Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Debbie Wasserman Schultz Does Radical Muslim Fundraiser For EMERGE USA
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Does Radical Muslim Fundraiser For EMERGE USA
February 27, 2012
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Empowers a Radical Muslim Fundraiser
Posted By Joe Kaufman and Beila Rabinowitz
Frontpage Magazine
A radical Muslim group with ties to the Obama Administration will be featuring the head of the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as the keynote speaker for its annual fundraising banquet this coming April. By agreeing to partake in the event, Wasserman Schultz is helping to further this organization's nefarious agenda of placing Islamists into positions of American power and influence. It is this stealth jihad which threatens our country not from abroad, but from within.
EMERGE USA was founded as a non-profit corporation in the state of Florida, in November 2006, under its original name, Center for Voter Advocacy (CVA). In 2009, CVA merged with a Texas entity founded by current EMERGE board member and project manager of Shell Oil in Houston, Afaq J. Durrani, called the Coalition of New American Communities (CONAC). Apart from EMERGE, CVA still exists as a separate Florida corporation.
According to the organization's mission statement, "EMERGE [Empowering Motivating Educating Resourceful Grassroots Entities] aims to politically empower and train its constituents to be effective community organizers and work in coalitions to advance beneficial policies and legislation that help protect and enforce the rights afforded by the United States Constitution."
The mission, as does their name, sounds like a patriotic one attached to a noble cause. However, the extremism exhibited by the leaders of the group paints an entirely different picture – one of an organization with a sinister motive to place radicals within key circles of political power.
On Saturday, April 21st, the head of the Democratic Party, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, will be addressing EMERGE. The theme of the event is "Investing in Tomorrow's Leaders Today" and will include entertainment and a halal dinner. The previous year, former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham spoke in front of the group.
Wasserman Schultz likes to flaunt her Jewish identity and (false) pro-Israel persona, but how can she begin to do so, when the organization she will be addressing maintains staff who display animosity towards the Jewish state?
Laila Abdelaziz, the Field Coordinator of EMERGE, denounced Israel in a question she posed to President Obama, during a January 2010 town hall meeting he held in Tampa, Florida. "[W]hy have we not condemned Israel and Egypt's human rights violations against the occupied Palestinian people, and yet we continue supporting them financially with billions of dollars from our tax dollars?" she belligerently asked.
Before coming to EMERGE, Abdelaziz was the Project Coordinator for United Voices of America (UVA), a group founded and headed by Ahmed Bedier. Bedier, who had previously been involved with the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), was embroiled in controversy when he helped facilitate an October 2010 fundraiser for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. According to Nelson, whom Abdelaziz was once a staffer for, when he learned about past anti-Israel statements Bedier had made, he returned a $500 campaign contribution that Bedier gave to him.
On the announcement showing Wasserman Schultz as EMERGE USA's keynote speaker, the RSVP contact for the event is listed as one Rasheed Shihada. On Shihada's Facebook site, apart from containing a long rant he authored against Christians, he displays on his homepage a video put out this month calling for support of Israeli prisoner Khader Adnan, who according to Israel is a "senior member" of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
This is only the tip of the iceberg with regard to extremism at EMERGE.
The Vice Chairman and main face behind EMERGE is Khurrum Wahid, a practicing South Florida attorney. According to the Florida Bar, Wahid "has defended individuals charged with allegedly committing or conspiring to commit acts of terrorism…"
Some of Wahid's clients include: Rafiq Abdus Sabir, who received a 25 year prison sentence for conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaeda; Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who was given a life sentence for being a member of al-Qaeda and for plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush; and Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, who is awaiting trial for conspiring with others to funnel at least fifty thousand dollars to the Pakistani Taliban for the purpose of murdering American troops overseas.
Wahid, as well, created a legal fund for Tashnuba Hayder, a girl who had been identified by the FBI as a potential suicide bomber and who was later deported to Bangladesh, as she was considered an imminent threat to the security of the United States. Currently, Wahid is soliciting funds on his law office's website for the defense of his client Hafiz Khan (above) and his son Izhar Khan, whom Wahid calls a "rising star."
