[UPDATES BELOW]
I am the first to say we have some geat Muslim, peace loving people around the world and they suffer because there are extremists in their midst.
Today there is a story about 6 Muslim men removed from a plane.
First and foremost, CAIR should stay the hell out of it, any association with CAIR seems to simply give people MORE reason to suspect anyone that CAIR becomes involved with.
My reasoning here? CAIR is known to have terror ties.
Since its founding in 1994, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and its employees have combined, conspired, and agreed with third parties, including, but not limited to, the Islamic Association for Palestine (“IAP”), the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (“HLF”), the Global Relief Foundation (“GRF”), and foreign nationals hostile to the interests of the United States, to provide material support to known terrorist organizations, to advance the Hamas agenda, and to propagate radical Islam. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, and certain of its officers, directors, and employees, have acted in support of, and in furtherance of, this conspiracy.
Senior CAIR employee Randall Todd Royer, a/k/a “Ismail” Royer, pled guilty and was sentenced to twenty years in prison for participating in a network of militant jihadists centered in Northern Virginia. He admitted to aiding and abetting three persons who sought training in a terrorist camp in Pakistan for the purpose of waging jihad against American troops in Afghanistan. Royer’s illegal actions occurred while he was employed with CAIR.
CAIR's Director of Community Relations, Bassem Khafagi , was arrested by the United States due to his ties with a terror-financing front group. Khafagi pled guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt. Khafagi’s illegal actions occurred while he was employed by CAIR.
On December 18, 2002, Ghassan Elashi, founding board member of CAIR-Texas, a founder of the Holy Land Foundation, and a brother-in-law of Musa Abu Marzook , was arrested by the United States and charged with, among other things, making false statements on export declarations, dealing in the property of a designated terrorist organization, conspiracy and money laundering. Ghassan Elashi committed his crimes while working at CAIR, and was found Guilty.
CAIR Board Member Imam Siraj Wahaj, an un-indicted co-conspirator in the first World Trade Center bombing, has called for replacing the American government with an Islamic caliphate, and warned that America will crumble unless it accepts Islam.
Consistent with Hamas ideology, CAIR has served as a conduit for the distribution of materials and funds from foreign nationals to groups and institutions within the United States for the purpose of promoting radical Islam and Hamas ideology, and attacked Islamic clerics and scholars who reject radical Islam and the Hamas agenda.
I have good reason to say what I did about CAIR.
Next, although I do feel bad for Muslims that want nothing more than to practice their religion in a peaceful manner.... I ALSO cannot blame the people on the plane, nor the airline for being overly cautious.
Today, another story came out (Hat Tip to Atlas Shrugs for this link), Plot to Bomb Passenger Plane in Germany uncovered.
A report in Die Welt newspaper to be published on Tuesday said the intended target was a plane operated by the Israeli airline El Al from Frankfurt airport.
Then we have the major london terror plot from August that was targeted against planes coming to the USA.
Police in London say they have thwarted a major terrorist plot intended to blow up planes, reportedly over the Atlantic while flying to the U.S. Twenty-one suspects are in custody, after a series of arrests overnight.
U.S. counterterrorism officials say United, American and Continental Airlines were targets of the plot, described by a top British police official as "intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale."
We also have the man in Detroit that was found to have almost $80,000 and information about nuclear plants and suitcase bombs. A federal judge has just ordered that this man stay locked up.
A federal judge overturned a lower ruling Monday and ordered detention for a man stopped at Detroit Metropolitan Airport with articles about nuclear plants and suitcase bombs and the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman ruled Sisayehiticha Dinssa, 34, was both a flight risk and a danger to the community. He overturned a ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen, who earlier on Monday ordered Dinssa released under strict supervision.
After 9/11, people have no choice but to be weary and to report ANY and ALL people they believe to be a threat, even if they are wrong. In this case, I would have to think it is better to err on the side of caution.
AsI have been posting for the last two days on, there are Islamic extremists with one goal and that is to kill as many Americans or Jews as they can. They are spoon fed hatred for us from the time they were children and this IS what they have been taught is there mission.
It is clear from what they consider to be their best success, 9/11, that this is a method they wish to attack us again. For those that cannot understand our "touchiness" about our airplanes, the hell with you.
More from Atlas Shrugs here and Breitbart here.
It also seems that al-Qaeda is sending a message to the Democrats, according to Strata-Sphere.
