Congressman Andrews, Mayor Gural, and Assemblyman Connors Turn Dhimmi At New Jersey Jihad Mosque Event

Congressman Andrews, Mayor Gural, And Assemblyman Connors Turn Dhimmi At New Jersey Jihad Mosque Event

By Beila Rabinowitz and William Mayer

June 13, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - In an attempt to deflect suspicion regarding the Islamic Center of South Jersey's connection to the Fort Dix terror plotters, an open house was held on May 18. Billed as a town meeting the event was actually a smokescreen aimed at directing the media's attention to the mosque's claims of knowing nothing about the Duka's radical views or their hostility towards the United States.

Two weeks after the event, mosque trustee Ismail Badat and his wife had an epiphany, they suddenly "recalled" that the Duka brothers "may have been frustrated by events in Iraq and Afghanistan."

One month later, the event's co-sponsor the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR, a Saudi-funded front group for Hamas] was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas terror funding case. http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=cairholyland6507.htm

As far as the local politicians who attended the event were concerned it was nothing but an opportunity for the display of abject dhimmitude in front of their Muslim hosts.

According to Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch

"Dhimmitude is the status that Islamic law, the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims, primarily Jews and Christians. Dhimmis, "protected" or "guilty" people, are free to practice their religion in a Sharia regime, but are made subject to a number of humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur'an's command that they "feel themselves subdued" (Sura 9:29). This denial of equality of rights and dignity remains part of the Sharia, and, as such, are part of the legal superstructure that global jihadists are laboring through violence to restore everywhere in the Islamic world, and wish ultimately to impose on the entire human race" http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Islamic-Tolerance-Treats-Non-Muslims/dp/1591022495

Dhimmitude was omnipresent at the May 18 open house held at the Islamic Center of New Jersey. The event was being offered as an opportunity for the public to ask questions about Islam in the wake of revelations that three of the Fort Dix plotters worshipped at the mosque.

PR aside, the open house was in fact jihad through da'wa, providing a captive audience for the Islamists at the ICSJ to proselytize.

Four politicians and one FBI agent were invited to the event at which a letter by Senator Robert Menendez [D, NJ] was read which encouraged the spread of "diversity."

Belying ICSJ's professions of peace and rejection of terrorism, "educational" booklets were made available to the audience which encouraged jihad, as noted in a previous article [Duka Brother's Mosque - Islamic Center Of South Jersey Promotes Jihad At Open House http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=icsj52207%2Ehtm

One of the tracts was titled "Towards Understanding Islam" by Jamaat-e-Islaami ideologue Abul A'la Mawdudi and It is produced by ICNA, and was promoted as being "beneficial to Muslims and non Muslims alike" adding that "To Muslim youths and adults it serves as a reminder of their fundamental obligations..."

In the chapter headlined "Jihad" we read that:

"Jihad is part of the overall defense of Islam. Jihad means to struggle to the utmost of one's capacity. A man who exerts himself physically or mentally or spends his wealth in the cause of God is engaged in jihad. But in the language of Divine Law this word is used specifically for the war that is waged solely in the name of God against those who perpetrate oppression against the enemies of Islam. This supreme sacrifice is the responsibility of all Muslims. If however a section of the Muslims offers themselves for participating in jihad the whole community is absolved from responsibility. But if no one comes forward everyone is held guilty. This concession vanishes for the citizens of an Islamic state when it is attacked by a non-Muslim power. In that case everyone must come forward for jihad.

If the country that is attacked does not have enough strength to fight back then it is the duty of the neighboring Muslim countries to offer help. If even they fail then the Muslims of the whole world must fight the common enemy. In all these cases then jihad is just as much a primary duty as are daily prayers and fasting. One who avoids it is a sinner. His every claim to being a Muslim is doubtful…" [ICNA/Message Publications Towards an Understanding of Islam pg. 124]

It appears that the politicians present were in such a rush to show deference to a congregation which had produced three domestic terrorists, that they failed to even check out the content of the pamphlets.

The first speaker was Congressman Rob Andrews [D, NJ] whose unctuousness and sense of submission was only exceeded by the bellicosity of the Muslims hosting the event:

Andrews told the crowd:

"Thank you. Thank you very much. On behalf of the one hundredth and tenth Congress of the United States of America I bring you a message of humility, thanksgiving and hopefulness. I'm humbled as your friend…to be invited to this special place tonight to be with my neighbors and friends... And I am thankful for this center and for facilitating such an opportunity tonight. I am very proud to be here. I am very proud that this center is…not only for the men and women and the families that have built it and who give it life but for the neighbors who sustain it Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist. I am proud that this is facility has a welcome place in our neighborhood and our hearts. I am thankful that we have…enforcement personnel defending people not based on where they worship but on their duty as sworn officers of the law. I am thankful that there is a legal system in our country where there is a presumption of innocence and I acknowledge that presumption tonight.