Prior to helping found EMERGE, Wahid was a legal advisor for CAIR National and a director of CAIR's Florida chapter. In 2007 and 2008, CAIR was named by the U.S. Justice Department as a co-conspirator to the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas. At CAIR-Florida, Wahid had taken the place of Foad Farahi, an imam of a radical mosque, who the FBI has suspected of having had dealings with al-Qaeda operatives – "Dirty Bomber" Jose Padilla and Adnan Gulshair el-Shukrijumah – and who was arrested last month for "transportation violations."
Wahid is the Registered Agent for another radical entity, the Islamic Foundation of South Florida (IFSF). The Executive Director of EMERGE, Nauman Sabit Abbasi, is the President of Public Relations for IFSF. The IFSF Youth Group is run by Abdur Rahman al-Ghani, a fan of Hizb ut-Tahrir, whose Facebook site is littered with fanatical anti-America, anti-Israel and Islamic supremacist language. This month, al-Ghani posted to his Facebook, "[Y]es, Allah (SWT) has Decreed that we will over-take the World in numbers…"
Wahid also spoke at a May 2010 event sponsored by the American arm of the South Asian Muslim Brotherhood (Jamaat-e-Islami), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), an organization that has been connected to the financing of both al-Qaeda and Hamas.
In May 2009, the former Executive Director and co-founder of EMERGE, Farooq Mitha, wrote an article asking the question, "What if Hezbollah gains influence in Lebanon?" In the piece, he speculates about how the U.S. will deal with groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, as they gain prominence and power in their territories. Mitha states, "It is impossible to imagine sustainable peace in the region without at least the implicit cooperation of these groups."
While Mitha is careful to appear ambiguous regarding U.S. collaboration with these terrorist entities in print, he has himself spoken at a radical Muslim event – as have many of his EMERGE colleagues – sponsored by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). ISNA, like CAIR, was named by the Justice Department as a party to Hamas fundraising and is the largest Muslim Brotherhood organization in the United States and Canada.
In February 2011, Mitha participated in an event sponsored by the Obama-linked Center for American Progress (CAP), a group exposed less than a year later as being a vehicle for anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements and positions. Also participating was Khalilah Sabra, a representative from the Muslim American Society (MAS), a Muslim Brotherhood organization which has published numerous statements on the web calling for violence against Jews and cursing Jews and Christians.
Today, Mitha serves in the Obama Administration as the Special Assistant to the Director of the Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs (DOD OSBP). As such, it would appear that Mitha exemplifies EMERGE's goal of placing those associated with Islamists into high positions of influence.
While Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks to EMERGE USA's audience this April, the group will no doubt benefit both financially and politically from her performance. As prominent figures, such as Wasserman Schultz, willingly address their group, leaders of EMERGE will continue to infiltrate and have an open door into American seats of power, thereby helping to bring about America's destruction from within.
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/02/27/debbie-wasserman-schultz-empowers-a-radical-muslim-fundraiser/
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MIM:Abdur Rahman Al Ghani's Facebook page. Al Ghani is the head of the youth group at the Islamic Foundation of South Florida whose registered agent is EMERGE founder and chairman Khurrum Wahid. In 2010 the IFSF was the venue of a Townhall meeting with Congressman Keith Ellison organised by EMERGE and the Florida Muslim Bar Association of which Wahid was president.
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FMBA Co-Sponsors Town Hall With U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison
Monday, 17 May 2010 21:33 | Written by Administrator The Islamic Foundation of South Florida successfully hosted a town hall breakfast on Sunday, May 16th with an estimated turnout of over 150 attendees. Congressman Keith Ellison took questions from the audience on a variety of topics, ranging from immigration to dealing with muslims who believe voting is forbidden. He encouraged attendees to to be more active in their communities and to become involved in local politics. FMBA Treasurer Saman Movassaghi also spoke briefly about the organization and our new website. She encouraged attendees to contact FMBA and member attorneys if the need arose. The event was co-sponsored by FMBA and EMERGE USA. http://floridamuslimbar.org/news/19-fmba-co-sponsors-town-hall-with-us-congressman-keith-ellison.html
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Emerge USA will be holding its annual banquet on April 21, 2012 at the Marriott Fort Lauderdale North. The theme of the banquet is "Investing in Tomorrow's Leaders Today" and our keynote speaker will be Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Registration is at 7pm and doors open at 7:30pm. Hallal dinner will be served and childcare will be available.
http://emerge-usa.org/events.html?task=view_event&event_id=16
MIM: Note that EMERGE USA has pulled the banquet flyer after the above article was published.
