The State Department's Poor Choices of Muslim Outreach Emissaries

The State Department's Poor Choices of Muslim Outreach Emissaries

IPT News
August 27, 2010

A terrorist plot to assassinate a prince, justification of suicide bombings using the Qur'an, and apologetics for the use of terrorist violence. Chances are, none of these brought "outreach" or "bridge-building" to mind. Yet, take the State Department's pick of individuals sent abroad to reach out to the international Muslim community, and this is what you get.
The ongoing Middle East tour by Imam Feisal Rauf, the man behind the "Ground Zero Mosque," generated controversy because its $16,000 cost is financed by the State Department. As the IPT reported Monday, Rauf has said that the U.S. "has more Muslim blood on its hands than al Qaida has on its hand of innocent non Muslims." Rauf once noted that grievances don't justify acts of terrorism, but backpedaled, saying "How do you tell the people whose homes have been destroyed, whose lives have been destroyed, that this does not justify your actions of terrorism?"
Assistant Secretary of State P.J. Crowley explained in a briefing that the purpose of Rauf's current trip is to promote "international dialogue" and to "help people overseas understand the role that religion plays in our society." Rauf also made two trips in 2007 and one to Egypt earlier this year on behalf of the U.S. In an interview with IslamOnline, Rauf talked about his February 2010 trip which was described as a "tour to build bridges."
The State Department's record of choosing emissaries for such missions is spotty at best. Its courting of Abdurahman Alamoudi provides the most embarrassing example. According to documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the State Department spent more than $40,000 dollars sending Alamoudi overseas between 1992 until 2001 as the face of American Muslims.
Not long afterwards, the U.S. government found that Alamoudi was working with two al Qaida linked individuals plotting to assassinate then-Saudi Prince Abdullah. Officials in the United Kingdom seized $340,000 from him when they stopped him at Heathrow Airport. In 2004, Alamoudi pleaded guilty to several charges related to this plot and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty called Alamoudi's sentencing a "clear victory in the war against terrorism."
"Terrorists need money to operate, and the defendant was caught in the act of financing their deadly schemes," McNulty said.
After Alamoudi's 2005 sentencing, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) for its support of al Qaida. According to a government press release, the State Department's man, Alamoudi, had given $1 million to the U.K.-based Saudi organization.
Similarly, from the end of 2003 to the beginning of 2007, the State Department issued many grants for events featuring Imam Yahya Hendi across Africa, Europe and South Asia. Hendi spoke on various topics such as "Muslim Life in the U.S." and "Muslims in American Politics." In 2006, Hendi spoke on "Strengthening Moderate Islamic Voices in a Western [Society]," the FOIA records show.
In 2003, the same year Hendi was sent on his first trip abroad, he testified as a character witness on behalf of now convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) supporter Sami Al-Arian. During questioning Hendi was asked whether suicide bombing operations are sanctioned by the Koran. Hendi answered, "Yes."
Likewise, just last month, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid made his second trip to Bamako, Mali as part of a program funded by a State Department grant intended to lead to "sustained interaction" between the U.S. and Mali. CAIR was born out of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas support arm in the United States, and was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas financing case which ended in all guilty verdicts in November of 2008.
In testimony, FBI agent Lara Burns cast CAIR as a front for Hamas. The FBI cut off communication with the group in 2008, citing HLF evidence that tied CAIR to Hamas.
While Walid made some positive comments about the U.S., he also used the trip as an opportunity to cast a shadow of suspicion around law enforcement and the FBI. Walid told his audience that "[s]ince the tragedy of September 11, 2001 American Muslims have been subjected to increased discrimination from racial and religious profiling by law enforcement."
Walid also made sure to criticize the shooting of Luqman Abdullah, a Detroit imam who was killed in an FBI raid last year after agents say he fired the first shots. At the Malian conference, Walid said that Abdullah was killed "during a raid by law enforcement agencies based upon an investigation of his mosque, which ended up proving no links to terrorism or treason." However, a criminal complaint places Abdullah as a "highly placed leader of a nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group" which aims to establish an Islamic state in America. It also noted that Abdullah preached offensive jihad and violence against law enforcement.
In a June 2007 khutbah, Walid responded to a survey which indicated that some Muslim American youth support suicide bombings. Rather than condemning those responses, Walid said:

"They're referring directly to what is going on overseas and the resistance and suicide bombings going on in Palestine, they're not talking about doing this here in America they're talking about overseas particularly in Palestine. But let me say this to you and to remind myself. Just because the people who oppress Muslims take certain means and do certain things that are totally unacceptable in our religion, and we feel like we have no other choice but to defend ourselves and this may be the only choice."

