call it what you wish. Ending the tyranny of Hosni Mubarak was also less than democratic, but in the end similarly deserved. But with Mubarak’s military back in control, are the people of Egypt being duped? For Egyptians, one year of Muslim Brotherhood rule left a fear that time was running out for a course correction back to the road toward democracy. Iran taught the world what a difference just a few years can make in the post-revolutionary Islamist power grab that overcame Iran in the early ’80s.

In just 12 short months, true to his Islamist DNA, Morsi proceeded to lock himself in control, real democracy be damned. He interpreted his narrow electoral win as a mandate to do as he pleased. He paid heed only to his role as an Islamist ideologue in power rather than as the first democratically elected president of Egypt. He ran roughshod over any foundations for Egypt’s future. Morsi gave himself immunity from judicial review in November 2012 – a brazen move that put the wheels of mass protest back into action. He then appointed either hardcore Muslim Brotherhood faithful or even more extreme Jamaat Islamiya to coveted regional governorships. The constitutional process marginalized minorities and women, ending up an Islamist manifesto. His economic policies ushered in worsening food and fuel shortages, devalued currency and vanishing tourism. His foreign policy isolated Egypt from the free world and moved the nation into the inflammatory Islamist orbit of Hamas and Iran.

Rather than a founding father, he was the grim reaper of the revolution. Instead of speaking to all citizens, the constitution and new presidency spoke only to Islamists. At best, he implemented a majoritocracy. At worst, he set into motion an Islamist theocracy.

History shows that revolutions that arise from the ashes of tyranny will not easily deliver the will of the people. Generational institutions of democracy must be built from the ground up in progressive stages. The journey must begin with foundational principles that provide checks and balances to protect against tyranny. Those cannot only rest in elections. The rule of law and defense of the individual and minorities is essential or else the tyranny of dictatorship will be replaced by mob-ocracy.

Democracy for Egypt is a destination. Elections do not a democracy make.

Has Morsi’s Islamist power grab now given the authoritarian National Democratic Party (NDP)-dominated military the cover it needs to slide back to the era of Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak? Sadly, the imprisonment and torture of Morsi’s hierarchy is now making that case.

The last week’s increasing violence, with hundreds killed and thousands injured, demonstrates that the Islamists are best at stoking violence and becoming martyrs and the military only knows the iron fist. What was to be a course correction can easily devolve into civil war or the old Darwinian battle between the two evils that the Middle East has known too well.

If there is anything that Egypt should learn from the last year, it’s that one year of an open society did more to set back the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist cohorts than 60 years of authoritarian measures by Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak.

Egypt does not need hasty elections. It needs a strategic road map prodded by the free world for the next few years that ultimately aims toward civilian control of the military on top of a constitutional democracy that enshrines real freedom and equality for all. That was the dream of a better Egypt that brought millions to the streets against the Islamists on July 13 as well as against the NDP in January 2011. Only the United States can help them thread this needle in the critical coming few years.

Saad Ibrahim, one of Egypt’s genuinely liberal reformers, told Bari Weiss of the Wall Street Journal in February 2011 that holding elections in only six to 12 months was “not wise” and instead astutely recommended “putting them off for several years to allow alternative groups to mature.” A half-baked democracy is not only a recipe for failure but also can falsely taint for generations the taste of real freedom. It took only one year to prove Ibrahim right. The old adage applies that democracies based only in elections are no different from three wolves and a lamb voting on the dinner menu.

While the Brotherhood only received 25 percent of the vote the first time, it was a fait accompli for them to win in the runoff against Mohammed Shafik, Mubarak’s old Air Force commander. Secular non-Islamist groups were far more repressed than even the Islamists under the 60 years of NDP so the skill-sets, ideologies and know-how of forming liberal democratic groups were only yet beginning to hatch. In fact, if the one year of Brotherhood rule did anything well, it was the catalyst for the unification of disparate political groups into a mass of humanity that rejected Islamism.

