Arizona Islamist Media- (Issue No. 1.6)– “Local Muslim Voice asks Muslims to unite in defense of Hamas and Recently Shut Down KindHearts”

The following are excerpts from an article on the front page of the March 2006 local Muslim Voice entitled: When the white bull was eaten” “There is an Arabic story that I heard about a wolf coming to three bulls: a white, a red, and a black one. The wolf took the red and the black bulls aside and told them if they let him eat the white bull he will not have any further interest in eating them. So they did, and the wolf ate the white bull. Then the wolf went to the black bull and told him if he let him eat the red bull he will not attack or eat him. He agreed. Later, the wolf came to the black bull and told him he is coming to eat him. At that time the black bull told the wolf, ‘I should have known that I will be eaten when the white bull was eaten.’ ” “The moral of the story is when the wolf divided the bulls and convinced them not to come to save the white bull he was able to conquer them one at a time. When the black bull realized what the wolf was up to, it was too late.” “Today we see this happening over and over again in our community as the government closes one charity at a time in the name of combating terrorism. When they closed the Holy Land Foundation first, followed by two other organizations, hardly any Islamic organizations made a serious attempt to stop the insanity of stopping aid to Muslims around the world.” “Now since Hamas won the elections in Palestine our government has been threatening to cut off funds to the Palestinian authority. Therefore they decided in an unwarranted way to close one of the most active charities in our community who helped not only Muslims but many non-Muslims too. From Katrina victims to the earthquake in Pakistan, they were always on the frontlines aiding humanity. However, for obvious reasons, our government decided to use politics to starve Palestinians for electing Hamas into their own government. ” “Again, this administration is sending the wrong message not only to the people of the Middle East but to the entire world. Theyメre saying that if democracy does not produce what we approve of we are going to fight back with sanctions, boycotts and isolating the winners. These double standards in our foreign policies need to be revaluated and redesigned to be consistent and fair. And the message to our Muslim organizations is that you were eaten when the Holy Land Foundation was eaten.” This article can be found online at the Muslim Voice website at this link. ————————————————————————— AIFD COMMENT: Clearly here, this weak ‘parable’ from the Muslim Voice makes some very disturbing projections of support and linkage for the entire Arizona Muslim community. The Muslim Voice is coming to the defense of both Hamas and KindHearts (recently shut down by the Treasury Department over allegations of violations of American law by funding Hamas). The story seems to make the defense in the name of the entire local Muslim community. Would the majority of local Muslims agree with this linkage? Reading between the lines, the moral of the story seems to be that when the wolf divided the bulls (‘Muslims’) and convinced them not to come to save the white bull (a victimized Muslim or Muslim organization) he was able to conquer them one at a time. They lost the strength of their unity. When the black bull (one of the leaders of the Muslim community) realized what the wolf was up to, it was too late. Thus, the Muslim Voice is implying that all Muslims should unite politically to support such causes as Hamas or KindHearts. One could perhaps understand religious unity in the face of pervasive immutable discrimination or violations of freedom to practice our faith. But both of these causes among many others put forth by the Muslim Voice are not religious (spiritual) causes but profoundly political causes simply done in the name of Islam. Regardless of the corruption and the toxic mixture of politics and religion in Hamas and Kindhearts, the Muslim Voice still asks Muslims to defend them simply because they are Muslim by name and happen to share a spiritual path regardless of their toxic political or foreign national path. Unity by faith in the cause of politics should be very concerning to most American Muslims if we are ever going to defeat radical Islamism. The Muslim Voice opinion seems to subordinate our community’s responsibilties as American citizens to uphold laws against funding terrorist organizations which utilize corrupt methods such as the targeting of noncombatants and random violence as methods of political change in the name of our faith. Many Muslims should take great offense at being grouped into front page opinions in a cultural newspaper which prioritizes political Islam and subordinates principles which directly affect American security. In fact, what is also sorely lacking in our community is an argument to the contrary, that we as Muslims should be policing our own agencies for even tacit support of terrorism (i.e. in Hamas), anti-semitism, or anti-Americanism. American Muslims should rather unite against political Islam and radical terror networks by name and by ideology. Perhaps a more representative parable for the Muslim Voice is that those who advocate causes under the guise of political Islam are in fact the real ‘bulls’ who have taken over all aspects of the ‘nature’ and ‘wildlife’ of our Muslim spiritual earth in which all Muslims could live and share a non-political spiritual path. ——————————————————————————– This report is provided as a service to our community. We pray that this type of extremism and lack of moderation in opinion does not represent the majority of Muslims and Arabs in our community. See “Why AIFD provides the ‘Arizona Islamist Media Reports” for our commentary which clearly explains our intentions in providing these reports.

