M. Zuhdi Jasser speaks with Prince William Times, Jonathan Hunley

Prince William state senator defends Syria–again–in the wake of poison-gas attack

Sen. Dick Black says U.S. retaliation would be ‘wrong’

  • Jonathan Hunley Staff Writer
    Updated 

State Sen. Dick Black, who met with officials with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2016, said Monday he believes Assad’s regime wasn’t behind a weekend poison gas attack and that the United States shouldn’t retaliate.

Black, a Republican whose 13th District includes parts of Prince William and Loudoun counties, said he thinks the attack, which The Associated Press reported left at least 40 people dead, including children, was instead carried out by a group called the “White Helmets” in coordination with a Syrian rebel organization called Jaish al-Islam.

The White Helmets claim to be “unarmed and neutral rescue workers” on their website, but Black said they’re closely aligned with al-Qaida and that Syria is trying to fight terrorists within its borders.

Black also said the U.S. shouldn’t believe information that comes from the White Helmets.

Black, known as perhaps the Virginia General Assembly’s most conservative member, has long been known for his controversial views on Syria and his past support for Assad, who Black has praised for helping persecuted Christians.

In the wake of the Saturday attack, Black again came to Syria’s defense, saying everyone assumes that Syria is to blame after a chemical attack. But, he asked, if the country’s forces are using toxic gas, why don’t they ever use it against military enemies?

Multiple news outlets reported that President Donald Trump is weighing a response to what he called a “heinous attack” Saturday, and one possibility seemed to be that that response would hit Syria.

But that would be wrong, Black said.

“I am absolutely against what is about to be done,” he said.

Black said no one ever mentions the actions of those whom Assad fights, and that the Jaish al-Islam is famous for putting women in steel cages and using them as human shields. The “very vile group” also has targeted schools, he said.

Black said the fastest way to peace in Syria would be for the United States to withdraw its forces from the nation and leave the Syrians alone.

His stances on Syria seem unusual to some, but Black said no one talks widely about the people the nation’s government is fighting in its civil war.

“It’s like there’s one side in the war,” he said.

And Jasser was aghast that Black would say the White Helmets, whom he said are largely doing “God’s work” in humanitarian efforts, would be involved with such an attack.

“So, I think Mr. Black should be ashamed of himself,” Jasser said. “He is un-American.”

Jasser said Black isn’t paying attention to decades of massacres in Syria and that it’s as if he’s listening only to propaganda from Assad, Iran and Russia.

Black should go to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and see how some turned a blind eye to crimes against humanity in that era, Jasser said.

“He’s doing the exact same thing now,” Jasser said.

The mission of Jasser’s organization is to “advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state,” according to its website.

M. Zuhdi Jasser with McClatchy Newspapers,Tim Johnson

Bolton, key Trump adviser, has evolved his views on Syria

WASHINGTON

4/12/2018: Coast to Coast with Neil Cavuto – Putting tyrants on notice, President Trump could form a coalition for Syria strategy

https://youtu.be/w4s0gacGsT0

4/12/2018: In remembrance of the Holocaust 2018

We at AIFD would like to take this opportunity to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day.

As we all reflect upon and remember the over six million lives lost – young men and women, elders, husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, loved ones and friends – may we not speak the words “never again” and allow them to prove hollow.

May we vow to make “never again” a solemn and enduring promise, both to honor the spirits of those lost during that most horrid time in history and to inspire our continued commitment to combating oppression and tyranny.

Tragically, even over seventy years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the world is not post-anti-Semitism. Please join us in our commitment to combat anti-Semitism both within and outside of our community. Never again.

If you have a moment, a video blog from Dr. Jasser that we posted a few years ago on this occasion sadly rings true now more than ever.

As the West is also today possibly on the brink of a long overdue response to the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Ba’athist regime in Syria of Bashar al-Assad, may we also remember that never again is a constant test upon the Free World.

For those who have visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington or Yad Vashem in Israel, among the infinite lessons every human being can take away from there is how many years it took the world to act despite having all of the facts, and knowing the reality of the unspeakable horror besetting the Jewish people.

As the Assad regime and ISIS inflict inhuman massacres upon the unarmed of Syria, may we resolve to send a message to tyrants now and those aspiring to commit genocide in the future: Never Again.

4/8/2018: Assad uses chemical weapons on citizens & U.S. responds with air strikes | BBC Newsday

After a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in Syria, the U.S. launches an air strike of more than 50 missiles in response. I share my reaction with BBC Newsday.

 

 

[AIFD Press Release] Syrian American Reformer recommends immediate, swift, crippling strikes in Syria against the Assadist genocidal military machine.

AIFD PRESS RELEASE
American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Contact: Mischel Yosick
480 225 7473
mischel@zliberty.com

Syrian American Reformer recommends immediate, swift, crippling strikes in Syria against the Assadist genocidal military machine.