- MIM: Since the appearence of the article Khurrum Wahid has altered his bio on the EMERGE leadership page.
- Below the original listing.
- Click on the link to view his new enlarged bio.
"Khurrum Wahid is an attorney based in South Florida. Khurrum was a co-founder of the Florida Muslim Bar Association and its current President. He also created CVA-PAC and Foundation in 2006 and 2007."
http://emerge-usa.org/about-emerge-usa/emerge-leadership.html
The beginning of Wahid's new bio on the EMERGE leadership webpage.
"Khurrum Wahid is a criminal defense attorney based in South Florida. A devoted advocate for human and civil rights, Khurrum has fought tirelessly to protect civil liberties from unwarranted government encroachment and to educate the public about the importance of safeguarding our constitutional protections, especially in times that try our nation's conscience. ..."
- -----------------------------------------------------------
- MIM: In January 2011 EMERGE held a training session at the Islamic Society of North America's Florida conference.
- ISNA is the largest Muslim Brotherhood organisation in North America and aims to turn North America into an Islamic Society.
- Event date:
- January 08, 2011 04:30 PM
- Event end date:
- January 08, 2011 05:45 PM
- Individual Price:
- Free
http://emerge-usa.org/events.html?task=view_category&category_id=1
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MIM:Farooq Mitha co founder and former Executive Director of Emerge, is an associate at The Truman National Security Project. He is now working with the Department of Defense and has used his position as stealth jihadist to arrange an event on April 7th in Tampa entitled Emerge USA Tampa Communications Training with the Truman Security Project. The collaboration of the TNSP with Emerge USA is a case study of how Islamist front organisations like Emerge operate.
Emerge USA Tampa Communications Training with the Truman Security Project
According to an excerpt from his bio on their webpage:
Farooq A. Mitha currently serves in the Obama administration as the Special Assistant to the Director of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Small Business Programs. In this role Farooq supports DoD's small business industrial base through the development of acquisition policy, the implementation of programs and the alignment of small business capabilities with the DoD's urgent needs. These efforts aim to maximize the contribution of small businesses in defense acquisitions and reduce barriers to entry for businesses seeking to contract with the federal government. Farooq is also a principal member of the DoD-VA Taskforce on Veteran's Employment and is on the steering committee of the White House Business Council.
"Prior to joining the Obama administration Farooq was a partner in the law firm Geller Mitha, P.A. where he focused on civil litigation, business transactions, government affairs, and administrative law. Farooq also consulted on issues related to the Middle East and South Asia and served as the Executive Director of Emerge USA, a non-profit civic engagement organization, which seeks to politically enfranchise underrepresented communities in Florida." http://www.trumanproject.org/programs/fellowship/people/farooq-mitha
MIM: Emerge USA has found a replacement speaker for it's April 21th fundraising banquet. It is Mohammed Hameeduddin, the Mayor of Teaneck New Jersey. Hameeduddin's father (Mohammed Sr.) is a founding member of Darul- Islah Mosque which hosts the Young Muslims (YM) youth organisation from the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) a group tied to Al Qaeda. http://www.darulislah.org/?page_id=112
The mosque website states that it's mission is da'wa i.e. "propagating Islam" which is a form of jihad.
"Located in the Teaneck Township of Bergen County, New Jersey, Dar-ul-Islah was established in the nineteen seventies by the Muslims of Bergen County for the sole purpose of upholding, preserving and propagating Islam." http://www.darulislah.org/du/?page_id=15
MIM:According to a NY Times article about Hameeduddin's election:
"Religion aside, there's a pretty traditional tale in Mr. Hameeduddin's rise from the son of immigrants from Hyderabad, India. His father, Mohammed Hameeduddin Sr., was a founding member of the Darul-Islah Mosque in Teaneck. The younger Mr. Hameeduddin, an entrepreneur now working in title insurance, is remembered by classmates as one of the cool kids at Teaneck High School, where he and Mr. Gussen graduated in 1991. Friends called him Mo and he is still fondly remembered for the sleek Champagne-colored Ford Probe he drove. (Mr. Hameeduddin, saying he'd had too many interview requests and didn't want to call undue attention to himself, declined to be interviewed.) HE first became interested in public life after 9/11 when he decided to speak out about misperceptions of Muslim culture. After getting involved in the mosque issue, he served on the town planning board from 2006 to 2008 and then on the town council. " http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/nyregion/08towns.html
Emerge 2012 Annual Banquet: Investing in Tomorrow's Leaders Today
- Event date:
- April 21, 2012 07:00 PM
- Individual Price:
- $50.00
Emerge USA will be holding its annual banquet on April 21, 2012 at the Marriott Fort Lauderdale North. The theme of the banquet is "Investing in Tomorrow's Leaders Today" with Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin of Teaneck, NJ and Comedian Ahmed Ahmed. Registration is at 7pm and doors open at 7:30pm. Hallal dinner will be served and childcare will be available.
