October 13, 2019: God Forbid – Islam and the West — who controls the story?
Radio National
October 13, 2019
James Carleton
It’s been 18 years, but 9/11 is still affecting the lives of Muslims in the West. This week’s 
has a spirited discussion about sharia law, political Islam and Western colonialism in the Middle East.
In this episode:
On his trip to Australia earlier this year, American Muslim commentator Dr Zuhdi Jasser says Salafists and Wahhabis have too much influence over what is taught in mosques in the West, but Dr Yassir Morsi disagrees, saying Australian Muslims are much more diverse than they’re given credit for. They are joined by Dr Chloe Patton from RMIT University’s School of Global and Social Studies where she researches Islamophobia.
The idea of ‘creeping sharia’ persists in Australian political discourse — particularly around election time. But implementing religious law in civil statutes happens in Australia more often than you might think, to little concern at all. So what does that look like?
Islamism is a term so broad it covers everything from the theocrats of the Saudi Royal Family, to their sworn enemy Al Qaeda, to completely non-violent, democratic Islamist parties of South-East Asia. Religiously-inspired political parties are common across the world, but nobody can agree if they are a threat to democracy or the purest expression of it.
Guests:
Dr Zuhdi Jasser is founder and president of the American Islamic Forum of Democracy. He’s the author of A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save his Faith, and he was in Australia on a speaking tour earlier this year.
Dr Yassir Morsi is lecturer in politics at La Trobe University and author of Radical Skin, Moderate Masks: De-Radicalising the Muslim and Racism in Post-racial Societies.
Dr Chloe Patton is an academic at RMIT University’s School of Global and Social Studies. She researches Islamophobia and was formerly research fellow at London’s Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations.
Presenter:
James Carleton
Producer:
Rohan Salmond
October 9, 2019: Las Vegas Review Journal – Turkey invades northern Syria, but Trump stands firm
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump stood by his decision to move U.S. troops out of harm’s way Wednesday as Turkish forces invaded northern Syria.
“The worst mistake the United States has ever made in my opinion was going into the Middle East,” Trump told reporters during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Trump then heaped scorn on his critics, who he said have not had to meet face to face with U.S. troops who have been wounded on the field of battle. Trump recalled giving out Purple Heart medals at Walter Reed National Medical Center last week.
“I get that we want to remove troops and that it’s not our war,” responded Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a former Navy doctor and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. “However, even one soldier in that area was preventing Turkey” from trying to wipe out Syrian Kurds, allies who helped U.S. forces defeat ISIS.
Jasser, usually a Trump supporter, faulted Trump for giving Turkey a “green light” to invade Syria as “Islamist hegemony.”
During an interview with Judy Woodruff of “PBS News Hour,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied that Trump gave Turkey a “green light.”
“On the phone call on Sunday night, it became very clear that there were American soldiers that were going to be at risk and the president made a decision to put them in a place where they were out of harm’s way,” Pompeo countered.
Economic threat
For his part, Trump, who announced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit the United States on Nov. 13, warned that if the Turkish leader allows his troops to commit atrocities against the Kurds, “I will wipe out his economy.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a usual Trump supporter and constant golf companion, has tried to change Trump’s mind on the matter. “Most members of Congress believe it would be wrong to abandon the Kurds who have been strong allies against ISIS,” Graham tweeted this week.
Graham and fellow Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., quickly released a plan to impose “severe” economic sanctions on Erdogan himself, as well as other Turkish political leaders and entities that support Turkish energy interests.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposed the decision in a statement, “The president’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Northern Syria is a deeply disturbing development that betrays our Kurdish allies who have been instrumental partners in our mission to eradicate ISIS.”
When a reporter asked Trump if the U.S. will appear to be an untrustworthy ally in the future and if that will hamper future foreign policy initiatives, Trump responded, “Alliances are very easy.”
A moral wrong
Bradley Bowman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Center on Military and Political Power called Trump’s acquiescence to Erdogan “morally wrong.”
