This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3222
October 22, 2007
| The Living Legacy of CAIR and the Islamic Association for Palestine |
In November of 2004, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a propaganda center for Hamas, was found liable for the murder of an American teenager, David Boim, who was slain during a Hamas drive-by shooting in Israel. Soon after, the group dissolved its corporation and went into nonexistence – but not before leaving remnants of its being along with a thorn on American society. That thorn, CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has attempted to put separation between itself and the IAP, its parent organization. However, a recent discovery regarding the IAP's American Muslim Society (AMS) would suggest that the two are still, to this day, very much connected, leaving the legitimacy of CAIR's own existence open to question.
The IAP was originally incorporated in November of 1981. According to the state of Illinois, the Registered Agent for the corporation was Aly A. Mishal, an individual who is listed as an "Unindicted Co-conspirator" in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial held in Dallas, Texas that began in July. The IAP's brain trust included such individuals as Mousa Abu Marzook, who became the head of Hamas during the inception of the violent Intifada in 1987, and Sami Al-Arian, who helped found Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in 1979.
During the start of the 90's, a young group of radicals had taken over the leadership of the IAP. In March of 1990, the IAP officially split up its organization and incorporated an office in Richardson, Texas, the city where HLF was located. The group name on the documents was the American Middle Eastern League for Palestine (AMELP). The incorporator was then-IAP President Yasser Salah Bushnaq. Among other things, AMELP would serve as the IAP's publishing house.
What is interesting is that, according to the state of Texas, AMELP is still active, classified as an "IN GOOD STANDING – EXEMPT CORPORATION." What is even more interesting is that the Registered Agent of AMELP is Ghassan Dahduli – an associate of convicted Al-Qaeda operative Wadi Al-Hage – who was deported from the U.S. in November of 2001 for fraudulently obtaining a work visa.
In April of 1991, the IAP's Illinois corporation was dissolved, and a new one was formed in October of 1993, using the alias American Muslim Society (AMS). Listed in the new corporation were the following "assumed names": Islamic Association for Palestine in Chicago, Islamic Association for Palestine in North America, Al-Zaytouna and Al-Zaytouna Newspaper. Just as AMELP was acting as the IAP in Texas, AMS was doubling as the national organization and a local IAP chapter.
Less than a year after AMS was created, the IAP founded another group, CAIR. In June of 1994, using seed money they received from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), the President of the IAP Omar Ahmad, the future President of the IAP (and Registered Agent of AMS) Rafiq Jaber, Nihad Awad and Ibrahim Hooper opened up an office in Washington, D.C.
Throughout CAIR's existence, the organization has been haunted by its parent group's ties to Hamas. CAIR's response to this was to either ignore reports or to dismiss tough questions as being the result of a biased conspiracy against all Muslims. In May of 2007, CAIR could no longer deny reality, as the organization was named as a "co-conspirator" in the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas. The label was given, in lieu of a trial that was about to take place, naming past employees of HLF as defendants.
During the HLF trial, testimony from federal agents would reveal that CAIR was a part of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee, a secret Hamas support network comprising of a handful of groups and led by Marzook. These revelations did much to put an end to the speculation concerning CAIR's relationship with the IAP. However, new information should end the speculation altogether.
Prior to the IAP's dissolution, the group created local offices in various parts of the United States. One of the chapters, the American Muslim Society of the Tristate Area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware (AMS Tri-State), was set up in Villanova, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, and was incorporated in January of 2001. Like AMELP, this chapter was never shut down.
The AMS Tri-State headquarters is located at the Foundation for Islamic Education (FIE), a satellite campus for Cairo, Egypt's Al-Azhar University whose entire Board of Trustees resides in Saudi Arabia. FIE has played host to several Islamist radicals. They include: Maher Hathout, a Senior Advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), who has on numerous occasions stated his support for Hezbollah; Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss-born Muslim scholar, who had his visa revoked by the U.S. State Department, due to his providing of funds to Hamas; and Riyadh ul-Haq, a Muslim cleric from England, who was banned from entry into Canada, on grounds that he had incited hatred against Jews, Hindus, homosexuals and moderate Muslims.
