This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/7748

Khurrum Wahid: Terrorist Lawyer Running For Coral Springs City Commission Plays The Racism Card

Responds To Expose With Lies And Deceit
May 1, 2019

ISLAMIST POLITICIAN RESPONDS TO FRONTPAGE ARTICLE ALLEGING TERROR TIES

City Commission candidate Khurrum Wahid reacts with lies, deceit and false charges of racism.

April 19, 2019 Joe Kaufman

Khurrum Wahid is running for Coral Springs, Florida City Commission, in a special election that is to take place June 18th. Last month, this author wrote an article that was published in FrontPage Magazine, titled, ‘Terror-Connected Lawyer Running for City Commission in Florida,' which discusses in detail Wahid's many ties to Islamic extremism. This past weekend, Wahid responded to my claims – claims that are backed up by proof – with lies, deceit and false and defamatory charges of racism.

On April 13th, Khurrum Basir Wahid, a candidate for Coral Springs City Commission, issued a statement through his campaign and via social media in reaction to an article I wrote. It begins, "In recent history, well before the start of this campaign, we have seen a resurgence of fear mongering and hateful racism throughout South Florida and our country as a whole. Unfortunately, this hatred has made its way to Coral Springs, and in the last couple months our campaign for city commission has been the target of lies, misinformation, and flat out racism."

Let me first address his charge of "lies" and "misinformation," which is a lie and misinformation, in itself. In truth, every bit of information found in my article – every detail – is well-researched and backed up with incontrovertible evidence. Every bit. In fact, this is proven by Wahid, himself, as, in his response, he cannot find one example to show this not to be the case.

Wahid makes no issue about the information I provided concerning the organization he co-chairs, Emgage, about how Emgage holds events at terror-linked mosques or about how the current South Florida Director of Emgage, Ammar Ahmed, in February 2010, following a debate he participated in at a school, wrote on Facebook, "I hate white people" and joked that he "should have threatened to blow up the school."

Wahid makes no issue about the information I provided concerning his past involvement in the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), about how he served as a legal advisor for CAIR's national office or about how he was a director of CAIR's Florida chapter. He makes no issue about my statement regarding CAIR's terrorist origins.

Wahid makes no issue about the information I provided concerning the mosque he attends, the Islamic Foundation of South Florida (IFSF), and how this mosque has allowed its congregation's youth to be led by Abdur Rahman al-Ghani, an individual who labels Jews "demonic," calls the United States the "World's Number One Terrorist Organization," and says Muslims "will overtake the World."

Wahid makes no issue about the quotes I attributed to him regarding the imam of Masjid Jamaat Al Mumineen (MJAM), Izhar Khan, who spent 20 months in a Miami federal detention center on charges of terrorism. According to the US Justice Department, "Izhar is a Pakistani Taliban sympathizer who worked with [his father Hafiz] and others to collect and deliver money for the Pakistani Taliban… Izhar… provided and attempted to provide material support and resources… knowing and intending that they be used in preparation for and in carrying out… a conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim persons in a foreign country."

Wahid unreservedly calls Izhar Khan a "rising star" and a "sweet kid." Wahid even used his law firm's website to set up a defense fund for Izhar and his father Hafiz, who was a client of Wahid's.

The only matter Wahid does take issue with, concerning the validity of my article, is in regard to the subject of Wahid being placed on a terror watch list, to which he claims he never was. However, that bit of information was not an accusation made by this author. It was a quote taken from a lengthy news piece in the Miami New Times, an article that for the most part caters to Wahid. The publication states, "[S]ometimes, a clash between his work and personal life is inescapable. Last year, he landed on a federal ‘selectee' list – a terrorist watch list. Now he gets a pat down at the airport before flying and can't print boarding passes at home."

Finally, I want to address Wahid's use of the term "racism." He says that what I wrote about him is "flat out racism." He calls me an "Islamophobe." He writes, "Implying a Muslim is a supporter of terrorism simply because they are Muslim is racist." Yet, nowhere did I accuse Wahid of being a supporter of terrorism simply because he was a Muslim. Nowhere.

Wahid says that it is racist to accept that he is a "terrorist sympathizer based on the cases I have worked on." No doubt, Wahid has provided legal assistance to many of the most notorious terrorists the US government has sought to put behind bars, including a number of high-profile al-Qaeda operatives. But never did I suggest that he was a terrorist sympathizer based solely on the cases he has worked on. For me, it has always been a contributing factor, not the factor. Surely, it is legitimate to question the motives of a lawyer who is, himself, associated with radical Muslim organizations and represents Islamist terrorists.

Wahid's use of the terms "racist" and "Islamophobe" is a desperate attempt to suppress the truth and this journalist's ability to get his message out to the public, by implementing the vilest form of defamation. He does this, it appears, because he lacks any concrete arguments to counter what I say or the evidence I provide.

Wahid accuses my article of containing lies, when there is not one. He accuses me of being a racist, when I have never been. Indeed, when it comes to misinformation, it is Wahid who is the one spreading it and all the while feigning indignation for being called out on his own actions.

Yet another reason not to vote for Khurrum Wahid.

Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273503/islamist-politician-responds-frontpage-article-joe-kaufman

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/7748