Arizona Islamist Media- (Issue No. 1.2)– “Arab Voice hails “Latin America gains a new struggler against imperialism in Bolivia”

モLatin America gains a new struggler against imperialism, Boliviaヤ pg 5. (no author) モThe new Bolivian leader promises to support Fidel Castro against the United States.” “The new socialist leader Evo Morales who is a decendant from an Indian tribe and who won the recent Presidential elections in Bolivia declares his support for Fidel Castro in his struggle against imperialism on an interview that he gave to Cuban television.” “Morales who is going to become the president of the poorest country in Latin America said, ‘I have been dreaming all my life to support the struggle against imperialism and to support the Cuban people and now I have the opportunity to join him in his struggle for peace and social justice.’ He also invited the U.S. to lift the economic embargo on Cuba and predicting that the new struggle will be ending with victory.” “The United States is extremely interested in these developments especially because the new president of Bolivia appears to be encouraging the cocaine trade and his ties to the president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez and to Fidel Castro. ナナヤ AIFD Comment: This piece clearly sides with Castro, Cuba, and the Bolivian government against any American interests in democratizing Latin America. These types of pieces and comments could have been written in the old Provda of Moscow at the height of the Cold War. This demonstrates the extreme Leftist, Socialist and outright Communist support which the Arab Voice is providing in an Arizona publication to the only true Communist regime left in the World– Cuba. ——————————————————————————– This report and translation is provided as a service to our community. See “Why AIFD provides the ‘Arizona Islamist Media Reports” for our commentary which clearly explains our intentions

Arizona Islamist Media- (Issue No. 2.0)– “Arab Voice Highlights itself as a leader in meetings with a Congressional Candidate of the 3rd District and also opines that America is a Camel”