http://emerge-usa.org/events.html?task=view_category&category_id=1
MIM: Rashid Shihada the RSVP coordinator for the Emerge USA events, will be the featured speaker at an upcoming dinner at the Islamic Foundation of South Florida which shows just how closely the organisation and mosque are interwined. Click on details to see flyer.
On April 7th the radical cleric Imam Zaid Shakir will be the guest speaker at the masjid fundraising dinner. http://ifsf.net/site/processifsf.aspx
An excerpt from Discover the Networks about Zaid Shakir:
"Shakir is known for having expressed his desire to see the United States eventually become -- "not by violent means, but by persuasion" -- a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law. "Every Muslim who is honest would say, I would like to see America become a Muslim country," he said.In Shakir's view, Muslims cannot accept the legitimacy of the existing American order, because it "is against the orders and ordainments of Allah." "[T]he orientation of the Quran," he explains, "pushes us in the exact opposite direction."Shakir also appears to embrace 9/11 conspiracy theories. In October 2007 he described the September 11th attacks as having "occurred under dubious circumstances that have yet to be thoroughly examined."http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=974
Community Dinner Special Speaker: Rashid Shihada 'Leading the Way to Empowerment'Special presentation by STEMS Students
Saturday, March 24th @6:00pm Dinner will be served afterwards ($5.00/each) Details
http://ifsf.net/site/processifsf.aspx
ISLAMIC FOUNDATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA
(5457 NW 108TH AVENUE, SUNRISE, FL- 33351)
Join us with your Family and Friends
MONTHLY COMMUNITY DINNER
SATURDAY, March 24th, 2012
@6:00pm
Special Speaker: Rashid Shihada
(From EMERGE-USA)
SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY STEMS
CHILDREN
Dinner will be served after the lecture ($5.00 per dinner)
(Visit us at www.ifsf.net)
MIM: In an interview with the Southern Poverty Law Center publication Khurrum Wahid referred to convicted terrorist and head of the American arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Sami Al Arian as an "Palestinian activist" who was acting out of "compassion". He also called both Al Arian and Rafiq Dhafir "true political activists".
"...You continued after leaving your public defender job?
I left the Neighborhood Defenders Service of Harlem in 2005. My first well-known case was Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a Virginia man and alleged member of Al Qaeda charged with plotting to assassinate President Bush. Some other well-known cases I had were Shahawar Matin Siraj, who was accused of a plot to blow up Union Station in Manhattan; Dr. Rafiq Sabir, who was charged with taking an oath to treat wounded Al Qaeda members; Ehsanul Siddiqui, who was accused of trying to create a video to help recruit jihadists; and Syed Hashmi, who was charged with helping another person to send equipment to Al Qaeda members in northern Pakistan.
When I was still a Miami public defender, I voluntarily took on the case of three medical students who were wrongfully accused of plotting to blow up Miami on the first anniversary of 9/11. I have also consulted on cases such as that of Professor Sami Al-Arian, who was a Palestinian activist, and Dr. Rafil Dhafir, who sent medical aid to Iraq in violation of the sanctions
What characteristics have your clients shared?
I would put them in two broad categories. First, those who were a little older and true political activists. They were essentially propelled to act by compassion for their Muslim compatriots. In the Al-Arian case, he felt he was acting for the Palestinian people; for Dhafir, it was for the Iraqis...." http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2011/winter/preventing-the-radicalization-of-musl
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