Other government travel has included people whose organizations are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian-based movement that seeks to spread Islamic law throughout the world. Among them was current Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) President Zahid H. Bukhari - at a total cost to the taxpayers of over $60,000. From 2004-2007 Bukhari traveled to India, Pakistan, Portugal, Latvia, Russia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, speaking on topics from "Black Muslim Roots in America" to "The Emergence and Development of Islamic Civilization." ICNA's ideology is based on that of Jamaat-e-Islami, a group which calls for an Islamist revolution and Islamic state in Pakistan. An introductory pamphlet for ICNA in the U.S. describes a similar goal, "to achieve the pleasure of Allah through the establishment of the Islamic system in this land."
The FOIA records also show that Mohamed Magid, Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), traveled to the Middle East in November of 2007 through the Citizen Exchange Program (CEP). That program is run by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department. Magid was an adviser for the Sterling Charitable Gift Fund, which was raided by the U.S. as part of the SAAR Network, a network of groups suspected of terrorist connections. A government affidavit stated that the Sterling Charitable Gift Fund was used for money laundering and terrorist financing.
In addition, Magid has downplayed the Darfur genocide, arguing during a 2004 Georgetown University forum that a fraction of the reported 50,000 people killed actually died:

"I think somebody made a mistake and put a zero, they had no problem. But what happened in this issue here, things escalated and people called it genocide. There is a fight, people have been displaced, people lost their homes and they need help but at the same time I want to say there is some kind of exaggeration of the some of the problems."

Like CAIR, ISNA was an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF prosecution. It was listed among "entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood."
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Executive Director Salam al-Marayati, who has called Hizbollah's violence "legitimate resistance," accepted an invitation from the State Department to travel to Europe in January 2010 to speak about religious freedom and free speech. Al-Marayati's organization has a long history of defending designated terrorist organizations and their supporters, opposing U.S. counterterrorism efforts, and espousing anti-Semitic rhetoric.
In addition to sponsoring trips abroad, the State Department has also coordinated meetings between American Muslim Brotherhood groups and several delegations coming to the U.S. Through the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), at least six delegations visited CAIR from 2002-2007. In another instance, the State Department's IVLP program sponsored a visit by a Palestinian news crew in July of 2009 to the Brotherhood-affiliated Muslim American Society (MAS), in order to conduct interviews and discussions for a documentary to improve the attitudes of Palestinians toward U.S. policies and Americans.
The U.S. could find better candidates to travel abroad to represent U.S. Muslims. Contacting individuals with a black and white view on terrorism- that it is inexcusable in any form and should not be written off - would be a nice start.

Wyoming Suing EPA for Stealing 1 Million Acres of State Property

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by Warner Todd Huston 15 Feb 2014 post a comment

As 2013 came to a close, the Environmental Protection Agency decided to summarily remove one million acres of the State of Wyoming's land and transfer it to the American Indian Wind River Reservation. The state is suing the EPA to get its land back, saying the agency used incomplete facts and faulty legal conclusions when making its decision.