[This next piece presented in its entirety appeared in the April 2006 issue of the Arab Voice on page 3]- translation provided by AIFD. “A Meeting between Arab personalities and the Democratic candidate for Congress in Phoenixヤ by the Arab Voice. (this piece also featured a photo with the individuals listed and the Democratic Congressional Candidate for the 3rd District, Herb Paine) モA meeting was held with several personalities from the Arabic community organized by Mr. Safai Arkawi and Miss Janice (sic). Miss Janice is the organizer for the Democratic Party in Arizona.ヤ モ The meeting was held with the Democratic candidate from the Third District in Phoenix, Arizona. The meeting included Mr. Mohamed al-Abassi, Amjad Abu-Alhalla, Zohair AlSulti, Wajdi Abdeen and Marwan Ahmed, the publisher for the Arab Voice.ヤ モAnd there was a complete discussion of points of importance to the local Arabic community among which was immigration issues, health insurance locally, and also issues related to Iraq and Palestine at the foreign policy level.ヤ AIFD Comment: The Arab voice highlights its representative(s) and their inclusion in this meeting presenting them as tacit representatives of the local Arizona Arab community. It makes no qualms about presenting itself as the representative of the local Arabic community with a candidate for Congressional office (note the comment–‘a complete discussion of points of importance to the local Arabic community’). Interestingly, this supposition is made only to a select audience in the Arabic language. Do the Arabs in the Valley which this article purports to represent agree with or are even able to accept the political extremist positions put forth by this Arabic language Arab Voice? Does the Arab Voice and its Islamist ideology represent the majority of the local Arizona Arabic community? How aware is Congressional candidate Herb Paine, or some of our current local elected officials on both sides of the aisle and their handlers of the ideological reality of the Arab Voice? Do they know that these meetings and photo-ops are only used to demagogue an image of leadership for the Arizona Arabic community which has no other print media voice? Do they also know that this piece is positioned next to another Arabic language piece from the same publisher which is translated below and hideously compares America to a camel? Moreover, would most of the local Arizona Arabic and Muslim community if made aware, acquiesce to allowing their community to be represented by a newspaper distributing these ideologies? ———————————————————————————– [This next piece presented in its entirety also appeared in the April 2006 issue of the Arab Voice on page 3]- translation provided by AIFD. America a Camel by Ahmed Bakkadi (a feature editorial) モThe camel is among Godメs strange creatures and the Qurメan ascertained exactly that when it said, ムdid you not see how the camels were created?メ The camel is strange because it is characterized with body characteristics that are strange and behavior that is even stranger. And if you look carefully to the body structure of the camel, it starts looking like it is a combination of several creatures put together in one. His head is small out of proportion to the rest of his body which is gigantic. His neck is long and curved, and his legs are very long and bent. His stomach (sic) is big, and he has a big hump over his back and his tail is short. This is only what appears of his strange anatomy.” “His internal structures and his behavior are many and no one can explain it but a veterinarian scientist. Among the strange behaviors of the camel that he is known not to forget bad things made towards him which he holds as a deep feeling of vindictiveness against whoever hurt him and the camel is used as an example of a creature who does not know his own shortcomings while he is fast in recognizing the shortcomings of others. There are stories about the camel being sarcastic about the weak and thin structure of the neck of the deer.” “As it is known there are people who try to make similarities between animals in their shape or behavior to countries. There are some similarities between animals and people thare are used such as the elephant which is a sign for the Republican Party that governs America today.” “But it would have been better if that party and even America took the symbol of the camel because America is characterized by a lot of the characteristics of the camel that God ordered us to think of its creation. There is not enough time or place here to include all of the characteristics of the American camel but we will be satisfied to refer to the fact that America cannot, like the camel, see the curvature of its own neck. The best example of that is how America cannot see the violations of human rights while it violates the human rights of others through its military, diplomatic, and internal security agencies, like in the prison of Abu Ghraib and Guantanemo Bay and the other secret prisons in different parts of the world from Asia to Syria.” “America did not mention a letter about what it committed in violations of human rights that is so known that it became stories that were parts of the legends of the old with its familiar words and expressions.” “So did I not tell you that America is the camel that does not see the curvature of his own neck.” AIFD Comment: This feature editorial from an Arab Voice frequent columnist is obviously pedestrian and its examples are illogical and shamefully inappropriate. Its metaphors are absurdly antagonistic and are poorly contrived to say the least. More importantly and substantively, this type of grossly negative generalization about America is classic for Islamism. It dispenses with facts. It uses the tired highlights of old anti-American polemics and seeks simply to malign the image of America in the Arabic language among the Arizona Arabic community rather than educate or inform. The Islamist goal is simply to continually paint vague negative images of the ムgodlessメ secular America which is confused and animal-like in its behavior when compared to the societies represented by the fantasies of theocratic Islamists. The reality, however, is that these anti-American opinions exist in a denial vacuum where many of these local blinded Arabic language writers live. They should rather be reminded that in the entire Middle East whose despotic governments this newspaper has rarely if ever appropriately critiqued, there is not a single Arab nation where human rights have any meaning whatsoever. The Arab Voice should be ashamed of itself. Its writers need to learn from their own camel and turn their crooked head and look at their own hump. The whole world plainly sees it despite Arab columnists like this attempting to deny its existence while at the same time blaming others for having it. ——————————————————————————– This report and translation is provided as a service to our community. We pray that this type of extremism and lack of moderation in opinion does not represent the majority of Muslims and Arabs in the community. See “Why AIFD provides the ‘Arizona Islamist Media Reports” for our commentary which clearly explains our intentions in providing these reports.

Arizona Islamist Media- (Issue No. 1.1)– “Arab Voice equates President Bush with Ginghis Kahn”

モThe common denominator between Mongolia and the United States: Is Bush the Ginghis Kahn of the New Age?ヤ (print piece provides no author) The article appeared as a response to a visit which President Bush paid to Mongolia in December 2005. モThe real common denominator that provides the reason for Bushメs visit is that the United States and Mongolia have something in common in history. The savage Mongolians under Ginghis Kahn in 1258 also occupied Baghdad and massacred Iraqis and destroyed the civilization including the destruction of the grave of Haroun Al-Rashid and the entire Abbasid civilization.” “What the entire American Arab and international media ignored was that the destruction that the Mongolians did to Baghdad in 1258 is exactly what the American forces are doing today. Ginghis Kahn prior to his death stated that God sent him to punish the Muslims. So his replacement Holaco interpreted that as the need to destroy Baghdad and get rid of the Abbasids’ flourishing civilization which lasted 500 years. That was the prelude to Holaco attacking and destroying Baghdad and he attacked the capital from four different directionsナ.” AIFD COMMENT: Ginghis Khan in the 13th century led forces that were savages, uneducated, and devoid of any remnants of civilization. They attacked cities and civilizations that were at the time sitting at the peak of its intellectual achievements in that era. It was known that when Ginghis Khan occupied Baghdad, the Tigris River flowed for weeks black in color because of all the books, writings, and publications that were thrown in it. How can that in any logical way compare with the United States getting rid of one of the most barbarically horrific savage rulers of the 20th century? This piece in reality is also equating the Abbasid civilization and the government of Saddam Hussein. This kind of anti-American, pro-Saddam propaganda must not represent the local Arabic and Muslim community, could it? ——————————————————————————– This report and translation is provided as a service to our community. See “Why AIFD provides the ‘Arizona Islamist Media” reports for our commentary which clearly explains our intentions