In response to the chemical weapons attack of April 7, 2018 upon Syrian civilians in Ghouta, the American Islamic Forum for democracy (AIFD) today called for an immediate military response to the ongoing horrific war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime in Syria. The “Butcher of Damascus” Bashar al-Assad, his military, and allies (notably Russia, Iran and Hizballah) that have facilitated his use of chemical weapons of mass destruction only 40 miles from the Israeli border must see Assad’s military pay that “big price” President Trump just tweeted that the “Animal Assad” must pay. A failure to respond forcefully and decisively will irretrievably damage America’s standing in the world.

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, the son of Syrian political refugees, who fled the Ba’athist regime of Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez said:

“We hope and pray that our President’s honest tweets of outrage are followed with real and crippling military force against the Assadist military. For eight years, under President Obama, the words of our President with regards to Syria, Russia, and Iran were meaningless, and made America into the laughing stock of global security against war crimes. Now is the defining moment for the Trump administration to reawaken the world as to why genocidal tyrants must fear our Commander-in-Chief. When we heard on Saturday that there was yet another massacre among many campaigns of chemical weapon use that again targeted unarmed children and families with hundreds more dead in the genocide of over 600,000 of the people of Syria by Assad’s military, I knew this was going to be an unmistakable fork in the road for this administration and NATO. The question now is, what side of history will the United States remain: as observers of the Butcher of Damascus or as a firewall in defense of liberty and against mass war crimes?”

AIFD is very hopeful that these military strikes will not only briefly or ‘symbolically’ punish the Assad regime but actually begin to cripple if not end its interminable genocidal campaign and existence. If we have learned anything from 7 years of the revolution since March 2011, the Assad regime will never stop in its crimes against humanity until it is stopped. American interests in Syria are not only humanitarian but in fact Assad’s tyranny and methods are directly ushering in the radicalization of large swaths of citizenry into militant jihad. Similarly, tyrants now and into the future are looking and learning what crimes they can get away with against their own people. There remains no doubt that right now there is the worst of situations in Syria and regardless of what comes next the current deep radicalization of Syria to which inaction has led could not get any worse. As always, we must deal with threats as they arise. The Assad regime has proven over and over again that they are a threat to humanity and a primary fuel for the creation of ISIS and their caliphate.

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, AIFD President and a former US Navy Lieutenant Commander added,

“In many ways we who have loved ones in Syria and we, all those who care about the human condition, will take the response we can get from America, but it is long overdue for the needle of American policy in Syria to move closer to being on the right side of history. There remains little doubt that the current disastrous and genocidal situation was wrought at the hands of the feckless Obama administration policy. We must continue to reduce Assad’s access to chemical weapons and any of the resources with which he can massacre his own people. This action must be decisive and significant. Half-baked actions have only empowered the Syrian military to just commit more heinous crimes. Assad’s military complex must be crippled if not destroyed. By reducing a dictator’s capacity to kill again and again, we have a chance of reestablishing America’s position in the world as a moral authority, and we will remind every dictator with genocidal yearnings around the planet that the free world is watching and will respond. We should and can begin to recommit ourselves to the sacred commitment of ‘never again’. Something President Barack Obama failed to do.”

 

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About AIFD
The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

About M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.
Dr. Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”. He is also founder of Take Back Islam and a co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement.

 

Chronicling the Duke University Controversy

April 3, 2018 M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.

Many months ago, I was invited to Duke University to speak to their students and accepted the invitation gladly.  The Alexander Hamilton Society posted an event on their FaceBook page and distributed a flyer showing their full support.

Just days before I was to leave, the Duke Muslim Students Association determined that my presence on campus was worthy of harsh words and a possible protest and the Alexander Hamilton Society withdrew their support of the event.

Below are links to articles published in the Duke Chronicle along with my response.

The Chronicle
Fear and loathing in the bull city
By Editorial Board | 03/29/2018

The Chronicle
DPU, YAL, College Republicans co-sponsored event ‘The American Muslim Identity’ sparks protest
By Bre Bradham | 03/29/2018

The Mere Suggestion of  Islamisim Triggers Islamists
M. Zuhdi Jasser 03/30/2018

The Chronicle
MSA holds teach-in at Chapel to protest Islamophobia, DCR event ‘The American Muslim Identity’
By Jamie Cohen | 04/03/2018

The Chronicle
‘They don’t want you to criticize Islam’: Controversial speaker Zuhdi Jasser talks about combating ‘Islamism’
By Jake Satisky | 04/03/2018

Duke University– The American Muslim Identity- Patriot or Insurgent?– with M Zuhdi Jasser, President American Islamic Forum for Democracy
Video of lecture 04/02/2018