On February 14, Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael filed the state's appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit requesting that the EPA reverse its decision to award the reservation the land.
Initially, all the tribes wanted was the legal status to conduct air quality monitoring, but instead the EPA decided that the land belonged to the tribes and simply handed it over to their control. The agency did so despite a ruling from 1905 opening up the land for non-Indians.
Early in January, Wyoming Governor Mead issued a statement saying that he fully understood the desire of the native peoples to gain more land, but Mead worried about the "unilateral" power of the federal government.
"My deep concern," Governor Mead wrote, "is about an administrative agency of the federal government altering a state’s boundary and going against over 100 years of history and law. This should be a concern to all citizens because, if the EPA can unilaterally take land away from a state, where will it stop?"
The EPA's decision puts the rule of law at risk and causes extreme instability, state authorities say.
"EPA's decision casts a shadow of uncertainty over the transactions and day-to-day operations of state agencies, courts, businesses and individuals within the disputed territory," Attorney General Michael wrote.
Governor Mead also accused the EPA of going into this situation with a "predetermined outcome it sought to uphold."
The state maintains that in conjunction with the tribes, Congress diminished the Wind River Reservation in 1905, so the EPA's decision that the land belongs to the tribes was fundamentally flawed.
In the second week of February, the EPA decided to put the decision on hold "due to the unique circumstances of this case," because both the Tribes and the state requested a stay of the decision while all sides consider options.
The tribes, though, accused the state acting in bad faith.
Northern Arapaho Tribe spokesman Mark Howell agreed that the EPA's decision needed to be put on hold, but he maintained that such a stay is "in an effort to kind of quell some of the racial tensions that have been frankly generated by the state of Wyoming"
State officials deny this charge and say the tribes have never been left out of the process.
The EPA still claims its original decision was correct and plans to implement its ruling.

Government Coverups Behind Islamic Invasion of America

Walid Shoebat February 15, 2014

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If ever there was a political 'odd couple', George H.W. 'Felix' Bush and Bill 'Oscar' Clinton fit the bill. Sure, living U.S. presidents share things in common no one else on earth shares but the relationship between the 41st and 42nd Presidents respectively, always seemed to smack of being suspiciously close. In 2006, I saw Bush 41 speak at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and he referred to this relationship as such; he acknowledged it without explaining it.
The subsequent and logical unanswered question "why?" asked by several people, silently in their own minds, hung in the air and was never answered.

The catalyst for this relationship being so close may have nothing to do with America's Islamic problem but the consequences of the desire to keep the details of it secret is another matter.

In the 1994 book COMPROMISED: Clinton, Bush and the CIA – which is still doing very well on Amazon – former Air Force Intelligence operative and CIA Agent Terry Reed chronicles nefarious dealings between then-Arkansas Governor Clinton and former CIA Director Bush, who was Vice President at the time. According to Reed, Clinton allowed the CIA to set up shop in his state, manufacturing untraceable weapons for the Contras in Nicaragua and much more. From the inside flap of the book, which is over 500 pages and packed with documents and photos:
The Arkansas-CIA connection became Clinton's darkest secret – a secret shared by then Vice-President Bush, who himself was compromised by his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal. Their shared guilt kept them silent and tied their hands as they faced off in the 1992 Presidential election with neither mentioning Iran-Contra… Reed puts Clinton directly in the "Iran-Contra Loop". Both attended a secret meeting where CIA arms arrangements, illegal Contra training and money laundering were discussed… reveals the details and names of all who were involved, including those faceless power brokers now in positions of public prominence in Washington, D.C... More than $9 million a week in cash was secretly air dropped into Arkansas, which became the CIA's domestic "banana republic". These clandestine funds were laundered for the Agency and then used for the development of Arkansas industry… Bush's sons were involved in a criminal conspiracy with the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia, a conspiracy that was being contained by the CIA…

That part about Clinton and Bush remaining silent with tied hands can logically be extended to their families (Hillary, George W. and Jeb), advisers (Karl Rove), leaders in the political establishment of both parties, and Party leadership groups like the DNC and the RNC. The administration of George W. Bush protected the Clintons as well. Perhaps no case better exemplifies this than the Oklahoma City bombing. When J.D. Cash uncovered the truth about Clinton administration involvement, the Bush Justice Department stonewalled like it was protecting Bush himself.
(to read more about the smoking guns Cash found, read Chapter 8 of Unsung Davids).