Arizona Islamist Media- Issue No. 1.0 Arab Voice celebrates Hamas victory

Posting extreme Islamist opinions disseminated in the local Arizona Muslim Voice and Arab Voice newspapers. For all recent postings see the homepage of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and check under モMonitoring Islamist Mediaヤ. The Arabic language Arab Voice of February 2006 carried the following comprehensive piece on page seven. This translation is provided by AIFD. Note that the Arab Voiceメs sister publication in English the Muslim Voice had much milder public endorsements of Hamas. モHAMAS draws the map for the entire Arab nation. モ by Mohammed Riyad (page 7 of the Arab Voice February 2006). モThe matter did not need Phantom Jets, nor napalm bombs, nor an American army occupying the country–to reach the heart of the capital and destroy the statue of the despot in a critical time. It did not need interference by the CIA by using their agents and millions of dollars to produce a military coup to get rid of the ruling class and put them at the bottom of the barrel.” “There was no need for an alliance that would attack the ruling authority under the cover of the stealth American planes to remove the regime and bring instead a government of traders in narcotics. None of that was needed. There were no massacres or collective rape or burning cities or bringing down mosques but the issue was much simpler than that. All it took is boxes of ballots that was used by the simple Palestinian citizen to produce the earthquake that brought down all of the establishment of tyranny in the Arab world from the Atlantic to the Gulf.” “The issue does not speak for HAMAS as a movement but what that movement represents of the irresistible will of the Palestinians for a change. Just like every Arab citizen forbidden from self-expression. Yes, HAMAS meant change and the change expresses the conscience of all of the Arab nations and their will at this age. With that HAMAS victory was an expression of the will of the entire Arab nationナ. ” (this translation covers only the first third of a long polemic on the モgreatnessヤ for the Middle East which the Hamas victory portends) AIFD Comment: This piece speaks for itself in its blatant celebratory tone about Hamas. Our law in the U.S. still clearly identifies Hamas as a terrorist organization whether or not they have been democractically elected. We will recall that the Nazis took over Germany democratically after an election. It is our belief that this congratulatory sentiment from this local paper of the extremist organization of Hamas does not represent the majority of Arab-Americans or Muslim-Americans in the Valley and it is unfortunate that this remains the only example of Arabic language response in the Valley to the Hamas victory. Hamas has yet to renounce its draconian charter which reads as a ‘Mein Kampf‘ of anti-semitism and in favor of an anti-democractic institution of sharia. Many publications have exposed the racist rhetoric and hate-mongering of Hamas which this columnist and the Arab Voice never mention and in fact tacitly glorify. Our prayer is that this opinion is a minority opinion within the local Arabic and Muslim community which would respond in much greater moderation.

MPAC’s political agenda with the Aurora, Colorado Tragedy

In the wake of the tragic shootings in Aurora, CO, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) wasted no time in trying to capitalize on the tragedy for their own political agenda.  The organization issued an email newsletter entitled Now is the Time to End America’s Culture of Violence,” which sickeningly used the image of an obviously distraught family from the Aurora shooting.

MPAC displayed its blatant anti-Americanism while trying to draw moral equivalency between the Colorado shooter and the actions of Islamist terrorists, such as Nidal Hasan.

The newsletter attempted to once again depict Muslims as the victims of American society when it proclaimedWhile Holmes should be labeled, without a doubt, as a murderer, we should be smart enough to realize that he is a terrorist. His premeditated actions that night showed his intent was to instill terror and fear into the audience to make a statement. After last week, American Muslims began to wonder why the media did not label Holmes as such.”

MPAC’s callous treatment of the Aurora community at a bare minimum misses the fact that Holmes actions and motivations have not been released and supposition on his objectives is just that – supposition.  Second the contortionism they had to accomplish to make such accusations is simply astounding.  MPAC is an organization that continually denies any ideological link between Islamism (political Islam) and terrorists like Nidal Hasan and Anwar Al Awlaki. Despite the overwhelming evidence of that linkage, MPAC eschews every opportunity to label and therefore treat the cause of terrorism in Islamic communities.