The United States provided air cover for the Syrian Democratic Forces while Syrian militia did the bulk of the fighting and dying on the ground against ISIS, Bowman said. Trump’s announcement “undercuts America’s reputation as a trustworthy ally.”
“This is something that people in the Middle East will remember for years, or even decades, to come. This is something that Americans will hear told back to them, 10, 20, 30 years from now,” Bowman warned.
As Syrian militia move to fight Turkey, they will be less able to prevent the escape of some 11,000 ISIS jihadis held in Syrian Democratic Forces detention facilities. “The most likely outcome is massive numbers of ISIS militants escaping and regrouping,” according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish lawmaker.
Kilic Burga Kanat, research director for the Turkish think tank SETA, defended Trump’s actions. “This is Trump’s position from the very beginning, to pull out troops from endless wars,” he told the Review-Journal.
“I’m not sure what they mean betrayal of the Kurds,” Kanat added, as the Turkish military will be focused on Kurdish militia that advocate for an autonomous Kurdish state.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.
09/05/2019: AIFD Commends Governor Doug Ducey for his selection of Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery to the Arizona Supreme Court
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2019
Media Contact:
Mischel Yosick
Phoenix, AZ: The American Islamic Forum for Democracy today applauded Governor Doug Ducey for his selection of Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery to the Arizona Supreme Court.
As an Arizona based American Muslim organization founded in 2003 and dedicated to the defense of the United States Constitution, freedom and liberty, Mr. Montgomery has been a long-time friend of our leadership and our counter radicalization and counter-ideology work at the forum.
AIFD President, Dr. Zuhdi Jasser said,
“The people of Arizona could not be better served by the selection of Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery to the bench of the Arizona Supreme Court. He is a great patriot and an unparalleled civil servant. We have had the honor of working with Mr. Montgomery on issues related to interfaith relations, counter-radicalization, counter-terrorism, national security and a host of other issues in Arizona and nationally. We have always been proud to know and work with now Supreme Court Justice-select Bill Montgomery. We can think of no one with a more impressive record of honorable service to the United States and the people of Arizona and who more embodies the trust and confidence Arizonan’s need to have in our highest court than Maricopa County Attorney, now Supreme Court Justice select Bill Montgomery”.
Mike Kassab, AIFD board member, business leader and entrepreneur, in Tempe AZ, stated,
“We applaud the Governor for having the courage to rise above the noise of some of the defamatory claims made by fringe groups against County Attorney Montgomery. We are thankful that he recognizes that the American Muslim community is in fact very ideologically diverse and that there are many of us dedicated to the US Constitution who have long time found a very good friend in now Supreme Court Justice select, Bill Montgomery. We pray for his success and know that the Arizona Supreme Court will continue to be in very good hands”.
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September 10, 2019: Honoring Islam
TOWN HALL MEETING
WITH AMERICAN MUSLIM LEADERS AND MINNESOTANS
On July 23, 2019, at the 2019 conference of the Muslim Caucus Education Collective, Rep. Ilhan Omar reprimanded a Muslim audience member for asking a question about female genital mutilation, calling it an “appalling question.” Take part in a dynamic conversation with American Muslim leaders who ask and answer the “appalling questions”
HONORING ISLAM BY TAKING ON THE “APPALLING”QUESTIONS
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
7-9 pm
Anderson Hall—University of Minnesota
257 19th AVE S, Minneapolis MN 55455
This event is free and open to the public with limited capacity. Please RSVP at MuslimReformMovement@Gmail.com to reserve your seat.
Twitter @TheMuslimReform
8/29/2019: CAIR Touts Partnership with Census Bureau
Breaking News: CAIR Touts Partnership with Census Bureau
by Steven Emerson
IPT News
August 28, 2019
https://www.investigativeproject.org/8045/breaking-news-cair-touts-partnership-with-census
Federal law enforcement knows enough 
about the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to order its agents not to engage with the group outside of criminal inivestigations. But despite that, the U.S. Census Bureau believes the conservative, Sunni-dominated Islamist organization is a trustworthy organization to partner with in next year’s national population count.