Terry and Janis Reed today

The Iran-Contra scandal broke open when an American cargo plane carrying weapons was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986. Pilots William Cooper and Wallace Sawyer, Jr. were killed. Damage control predictably ensued. The scandal, as it has become known, involved the CIA – which is not to be operating on U.S. soil – selling weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of hostages. An added benefit was that the funds were diverted to aid the Contras in their war with the Communist Nicaraguan Sandinistas.
That official narrative is at near complete variance with Reed's claims.
The Reagan administration circumvented Congress to support the Contras but if it were to be revealed that the CIA was operating on U.S. soil, involved in manufacturing untraceable weapons in Governor Bill Clinton's state, and then shipping them outside the country, it would become a scandal that would disgrace, neuter, and criminalize some powerful families.
Fast forward to 2010. Operation Fast and Furious was exposed when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down near the Mexican-U.S. border. Guns found at the scene were traced back to an operation run out of the Department of Justice, in which ATF Agents instructed gun store owners to sell guns to straw purchasers who would be permitted to traffic those guns unimpeded into Mexico and delivered to drug cartels.

Brian Terry: His death led to Operation Fast and Furious being exposed.

Frustrated Americans couldn't understand why House Republican leadership (Speaker John Boehner) seemed disinterested in pursuing the scandal despite overwhelming evidence that implicated the Obama administration in a federal agent's death. Based on the accepted version of events about Iran-Contra, awkward comparisons were being made between the two scandals by Democrats.
However, based on Reed's claims, the comparisons were not awkward at all. They were spot-on. If Reed's account is right, Boehner's stonewalling would make sense if it meant keeping the truth about Iran-Contra in the closet. Ditto the Benghazi investigation. Boehner began his tenure in the U.S. Congress in 1991 and has long ago demonstrated his loyalty to the Republican Party establishment.

Speaker Boehner and RNC Chair Priebus.

Speaking of the Republican Party establishment, every Presidential candidate endorsed by said establishment since Reagan would have either a.) had a personal stake in keeping Reed's account of Iran-Contra silent (George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush) or b.) been someone who could be controlled by the establishment's political consultants (Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney). It's obvious that Jeb Bush is the establishment's choice for 2016 and he falls into the 'personal stake' camp.

Jeb would have a stake in suppressing Reed’s account.

Conversely, on the Democrat side, Bill Clinton didn't need to be controlled relative to Iran-Contra and neither did Hillary, who is assuredly the Democrats' choice in 2016. If Reed is correct, Clinton vs. Bush in 2016 would be a 'mission accomplished' moment for those who seek to keep the truth about Iran-Contra hidden.
The only president since Reagan who has not had a personal stake (or consultants who did) in keeping Reed's account secret is Barack Obama. In fact, he has been able to control both parties quite well. The Democrats are all-in on his agenda and the Republicans have been inexplicably paralyzed in the face of his repeated abuses.
If Reed's account is right, what would Karl Rove – George W. Bush's closest adviser – be doing today? Would he not be doing exactly what he's doing today? He refuses to go away and Bob Woodward called him out on it. In 2012, Rove's PACs and the RNC chose Mitt Romney. Many believe Reince Priebus is merely a figurehead for the RNC and that Rove is calling the shots. In addition, Rove's mug is everywhere on the Fox News Channel and his Op-eds in the Wall Street Journal are quite prolific.

Rove: Won’t go away.

Another key player in the Reagan administration was Grover Norquist, who founded Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) at Reagan's request in 1985, a year before Iran-Contra was exposed. It's not clear what Norquist may or may not know about the scandal but what is clear is that his connections to Muslim Brotherhood groups and individuals in the U.S. is irrefutable. One such individual is Abdurahman Alamoudi. Another is Suhail Khan, whose father helped found the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA). His mother sat on the board of a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter.

George W. Bush and ISNA President Muzammil Siddiqi, days after 9/11 attacks.

In fact, Norquist helped Khan become the White House gatekeeper relative to selecting Muslim leaders who the Bush administration partnered with before and after 9/11. Those Muslim leaders belonged to Muslim Brotherhood front groups.
In 2004, Norquist married a Palestinian Muslim woman named Samah Alrayyes. If – again I say IF – Reed's account of Iran-Contra is correct and Norquist knows the truth, what are the odds his wife does as well? What are the odds that Suhail Khan knows it? Alamoudi? Multiple Muslim Brotherhood leaders? If they do know, what are the odds that Rove knows they know?

Grover Norquist with Palestinian Muslim wife Samah.