Terrorism is clearly not only the domain of Islamists. However, Islamist terrorism is the greatest threat we face today and its clear identification is a means to treat and nullify its existence.  MPAC’s statement that “to keep the citizens of our nation safe we must ensure that all threats, no matter where they emanate, are assessed in a similar manner and that we do not focus our attention solely on one specific group of our citizens,” is an attempt to minimize the ideological root of Islamist terrorism by treating any act of violence as an act of terrorism. In doing so, MPAC anesthetizes American Muslims to their central role in countering the ideologies that fuel terrorists.

The actions of James Holmes were horrific.  We may eventually find some motivation that equates his rampage to an agenda that would raise his attack to the level of domestic terrorism or it may ultimately be related to deep seeded psychiatric illness.  For MPAC to make these comments only a week after the shooting with no evidence of Holmes’ motivation is a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the issue of terrorism.

MPAC’s piece is punctuated with a quote attributed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in which they claim he called America, as a nation, the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” In fact, though many of us may disagree strongly with Dr. King, he was simply being critical of the US government, not the United States itself. MPAC modified even this quote to serve their purposes: to express disdain at the United States, even at a time of great tragedy.

For a Muslim organization whose members benefit from the safety and freedom offered by the United States to suggest that the United States is the most violent force in the world is an insult to not just our nation, but it is also an affront to those living under regimes who are currently slaughtering their citizens by the tens of thousands. American Muslims who love this great country and either actively or passively allow themselves to be represented by such vitriol against America should reconsider.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is meant to be spent remembering and serving the less fortunate, while being grateful for our blessings – not playing victim. Muslims are freer to practice our faith here than anywhere else in the world. The victims of the Aurora massacre and their families deserve our prayers and solidarity as fellow Americans. They do not deserve to be used as pawns in MPAC’s political agenda.

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the author of A Battle for the Soul of Islam (Simon & Schuster, 2012) and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix, Arizona.

The trouble with “Jumah at the DNC”

It is troubling that the Democratic National Convention has decided to promote and lend its name and national political platform to the organizers of the “Jummah at the DNC”. The leaders of this event – Jibril Hough and Imam Siraj Wahhaj as advertised are no moderates. They are radicals. These individuals embrace Islamist supremacy and have demonstrated support for radical ideologies.

A quick Google search by the DNC would have shown them that Hough and Wahhaj are leaders in the separatist American Islamist movement. While they may be able to get a few thousand Muslims to attend the event, they are NOT going to be mainstream Muslims.  Most will likely come from Hough and Wahhaj’s radical networks that have long been entrenched in the Charlotte area. Make no mistake they are part of the Islamist movement.

This is not about their right of assembly; this group under a different name pulled the same stunt at the US capitol in 2009 claiming 20k and getting 2-3k. THIS IS ABOUT the DNC calling this an “official function” listing these radicals as typical of the DNC community and more importantly about this organization speaking out AS representing supposedly typical American Muslims (or “Mainstream”).

If that is who the DNC is consorting with then all Americans, Democrats should be concerned. There are many patriotic Muslims who are part of both parties, and when radical ideologues like this do a demonstration of “solidarity” in the name of our faith and choose an imam like Siraj Wahhaj who I saw with my own eyes in 1995 seditiously say it his duty and our duty as Muslims to replace the US Constitution with the Quran- then we need to speak up!

Their jummah (group) prayer is supposedly against the Patriot Act, the NYPD, and Islamophobia and is actually NOT about our democracy but about empowering their Islamist and MB sympathetic groups into the very fabric of the political system so that Americans become anesthetized. We need American Muslims to speak up and marginalize these radicals. The DNC needs to understand and reject them because of their radical history and ideas.

They use our American Muslim identity to speak as “one community” as a political unit or as a “bloc vote” – a political Islamist party when in fact most us Muslims don’t want that political unity and seek reform against their ideology that seeks to hijack our community. They do not represent us.

For more on Jibril Hough please review AIFD’s piece “Connecting the Dots of Islamism-Jibril Hough, the Islamic Political Party of America (IPPA), and the Jamaat al-Muslimeen (JAM)” or listen to Dr. Zuhdi Jasser’s March 8, 2010 interview on the Keith Larson show on WBT Charlotte.  Jibril Hough phones in half way through.