“CAIR is proud to partner with the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure American Muslims are fairly and accurately counted in the 2020 Census,” Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a CAIR news release. “Full participation in the census ensures that American Muslims will be better represented in Congress and that their communities receive an equal share in state and federal programs.”
It isn’t clear what CAIR or the Census Bureau will do as part of the partnership. The statement indicated CAIR will promote participation in the Census and advise people how to avoid scams. The Census Bureau did not respond to a request for comment.
“CAIR wants to ensure that that not only are American Muslim communities being fairly counted – but that their neighborhoods are getting a fair share in federal and state funding,” the CAIR release said. Internal documents seized by the FBI show that CAIR and its founders, Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, were deeply involved in a Hamas-support network in America created by the Muslim Brotherhood. A committee report described the group’s mission as “defending the Islamic cause in Palestine and support for the emerging movement, the Hamas Movement.”
Both Ahmad and Awad appear on the “Palestine Committee” telephone list (Ahmad is listed as “Omar Yehya”), and CAIR is listed on a meeting agenda which named the committee’s branches.
“[U]ntil we can resolve whether there 
continues to be a connection between
CAIR or its executives and HAMAS,” a
senior FBI official wrote in 2009, “the
FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner.”
The policy remains in effect a decade later. The FBI’s conclusion was shared by federal prosecutors and a U.S. District Court judge who reviewed the evidence.
Records seized by the FBI “do create at least a prima facie case as to CAIR’s involvement in a conspiracy to support Hamas,” U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Solis wrote in 2009.
“CAIR,” prosecutors wrote, “has been identified by the Government at trial as a participant in an ongoing and ultimately unlawful conspiracy to support a designated terrorist organization, a conspiracy from which CAIR never withdrew.”
CAIR has never acknowledged its Palestine Committee connections or tried to argue that it moved away from that support. Its leaders refuse to condemn Hamas, often angrily. Awad continues to promote antiIsrael rhetoric, as in 2014, calling the Jewish state “the biggest threat to world peace and security.”
Awad publicly expressed support for Hamas in 1994 – the year CAIR was founded – over the Palestine Liberation Organization.
In a 1998 speech, Awad openly referenced Jewish advisers in the Clinton administration as the driving force behind U.S. foreign policy: “Look at their names. Look at their ethnic, their ethnic or religious or racial background. You will see that these are the same groups that belong to the same interest groups in the (Clinton) Administration…they are the same people who are opposing the peace agreement (with Iraq).” But aside from its roots in a Hamas-support network, CAIR has a history of grossly inflating the American Muslim population. It issued a report in 2001 claiming there were 6 million Muslims in the United States. Six years later, however, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press analyzed Census Bureau data to estimate “the total population of Muslims in the United States at 2.35 million.” That number increased to 3.45 million people in 2017.
CAIR’s partnership is a problem, said Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. But there’s a deeper concern, which is found on the Census Bureau’s website. “The U.S. Census Bureau does not collect data on religious affiliation in its demographic surveys or decennial census. Public Law 94-521 prohibits us from asking a question on religious affiliation on a mandatory basis; in some person or household surveys, however, the U.S. Census Bureau may collect information about religious practices, on a voluntary basis.”
Given that, Jasser asked, why is the Census Bureau partnering with a religious organization at all? CAIR’s announcement perpetuates a stereotype that Muslim Americans are not engaged in society. “It’s counting all Americans as equals,” Jasser said, “not as faith groups.”
The notion that Muslims need to be encouraged to participate in the national census treats an entire population as “naïve immigrants,” Jasser said. “They claim we’re well-integrated. If that claim is true, why is this project necessary?”
It is important that Muslim Americans participate in the Census. CAIR’s history, however, raises questions about whether the Census Bureau has partnered with an organization deserving of its trust.