However the rejection of Islamism does not a platform make for the economic, political and pluralistic future of Egypt. A rush too quick to correct the course will only swing the pendulum back to secular despotism.

It is imperative during this Revolution 2.0 that the Obama administration learns from the bevy of mistakes it made in 2011 and play an active public leadership role in helping the Egyptians shape their democracy. Threatening our aid to coerce the right actions now may be warranted, but it also was during Morsi’s reign in which President Obama and Ambassador Anne Patterson were oddly silent.

Egypt remains at a tipping point. Syria is proof of what can happen when a ruthless genocidal regime runs into a people demanding freedom. Egypt may be heading there. The U.S. cannot continue to sit out these changes and hand the direction of change to a Darwinian “survival of the fittest” influenced by either the forces of theocracy, autocracy or corruption in the region, including Iran, Qatar, Turkey or Saudi Arabia.

Many protesters balked at President Obama and Ambassador Patterson as being in league with their new oppressors – the Muslim Brotherhood. Sen. Ted Cruz noted, “The United States is – in both perception and reality – entrenched as the partner of a repressive, Islamist regime and the enemy of the secular, pro-democracy opposition.” The White House instead dug in its heels, bizarrely stating, “We do not take sides on political parties.”

In the end, the defeat of the Brotherhood will not be a reality until the ideology of Islamism is dissected by democratic groups in Egypt, a feat the NDP types could never do. The new government needs to ensure the right of nonviolent Brotherhood ideologues to exist under the banner of free speech. Historically, bad ideas are not defeated by making them illegal. Such was the case with Soviet communism. Similarly Islamism and the Brotherhood flourished when they were relegated to the underground without an open challenge to their ideals and principles. The new interim government needs to step back from unwarranted arrests and create a space to openly challenge and defeat Islamist ideas.

In our ADHD world, we have a tendency to want to wrap these situations up over a weekend and move on. The reality is tipping points come once in a millennium or less and they tip over years to decades not weeks to months. If we want real national security at home and abroad, we need to take sides inside Egypt, get our hands dirty and demonstrate to the people in the streets that the freedoms we have are worth the effort. Liberty needs nurturing if it is to have a chance in an environment whose recent memory has only seen tyranny.

M. Zuhdi Jasser is author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith” and also president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix.

8/9/13 AIFD Wishes Muslims a Blessed Eid Al-Fitr

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHOENIX (August 9, 2013) – Muslims around the world commemorated the end of their month long daily fast of Ramadan on Thursday, August 8, 2013 with the Holiday of the Feast (Eid al-Fitr). Eid al-Fitr is celebrated in congregational prayer, the giving of gifts and gathering over meals.

 To all our Muslim friends and supporters, we at the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) wish you a most blessed Eid al-Fitr. May your fasts be accepted and your prayers answered. As we celebrate Eid al-Fitr, may we commit to carry the awareness of our blessings throughout the year, the humility of Ramadan never straying from our hearts. Allow us to see every day as an opportunity to appreciate and strive for freedom, for liberty, and for universal human rights. These commitments are a service to God and to our country. May we remain grateful and committed to service, never taking for granted the blessings of freedom, of health, and of living in this great nation. 

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

 

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MEDIA CONTACTS:         Gregg Edgar

Gordon C. James Public Relations

gedgar@gcjpr.com

602-690-7977

8/7/13 Prison and 600 lashes for criticizing Saudi religious leaders is barbaric

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 Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Prison and 600 lashes for criticizing Saudi religious leaders is barbaric

President Obama needs to call on the Saudi government to immediately release Raif Badawi

 PHOENIX (August 7, 2013) – Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim and author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith” released the following statement on behalf of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) regarding Saudi Arabia’s sentencing of liberal Muslim journalist Raif Badawi for essentially holding a discussion on the role of religion in society and government:

 “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s latest attack on liberal activists and individual human rights cannot be ignored and allowed to stand. America’s silence against our so-called ally, Saudi Arabia, is an embarrassment and appears to the champions of freedom around the world to be complicit.