Have you ever heard Rove speak out against the Muslim Brotherhood? Inexplicably, last August, Rove was a signatory on a letter that expressed support for Syria's Muslim Brotherhood Jihadists. Individuals who joined Rove included Bill Kristol, who was the Chief of Staff to Vice President Quayle during the first Bush administration; Elliott Abrams, a high-ranking diplomat under Reagan and both Bush administrations; and other Republican establishment figures. Regardless of motives, these 75 signatories were inexplicably and unnecessarily aligned on an issue the American people were overwhelmingly against.

Suhail Khan and Grover Norquist at CPAC in 2011.

Last year it was reported that Norquist's ATR is largely funded by Rove's Crossroads SuperPAC and that Norquist was the recipient of $26 Million in 2012, courtesy of Rove.

Silent with hands tied indeed.
Consider the issue of immigration. Conservatives all across America have been completely vexed by the desire of Republican establishment figures to grant amnesty to so many illegal aliens. Even the normally astute and incisive Rush Limbaugh couldn't explain it. He gave it a shot by saying that Chamber of Commerce donors have been demanding it but doing so in exchange for the party committing suicide just didn't make sense, even to Limbaugh.
Take a look at who supports amnesty:

• Karl Rove
• Grover Norquist
• Jeb Bush
• Jeb Bush, Jr.
• John Boehner
• George W. Bush
• George H.W. Bush
• Bush Institute
• All Democrats

What could support for amnesty have to do with Reed's allegations about Iran-Contra? If both the Democrats and the Republican establishment have an inherent interest in keeping such truths hidden, who doesn't?
Answer: Tea Party conservatives.
By passing amnesty, the conservative vote is marginalized. If this is one of the reasons behind such a strategy, the Republican establishment views Party survival as being less important than the self-preservation of the individuals who would be exposed. Would the desires of wealthy donors trump party survival? Would such a nefarious truth about Iran-Contra?
The part about 'shared guilt (keeping people) silent' is very real and an interesting dynamic. To illustrate the point, the same could be said about the Islamic connections of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (Malik Obama and Huma Abedin). Speaking of Obama and Clinton, the issue of the former's relationship with Bill Ayers came up just once during the 2008 campaign debates when Hillary pointed out that her opponent served on boards with the unrepentant terrorist. Obama responded by bringing up the fact that Bill pardoned two Weather Underground members – Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg – while president; the issue was dropped and never brought up in another debate.

Weather Underground members pardoned by Bill Clinton.

The issue widely attributed to sinking George H.W. Bush's 1992 re-election campaign was his 'Read my Lips. No new taxes' moment.
However, an unexpectedly strong variable was thrown into the mix – Ross Perot. His decision to run siphoned more votes from incumbent Bush than Clinton.
If you lend credence to Terry Reed's charges – and he makes a compelling case – Bush couldn't sink Clinton with Iran-Contra because the fingerprints of both men were on it. Both men had been compromised.
The Clinton administration courted Muslim groups and individuals in the U.S. who had nefarious connections and deadly motives for the country. In 1996, a woman with extensive familial ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – Huma Abedin – began working for Hillary. The Muslim Brotherhood's stated goal is to destroy the United States from within. Since that time, Abedin has risen to become Hillary's closest and most trusted adviser, to include a stint as Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Clinton during Barack Obama's first term.
Abedin has been with the Clintons for nearly 20 years. Again, if Reed is correct, what are the odds Hillary has filled Huma in on her husband's exploits with the CIA in Arkansas?
Answer: Pretty darned good.
Just like the inexplicable Republican push for amnesty, so too was the establishment's defense of Huma Abedin when Rep. Michele Bachmann and four other congressmen called attention to Abedin's familial connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Republican defenders of Abedin included Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has shown loyalty to Jeb Bush and has supported amnesty; Boehner; Rep. Mike Rogers, who as House Intelligence Committee Chairman must know the truth; Senator John McCain (RINO-AZ); and others.
But perhaps the most vitriolic critic of Bachmann and defender of Abedin was Bachmann's former Campaign Chief, Ed Rollins. He issued a stinging rebuke of Bachmann for going there. In part, Rollins – also a Fox News Contributor – wrote the following:
I can assure Mrs. Bachmann, that Ms. Abedin has been thru every top clearance available and would never have been given her position with any questions of her loyalty to this country.