Four and a half years after AMS Tri-State was founded, CAIR opened its own chapter in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was very important to both organizations, as it was the site of an infamous 1993 meeting that comprised of IAP and future CAIR leaders discussing ways in which they could raise money for Hamas from American shores.
It was not just the Hamas meeting that the two groups had in common. When one looks at the board members of each organization, he/she sees a striking similarity. Iftikhar Hussein, the Secretary General of AMS Tri-State, is also the Chairman of the Board of CAIR-Philadelphia (CAIR-Pennsylvania). Zaheer Chaudhry, the President of AMS Tri-State, was, up until recently, a CAIR-Philly board member. [One other AMS Tri-State leader, the group's Vice President Aziz Al-Taee (a.k.a. Aziz Kadoory Aziz), who is not affiliated with CAIR-Philadelphia, is of note, as he has, in the past, pled guilty to purchasing stolen computers and selling packaging for crack cocaine. Al-Taee also claims to be the last person to speak to his then-business partner Nick Berg, before Berg was kidnapped and subsequently beheaded in Iraq.] Additionally, Adeeba Al-Zaman, the former Communications Director and former Office Manager of CAIR-Philadelphia, was a moderator at an AMS Youth Forum held at FIE, in August of 2003.
The links from AMS Tri-State to CAIR-Philadelphia are significant, as they prove that CAIR still – even today – has a working relationship with the IAP (through its remnants).
When Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook was facing deportation from the United States in 1996 – Marzook had been in the U.S. since 1981 – CAIR's propaganda machine shifted into high gear, as the group took to his defense. On May 10, 1996, two days after U.S. District Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy ordered Marzook's extradition to Israel, Nihad Awad, the Executive Director of CAIR, organized a press conference, at which he stated, "[T]he arrest, detention and extradition is politically motivated…[T]his campaign has been orchestrated to serve as a wedge between America and Islamic countries." The following month, CAIR, joined by the IAP and a group calling itself Muslims for a Better America, signed an open letter calling the proceedings against Marzook an "injustice" and alleging that "our judicial system has been kidnapped by Israeli interests."
CAIR had much to thank Marzook for. Indeed, the organization owed him for its very existence. Yet, since Marzook's departure to Jordan, and later to Syria, CAIR has worked marvels in order to conceal and dodge questions concerning its terrorist pedigree. Today, though, after all that emerged at the Holy Land trial, and certainly after this new information surfaced regarding its ongoing relationship with one of the IAP's local chapters, CAIR no longer has the luxury of denial. Being that that is the case, should not CAIR and all that remains of the group that created it be removed from America as well – once and for all?
Joe Kaufman is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate and the founder of CAIR Watch. Beila Rabinowitz is the Director of Militant Islam Monitor. http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=F3165790-E9DA-4778-A5ED-960C7D87B5C4
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MIM: Documentation showing how Iftekhar Hussain of CAIR is connected to the American Muslim Society. The names of the Saudi trustees who own the Foundation for Islamic Education.
September 30, 2007
http://www.blogger.com/profile/14592269636537976301
Iftekhar is the Chair of CAIR PA Philadelphia. He is also currently serving as Secretary General of the American Muslim Society of the Tristate Area of PA, NJ & DE. He is engaged in local interfaith educational initiatives with a focus on 'Islam and the Middle East' and 'US Foreign Policy and the Muslim world'. On behalf of CAIR-PA, he has developed a 10-part course titled 'Understanding Islam and Muslims through History and Jurisprudence' and has taught it at churches, synagogues, mosques and local county night schools. He has presented this course at over 20 different venues over the past 6 years. Iftekhar serves as Friday prayer service leader at suburban mosques in the Delaware Valley. Iftekhar was born in Bangladesh, has lived in the Middle East and Europe and studied and obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at Texas A&M University and worked toward a PhD at Penn State University. He works as a consultant in the Pharmaceutical industry, traveling in Asia Pacific and Europe on business process re-engineering assignments. Iftekhar is married to Bushra Kourani for the past 10 years and has three children Yousef (age 9), Omar (age 8) and Huda (age 4).