We are gathered here not out of a conclusion about what has happened but out of a conviction that people understand what has not happened. I know you are here tonight because this is a place where peace, not violence is taught and practiced. I know we are here tonight because this is a vital part of the American community, not an enemy of nor opponent to the American community. I am thankful we live in a country where the rule of law prevails over any prejudice and any passion of the moment. …

We are united by a common desire that the peaceful practices that we heard about tonight become our aspirations and that will be true of every aspect of every community, No American should ever be subjected to discrimination, hatred or violence because of how he or she worships or where his or her family came from. ..Their devotion to be sure that the words of their sacred religious texts that they quoted are not simply words but convictions that are part of their daily lives and Imp inspired by what I heard from our speakers tonight but not surprised.

…I don't want to leave this place tonight without feeling a sense of hope and optimism that our darkest passions that sometimes dominate our discussions are the exceptions in America not the rule. The rule is cooperation love for ones neighbor and devotion to ones country. I am humbled to be a part of tonight's discussion and I thank you and each and every one of my neighbors for taking part."

Andrews mind numbing dhimmitude stopped just short of him taking the shahada [accepting the religion of Islam].

Incredibly the Congressman's servility was outdone by New Jersey State Assemblyman Jack Connors who waxed lyrical about his "Muslim friend" and former campaign manager who is a congregant at ICSJ.

"Number one, peace be with you…Ladies and gentlemen around this time in the year 2005, I was a candidate for public office and in the process I had to hire a manager and as fate would happen a young man came forward and I'm a little embarrassed that's he's standing in the back there smiling I think. A young man came forward Raiyon Syed standing in the back there and Raiyon applied for the position as manager of my campaign. We never discussed religion, we had no reason to discuss it, [he] wanted to participate in the American process of getting someone elected to public office and we talked about what I wanted to do and how he would help me do it and as time marched on I hired Raiyon as my campaign manager back in the year 2005 and he did a great job and I knew that [he] would disappear every now and then on Friday afternoons I think he would come to the mosque to worship. I didn't know that till some time later on .I guess the point I'm trying to make is that, I didn't know that he was a Muslim I didn't know that he came here and worshipped….

Ladies and gentlemen it is important that we get along…Mayor Gural talked about not having a friend, not having a Muslim friend and I'll be very honest I have one Muslim friend its [name unclear] and we meet, we probably meet like at this point we meet every three months we have breakfast and I know Raiyon and his family are from Bangladesh there are so many things I've learned and you can learn so many things from each other from talking to Muslim Americans.

Ladies and gentlemen no matter whatever religion you are its important we get along and as the Congressman said this is America and we must get along so I am honored to be here, I am honored to participate in this discussion and certainly as a member of the New Jersey legislature I want to see more of this, I want to see this happen across the state and I want to see this happen across the country because it is so very important because one person or more then one person who goes off and does something-it could have been from any other religion it could have represented any other religion in America and should everyone be painted with that broad brush?

Ladies and gentlemen no, that would be so very wrong and it is so very wrong you are a great people I thank you for this opportunity to come in this mosque I probably never would have been inhere unless Raiyon brought me or I came here tonight so thank you so much for having me for having all of us and for having this very informational forum tonight."

Editor's note: Though in his speech Assemblyman Connors gave the impression that his "Muslim friend" Raiyan Syed was a political novice, in 2004 Syed was the Iowa field organizer for the George Soros funded MoveOn.org PAC. He participated in the organization's "Leave No Voter Behind" program. [source http://media.www.iowastatedaily.com/media/storage/paper818/news/2004/08/25/News/Canvassers.En.Masse-1100679.shtml]

MoveOn.org is perhaps best known for its 2004 "Bush is Hitler" advertising campaign. [source http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107426,00.html]

In addition to Sayed's MoveOn.org activism, in 2003 he organized the Black Hawk County Students for Dean chapter. [source http://www.uni.edu/myuniverse/2003/102703.shtml]

Palmyra New Jersey Mayor Gural's address was one part dhimmi shuffle another part craven apologia.

"Thank you very much. We have a big crowd is here this evening Id like to thank everybody for coming here for and attending this important event. I would be less then truthful if I didn't say that I wasn't afraid and I think many people are. We see on the news every evening the atrocities that are committed overseas and our heart goes out to the men and women who protect our country and lay down their lives every night. We have a fine police department here in Palmyra who do the very same thing, including that we have excellent law enforcement personnel at the federal level the FBI who I've been in contact with and they are doing everything in their power to enact justice in this particular case which ladies and gentlemen doesn't have anything at all to do with this mosque. As you've heard from previous that those men chose to worship here does not mean that everybody associated with this mosque is in any way associated with those men.