[UPDATE] 6pm- Seems word is starting to leak out about what alarmed the passengers. (H/T to PowerLine)
Pat Hogan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, said that witnesses to Monday's events told police that before the flight that besides praying, the imams were spouting anti-American rhetoric, talking about the war in Iraq and Saddam Hussein.It doesn't take much Googling, either, to find that Omar Shahin appears to have ties to terrorist-supporting groups. On July 13, 2005, Steven Emerson, Executive Director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, testified before the Senate Banking Committee on investigations into the funding of terrorist groups. His testimony focused, in part, on an Islamic charity called "KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development." (I have omitted the footnotes to Emerson's testimony.):One of the imams was heard saying that he would do whatever is necessary to fulfill his commitment to the Qur'an, witnesses told police, Hogan said. Other witnesses said some of the imams were repeating "Allah, Allah," he said.
And a couple of the imams asked for seat-belt extensions, even though it did not appear they needed them, Hogan said.
All of this made passengers, the attendants and the pilot uncomfortable, Hogan said.
There is evidence, however, that KindHearts may possibly be filling the void created by the closure of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). In early 1994, Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzook, who had given the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) $210,000 in initial funding, decided that the charity would serve as the primary fundraising arm of HAMAS in the US.The HLF was in operation until the Treasury Department froze its assets in December 2001. KindHearts was incorporated in Toledo, Ohio in 2002, and is registered in a number of other states, including Oklahoma, Nevada, Indiana, Colorado, while awaiting renewal in Pennsylvania.
An assessment of its operations indicates a close business relationship with the
Holy Land Foundation network as well as with other charities that have been designated for being conduits for terrorist financing.
Emerson mentioned Omar Shahin as one of KindHearts' links to terror-supporting organizations:
Other KindHearts representatives have been linked with radical Muslim groups in the U.S. According to a business card produced in April 2004, Omar Shahin, a former Tucson imam, is a KindHearts representative. Shahin served as the Imam at the Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT) for three years until he “left abruptly” in June 2003. The ICT – which has hosted IAP conferences and has an extensive history of terror links – raised thousands for H[oly] L[and] F[oundation] in 2001. In the mid-1980s, the ICT was one of the U.S. satellite offices of the Mektab al Khidmat (MAK) the precursor organization to al-Qaeda. MAK was founded by Wael Julaidan, Osama Bin Ladin, and Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, Bin Ladin’s mentor.
The fact that the Islamic Center of Tuscon hosted IAP conferences--the context suggests that this was during Shahin's tenure, but that isn't entirely clear--deserves elaboration. Here is what Emerson said about IAP, the Islamic Association for Palestine:
The IAP has a long history of links to Middle East terrorism and its financial support. A 2001 INS memo extensively documented IAP’s support for HAMAS and noted that the “facts strongly suggest” that IAP is “part of HAMAS’ propaganda apparatus.” Indicted HAMAS leader Musa Abu Marzook served on the IAP Board of Directors in 1989, and just as he had arranged for the HLF, Marzook provided IAP with funds -- notably $490,000. In August 2002, a federal judge ruled that there was evidence that “the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of HAMAS." And most significantly, in November 2004, a federal magistrate judge held the IAP civilly liable for $156 million in the 1996 shooting of an American citizen by a HAMAS member in the West Bank. Further, in November 2004, an immigration judge labeled IAP a “terrorist organization” and noted its “propensity for violence.”
KindHearts, the charity that Shahin represented in 2004, has now been shut down:
Read the rest here.
[UPDATE #2] Compliments of one country voice, who shows ties between CAIR and Nancy Pelosi the new squeaker of the house.
We have a huge fish that's been in bed with CAIR for quite awhile, the soon to be Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (along with others)!! We have really got to be vigilant in these next two years!!A great but scarey read:
Nancy Pelosi: Anatomy of a Trainwreck
"..Pelosi was given a 100 percent rating for supporting the interests of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 2005."
"Beyond giving free passes to terrorists and other aliens seeking to enter our country illegally and establish an identity here, Pelosi has consistently opposed a strong military."
"her self-righteous posturing, she wants to distract people from asking whether they are willing to take a chance on a leftist clique that places terrorist rights before the security of our families and believes that using our military to take the fight to the terrorists abroad is a bad thing. “I don't really consider ourselves at war,” Pelosi has said in describing her views on the struggle against global terrorism."
I have a funny and sick feeling we will be seeing and hearing alot from CAIR...even if it is out of the mouths of our liberal politicians!
I will continue updating.