http://pa.cair.com/index.php?Page=chairmessage&Side=about September 13, 2007
Dear Friends, As Salaam Alaikum (Peace be unto you)
On behalf of the entire CAIR-PA Executive Committee, I wish you Ramadan Mubarak and happiness on the occasion of the start of Ramadan 2007. Fasting, the fourth pillar of Islam, is practiced during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is derived from an Arabic word for intense heat and scorched ground and shortness of rations -- and it is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar (Hijri calender), established in the year 638 CE. It is considered the most venerated, blessed and spiritually-beneficial month of the Islamic year. Prayers, fasting, charity, and self-accountability are especially stressed at this time; religious observances associated with Ramadan are kept throughout the month. Verses in the Qur'an regarding fasting:
O YOU who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God:
[fasting] during a certain number of days. But whoever of you is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days; and [in such cases] it is incumbent upon those who can afford it to make sacrifice by feeding a needy person. And whoever does more good than he is bound to do does good unto himself thereby; for to fast is to do good unto yourselves – if you but knew it.
It was the month of Ramadān in which the Qur'ān was [first] bestowed from on high as a guidance unto man and a self-evident proof of that guidance, and as the standard by which to discern the true from the false. Hence, whoever of you lives to see this month shall fast throughout it; but he that is ill, or on a journey, [shall fast instead for the same] number of other days. God wills that you shall have ease, and does not will you to suffer hardship; but [He desires] that you complete the number [of days required], and that you extol God for His having guided you aright, and that you render your thanks [unto Him]. [2:183-185]
Muslim communities across the Delaware Valley will hold ‘Sharing Ramadan' events throughout the month where you are invited to participate in the breaking of the fast at sunset. Please check the CAIR-PA website to find a mosque near you. "These events allow American Muslims to share and celebrate the importance of the month of Ramadan with people of all faiths" said Aliya Khabir, CAIR-PA Philadelphia Executive Committee member.
Thank you and May God bless you.
Sincerely,
Iftekhar Hussain
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| Name | Name Type | ||
| AMERICAN MUSLIM SOCIETY OF THE TRISTATE AREA OF PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JERSEY & DELAWARE | Current Name | ||
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| Non-Profit (Non Stock) - Domestic - Information | |||
| Entity Number: | 2984518 | ||
| Status: | Active | ||
| Entity Creation Date: | 1/23/2001 3:32:06 PM | ||
| State of Business.: | PA | ||
| Principal Office Address: | 1860 MONTGOMERY AVE VILLANOVA PA 19085-0 |
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| Mailing Address: | No Address | ||
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| Officers | |||
| Name: | ZAHEER CHAUDHRY | ||
| Title: | President | ||
| Address: | 1860 MONTGOMERY AVE VILLANOVA PA 19085-0 |
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| Name: | IFTEKHAR HUSSAIN | ||
| Title: | Secretary | ||
| Address: | 1860 MONTGOMERY AVE VILLANOVA PA 19085-0 |
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| Name: | EROL CEBECE | ||
| Title: | Treasurer | ||
| Address: | 1860 MONTGOMERY AVE VILLANOVA PA 19085-0 |
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| Name: | AZIZ AL-TAEE | ||
| Title: | Vice President | ||
| Address: | 1860 MONTGOMERY AVE VILLANOVA PA 19085-0 |
http://www.corporations.state.pa.us/corp/soskb/Corp.asp?1888177
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| Business Name History
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| Name | Name Type | ||
| FOUNDATION FOR ISLAMIC EDUCATION, INC. THE | Current Name | ||
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| Non-Profit (Non Stock) - Foreign - Information | |||
| Entity Number: | 2142659 | ||
| Status: | Active | ||
| Entity Creation Date: | 10/30/1992 11:13:06 AM | ||
| State of Business.: | NY | ||
| Principal Office Address: | 800 N 2ND ST STE 100 HARRISBURG PA 17102-0 |
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| Mailing Address: | No Address | ||
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| Officers | |||
| Name: | MAHMOUD A TAIBA | ||
| Title: | President | ||
| Address: | 2 WESTBANK RD RYE PA 10580-0 |
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| Name: | ABDULAZIZ A HANAFI | ||
| Title: | Secretary | ||
| Address: | 2 WESTBANK RD RYE PA 10580-0 |
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| Name: | ABDULLA I AL-HOBAYB | ||
| Title: | Treasurer | ||
| Address: | 2 WESTBANK RD RYE PA 10580-0 |
http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2108
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3222