It's a difficult time to raise a family and as I said at the top of my statements I am afraid. But a lot of my fears are based in ignorance. I do not consider myself a prejudiced person in the least I believe I don't have a prejudiced bone in my body but I don't have any Muslim friends. It's ignorance ladies and gentlemen I think many times that created divisiveness and ignorance in my particular case could not be any more obvious, this evening because I am wearing one black and one grey sock..." http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2965

For the ISCJ and for Islamists nationwide the creed of mindless multiculturalism affirms their critique that America is so weak and decadent that it even lacks the resolve to defend itself.

Rather than being occasions for contrition, for these radical Muslims each busted terror plot represents another opportunity to lure public officials into making fawning pronouncements that defy reality, centering on the theologically unsound assertion that Islam is a "religion of peace" and that mosques which have harbored terrorists are places "where peace, not violence is taught and practiced," to quote Congressman Andrews.

From the standpoint of the Islamic Center of South Jersey, the thwarted attack by the Duka brothers was the best thing that could have happened to it. It allowed the mosque to conduct a highly successful da'wa campaign, getting over one hundred non-Muslims to set foot in a mosque for what was probably the first time. It also was able to exploit a group of gutless, ignorant ignorant politicians whose dhimmitude was only trumped perhaps by their eagerness to grovel.

The Islamist enemy can not be defeated by those who believe there are no values worth defending, whose world view is moral relativatism, equating potential victims with those who plot their demise.

The public officials attending the ICSJ event failed their country and their constituents. Their participation in the mosque open house was a victory for the Islamists.

1999-2007 Beila Rabinowitz, William Mayer, PipeLineNews.org LLC, all rights reserved.

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MIM:A few weeks after 9/11 Ismail Badat the trustee and then president of the ICOSJ explained that 9/11 had been good for Muslims since it "awakened" non Muslims to Islam.

' since Sept. 11, interest in the Islamic faith has grown among non-Muslims.

"Now, they want to know what Ramadan is and when we're having our events," Badat said. "Most people don't really know much about Islam, but now they've been awakened."

By TIM ZATZARINY JR.
Courier-Post Staff
PENNSAUKEN

Dec.17,2007

More than 1,400 area Muslims gathered here Sunday morning for a feast celebrating the end of Ramadan, a holy month of fasting and prayer.

The feast, known as Eid al-Fitr, was held locally at the South Jersey Expo Center. It marked the end of the most sacred period on the Islamic calendar, and drew enhanced interest this year because of the United States' ongoing war in Afghanistan.

During Ramadan, devout Muslims refrain from food, drink, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk. Many spend long hours praying at home or at mosques or reading from the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

The duration of Ramadan depends on the lunar calendar and can vary from country to country. This year, the month began in mid-November in the United States and lasted 30 days, ending at sundown Saturday.

Ramadan commemorates the time when the Quran was first revealed to the prophet Muhammad in Mecca, in modern-day Saudi Arabia, about 1,400 years ago. The last 10 days of the month are the most sacred, with some Muslims praying through the night in mosques.

Sunday's celebration began with prayer and a sermon about the five basic tenets, or pillars, of Islam: fasting, proclaiming that there is only one God and Mohammed is prophet; praying five times a day; giving to charity; and performing the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, for the able- bodied and those who can afford the journey.

After the sermon, Muslims gathered to talk and eat sweets such as doughnuts and cake, and drink tea, milk and soda.

The feast is part of a daylong family celebration, said Naseem Badat, one of the event's organizers. Badat's husband, Ismail, is president of the Islamic Center of South Jersey, a mosque in Palmyra.

After the feast, many of those gathered planned to visit family and friends in the area and attend parties thrown at fellow Muslims' homes, where they exchange gifts, Naseem Badat said.

Muslims who attended the feast condemned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. But they said the subsequent backlash against Muslim-Americans did not affect the way they observed Ramadan.

"Whatever is going on in the world doesn't change your basic faith," said Miftah Khan of Mount Holly. "We as Muslims believe that whatever comes from God, we accept it."

But, he said, "As Muslims, we don't believe in taking innocent lives. Whoever did the crimes is not a true believer in Islam."

Abbas Husain, a Merchantville physician, said the backlash left him and many other Muslims confused, especially since the United States is their home.

"They put all Muslims under one umbrella," said Husain, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and still carries his military identification card. "Muslims are not terrorists."

Ismail Badat, president of the Palmyra mosque, said that since Sept. 11, interest in the Islamic faith has grown among non-Muslims.

"Now, they want to know what Ramadan is and when we're having our events," Badat said. "Most people don't really know much about Islam, but now they've been awakened."