Rollins began working or the Reagan administration in 1981 and was the National Campaign Director for Reagan's 1984 re-election effort. Again, assuming Reed's account is correct, Rollins could have a personal stake in keeping it suppressed as well. He was a Reagan loyalist and is likely very interested in keeping the 40th President's legacy untarnished, even if Reagan knew much less about what was going on than did his Vice President. Can anyone come up with a better explanation for why Rollins would defend the increasingly indefensible Abedin?

Rollins: Defended Abedin, Smeared Bachmann.

In fact, Rollins addressed not one fact in his smearing of Bachmann.

Abdurahman Alamoudi with George W. Bush.

Another example is that of Abdurahman Alamoudi. According to IPT News, Alamoudi became a representative for the Bill Clinton State Department in 1992 and spent Clinton's two terms being the State Department's representative for American Muslims. In 2003 – under the George W. Bush administration – Alamoudi was arrested on charges related to terrorism. In 2004, he was convicted. The Bush-appointed FBI Director at the time – Robert Mueller – resigned in 2013. Shockingly, when asked by Rep. Louie Gohmert at a House Judiciary Committee hearing if he knew the mosque attended by the Boston Marathon bombers was founded by Alamoudi, Mueller said "no."
In fact, Mueller has seemingly done all he can to avoid mentioning or acknowledging Alamoudi. It's such a radioactive subject that simply exploring it in any depth would implicate the two administrations he worked for – as well as the one that preceded it. Alamoudi may just be the key to unlocking the betrayal of this nation through Clintonian action and Bush inaction, both of which helped to usher in Obama administration destruction.
These realities have kept otherwise powerful people 'silent and tied their hands'.
In any event, something has prevented the Republican Party from fighting the opposition while simultaneously motivating it to fight its conservative base.
So far, no one has come up with the answer and those who know aren't telling us why they think selling out their nation is the best option.
Penn State University thought not telling us about Jerry Sandusky was the best option too.
How'd that work out?
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Looks like the trouble with Muslims in Idaho isn’t just about a Muslim cop shooting a service dog

“The more inroads into this city (for Muslims), the more dangerous it becomes,” say Pocatello residents opposed to a mosque extension in their town. The Rev. Jim Jones (photo right) of the Blazing Grace Church brought a copy of the Koran to the lectern. He said Islam faith preaches intolerance of others and promotes the killing of Christians and Jews.

Recent story: idaho-disabled-mans-service-dog-golden-retriever-shot-by-a-muslim-police-officer

Idaho State Journal  A variance request hearing that was supposed to be focused on parking and public safety concerns surrounding the placement of an Islamic Center at 1513 S. Fifth Avenue turned into testimony about religious tolerance and fear of Islam.

Originally scheduled for the small Paradise meeting room in Pocatello City Hall, the hearing was moved to the City Council Chamber to accommodate more than 100 people — most of them Muslims. Hearing officer Jim Mullen tried to limit input to planning and zoning issues, but citizen comments soon expanded — at times resembling a spirited religious debate.

A doctor from Portneuf Medical Center and a native of Somalia, Jamal Mustafa strayed from zoning concerns in his opening remarks in favor of the Islamic Center and talked about the growing needs of Muslim students at Idaho State University.

“For the past 10 years ISU has quadrupled its Muslim student population,” Mustafa said, adding the new center would expand the chance for students to practice their faith and pray. “This is for the benefit of Pocatello,” Mustafa said.

Later in the hearing when opponents to the variance spoke, they said the mosque would actually hurt Pocatello and put its residents in danger. “I get very fearful because I live close to this place,” he said about the proposed Islamic Center.

Several local (dhimmi) pastors and the Portneuf Valley Interfaith Fellowship lent their support to the application including Janie Gephardt of Pocatello’s first church, First Congregational Church of of Christ. Gephardt said when her church started back in the 1800s, it didn’t have to ask for permission.

However, opponents continued to take aim at the Muslim faith itself instead of any zoning issues related to the fact the proposed mosque is in a commercial area that requires a variance. Rick Frasure said because of the threats of Islamic war and jihad, the Islamic Center in Pocatello posed a grave danger.