On July 29, Saudi judge Faris Al-Harbi, handed down a typically draconian interpretation of Shariah law to Raif Badawi for supposedly “insulting Islam,” a charge Badawi vehemently denies. His subsequent sentence to 600 lashes and 7 years in prison is pure barbarism and the State Department’s response of being “deeply concerned” is woefully inappropriate.

Badawi’s crime? He founded a free “liberal” Muslim website, in many ways similar to our own at AIFD and so many of our liberal Muslim allies, that questions the role of religion in society and thus allegedly insults religious authorities. Badawi is the editor of the Free Saudi Liberals website and was arrested in Jeddah in June 2012 and charged with setting up a website that undermines general security, ridiculing Islamic religious figures and going beyond the realm of obedience. The crime of apostasy, which carries a mandatory death penalty in Saudi Arabia, was leveled against him as well, but the judge threw out the apostasy charge bizarrely claiming leniency.

This charge and sentencing is indicative of a greater more systematic strategy by the Saudi government and judicial system to quell dissent and invoke fear in their populace both on the internet and in public discourse intentionally making examples of high profile cases like Badawi’s.  With a legal system that is based on radical interpretations of principles of Islamic law, judges are given latitude to interpret what constitutes a serious offense against the regime and render obscene punishments that are not within any realm of acceptable legal parameters. This system is profoundly oppressive and make no mistake is being used to keep the Arab awakening and calls for freedom from taking hold in the kingdom.

Human Rights Watch reported that, “Judge Faris al-Harbi noted simply that Badawi had created a ‘liberal’ website, and said that ‘liberalism is akin to unbelief’.”

Badawi is just one in a growing series of arrests over the past few years. Mohammed al-Qahtani was charged in a Saudi Arabian court in 2012 on 11 charges including: “setting up an unlicensed organization and ‘breaking allegiance to the ruler’ among other bogus charges. His organization, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (CPRA) is a leading human rights organization in the kingdom being denied a license to operate by the Kingdom since 2008. Al-Qahtani courageously met with me and other members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom during our trip to Saudi Arabia in February of this year. Sadly, and again without a sound from the White House, just one month later, on March 9, 2013 he was found guilty of several charges and sentenced to ten years in prison and ten years of travel ban.  In February, Saudi novelist Turki al-Hamad was arrested after he tweeted a series of comments felt to “insult Islam” in December 2012.  The list goes on far more than we can begin to comprehend, and will continue to grow without leadership and exposure from Washington of these prisoners of conscience.

What is also disappointing is the tepid response that the State Department gave to the announcement last week of Badawi’s sentence. Failing to even demand Badawi’s release, Jen Psaki a State Department Spokeswoman stated:

We believe that when public speech is deemed offensive, be it via social media or any other means, the issue is best addressed through open-dialogue and honest debate.”

No outrage, no condemnation and no cries for reform, simply a lukewarm statement of concern followed by platitudes to a belief in “open-dialogue”.  Mr. Badawi is facing seven years in prison and 600 lashes from a whip for expressing his views on religion, and the U.S., the greatest champion of freedom of speech and individual liberty fails to stand for those American principles.

The United States should adamantly demand Badawi’s release and pressure our supposed ally on their abysmal and exponentially deteriorating record at protecting individual rights and their very clear attempt to hold power over their people through brutal oppression.

Our system of governance is built on the ability of the individual to question faith, government and check the power they have over our lives.  When we fail to stand for those principles around the world, we call into question the validity of our own society.

President Obama should personally demand the release of Badawi and all dissidents who are merely seeking the right to speak freely.”

About the American Islamic Forum for Democracy

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD’s mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.

MEDIA CONTACTS:         Gregg Edgar

Gordon C. James Public Relations

gedgar@gcjpr.com

602-690-7977

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