Other opponents talked about their fear of Islamic violence and the faith of people in the Middle East with one emotional woman saying she would sell her house and move if the variance was approved.

Mega Mosque and Islamic Community center models

Hearing officer Mullen said he would make a decision on the variance request by Feb. 18. Any appeal of that decision would have to be made within 10 days and would go before the City Council.

Another zoning concern brought up at the hearing involved potential noise from a loud speaker at the Islamic Center that would call its faithful to prayer. 

Pocatello Mosque  In recent years, our local Brothers and Muslim students have successfully undertaken various activities in the Mosque and throughout the Pocatello community to promote the beliefs, ideals and social behavior of Islam:

1. We have developed Islamic classes for adults and children to increase their knowledge of the Quran and the sunnah.
2. We have Promoted Dawa (spreading of Islam and conversions of unbelievers) 
3. We have gone into Christian churches to educate and increase their knowledge of Islam and Muslim cultures around the world.

Nancy Pelosi: No way we’ll delay individual mandate because our Founding Fathers wouldn’t approve

February 16, 2014 by Michele Kirk 110 Comments

Nancy Pelosi used our Founding Fathers, yet again, to justify the unfair (some say illegal and unconstitutional) enforcement of her signature health-care law.
A reporter at Thursday’s House Democratic Agenda press conference asked the former House speaker about Obama’s unilateral decision to extend the deadline for Obamacare’s employee mandate a second time.
“The administration announced another delay of the employer mandate on Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “Do you think that opens up wiggle room for Democrats to vote to delay the employee mandate that the employees are now required to but, and if so, why not?”
“No, it is a completely different thing,” Pelosi answered. She followed up using her favorite scapegoats – our founders.
“[T]he law is very sound policy. To go to back to our founders once again, they sacrificed it all for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This law, the Affordable Care Act, is about a healthier life, the liberty to pursue your happiness. That is solid policy, and the mandate is central to that.”
US Army builds 300-acre eerily fake American city to train soldiers

Sen. Lee: If Obama can rewrite law, ‘almost no limit to his authority’

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Sen. Mike Lee argued Sunday that “any high school civics student can tell you” President Obama is stretching his executive authority by ameliorating the effects of his health care law with numerous tweaks and delays to its mandates on employers and individuals.
The Obama administration last week delayed for a second time the part of the Affordable Care Act that requires large employers to provide health coverage or pay fines.
The “employer mandate” was supposed to take effect in January. But now, mid-size firms of 50 to 99 employees do not have to comply until 2016, and the requirements will be phased in for employers of 100 or more full-time workers.
Mr. Lee, Utah Republican, told Fox News Sunday that if Mr. Obama can change the law through rules from the Treasury, “then there’s almost no limit to his authority.”
Fox host Chris Wallace said the text of the law is quite clear, stating the mandate “shall apply to months beginning after Dec. 31, 2013”
Rep. Xavier Becerra, California Democrat, defended the president with a broad reading of that clause.
“It will begin after December 2013,” he told Mr. Wallace.

FRANCE: Another mosque has been decorated with desecrated piggies

The mosque of the Moroccan cultural association in Sounna de Blois, a town situated between Orléans and Tours, was desecrated on February 11th.

(see reports by La Nouvelle République and Atlasinfo)

Worshipers arrived at the mosque to find a pig’s head and several pieces of pork at the site, along with the slogan “MLE France” sprayed on the door of the mosque. The meaning of these initials is unknown, although it may be that ML stands for “mouvement de libération”. Boujama Hannou, the president of the association, has appealed for calm.

The mayor of Blois and the prefect’s chief of staff visited the site to express their support for the Muslim community, and interior minister Mauel Valls issued a statement condemning the desecration: “These vile and heinous acts, deliberately targeting a Muslim place of worship, have only one objective, to attack the foundations of our Republic.”

Al-Kanz observes that among far-right Islamophobes a belief has taken hold that the pig will have “very specific effects on Muslims, mosques and everything related directly or indirectly to Islam. According to this belief, pork is to Muslims what Kryptonite is to Superman.”

By BareNakedIslam • Posted in Islamization of the West