This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/8206
Singer Urged Residents To Visit Mosque To ‘Socialize & Exchange Knowledge' Despite Knowing They Promote & Fund Global Terrorism
August 9, 2026
Years later, Singer continues to defend his proclamation honoring Islamic Center of Boca Raton.
August 10, 2026 by Joe Kaufman Leave
At a recent Republican candidate forum for Florida's highly contested 25th Congressional District primary, an audience member asked former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer a direct question: Will you rescind the 2022 proclamation you gave to the Islamic Center of Boca Raton?
Singer's answer was revealing. He compared it to proclamations he issued for synagogues and said that even if he could rescind it today, he might simply "word it differently." He did not condemn the mosque, withdraw his support, or express regret.
Worse, Singer admitted that this author personally presented him with evidence about ICBR four years ago – immediately after he issued the proclamation. This is not a politician learning troubling facts after leaving office. Singer knew. He has known for years. And he has repeatedly refused to correct the record.
In June 2022, while mayor, Singer signed an official City of Boca Raton proclamation declaring July "Muslim Heritage Month" in honor of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR). It praised the mosque's "community-service initiatives," noted its outreach to neighbors and officials, referenced its 1998 founding, and encouraged residents to "visit ICBR to socialize" and "exchange knowledge."
Official proclamations matter. They confer legitimacy and signal that local government has vetted and trusts the organization. Singer recklessly bestowed that trust on ICBR and, in doing so, endangered the constituency he had been elected to protect.
Simple due diligence would have revealed ICBR's numerous links to international terrorism, making it one of the most documented and notorious jihad histories of any mosque in South Florida – or the country.
One of ICBR's founders and its current Secretary is Bassem Alhalabi. Before helping establish the mosque, Alhalabi served as an assistant to Sami al-Arian while al-Arian built the American infrastructure for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the U.S.-designated terrorist organization for which al-Arian was later convicted of providing material support.
Alhalabi co-authored publications with al-Arian, listed him as a professional reference for a teaching position at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), and in 2003 was charged by the U.S. Commerce Department with illegally exporting a $13,000 thermal imaging device to Syria, then a designated state sponsor of terrorism. He has also been arrested for assault.
According to the South Florida Muslim Federation – of which ICBR remains a leading member – Alhalabi played a central role in securing Singer's proclamation. Singer later defended Alhalabi as a "good man" and posed for photographs with him. One of these photos shows Singer also standing next to Hasan Sabri, a Pompano Beach imam who, during a 2000 sermon to his congregation, described America as an "enemy."
At the candidate forum, Singer dismissed the concerns: "Mr. Kaufman and his unnamed research was saying that someone there connected 22 years ago… He approached me when I gave that proclamation four years ago, and he didn't show – didn't prove it out."
That characterization is false. The "someone" is Bassem Alhalabi. He has remained in ICBR's leadership continuously since its founding and still serves as Secretary. The individual whose record raised alarms four years ago remains a principal leader.
The problems do not end with Alhalabi. Co-founder Syed Khawer Ahmad developed websites for Hamas. Founding imam Ibrahim Dremali was later arrested, placed on the federal no-fly list, and recorded urging financial support for Hamas while calling for the elimination of all of Israel's Jews. His successor, Muneer Arafat, admitted membership in PIJ and had previously roomed with al-Qaeda operative Ziyad Khaleel.
In November 2018, ICBR honored all of its founders, including Khawer Ahmad and Dremali.
The current ICBR President, Abdulrauf Khan, has used his social media to target Jews and gays.
With regard to ICBR itself, in January 2000, the mosque reportedly received $600,000 in seed money for its facility from the Global Relief Foundation (GRF), an al-Qaeda-linked charity shut down by the federal government after 9/11. The mosque's own website published antisemitic articles describing Jews as "people of treachery and betrayal" and discussing a time when Muslims will "fight the Jews and kill them."
These are documented facts, not rumors.
Nor are the concerns merely historical. ICBR has long been a prominent member of the South Florida Muslim Federation (SFMF), the umbrella group that sponsors annual pro-Hamas conferences.
In 2024, evidence compiled by this author showed the planned Florida Muslim Conference included speakers who glorified Hamas after the October 7 massacre, organizations tied to Hamas financing, and vehemently antisemitic rhetoric. After hotel management reviewed the documentation and security concerns, the venue canceled the event.
In 2025, the conference moved to a government-owned facility. Vendors openly sold merchandise featuring Yahya Sinwar – the architect of the October 7 attacks that killed over 1,200 and kidnapped 251 – as well as items celebrating masked, armed militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), another U.S.-designated terrorist group. Organizers promoted the sellers on social media and in videos.
The extremist environment surrounding the Federation and the mosque Singer honored has not faded. In some respects it has intensified.
Singer's final mayoral term already faced major public backlash over efforts to transfer public lands to private developers and tear down a Veterans' memorial in favor of high-rise apartments. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the project. Now running as a Republican in the 25th District primary, his unapologetic embrace of ICBR remains a contentious issue for the electorate.
Public officials must thoroughly vet the groups they honor. Proclamations and photo ops confer credibility that radicals exploit. Singer granted that credibility to a mosque with deep, documented ties to terrorism and antisemitism, then stood by the decision for years after being shown the evidence. He has never withdrawn his support or condemned the mosque, which is expanding in size, scope and membership.
As he seeks higher office, Scott Singer should fully distance himself from ICBR's leadership and the SFMF apparatus that continues to platform Hamas glorification and terrorist imagery. South Florida's public – especially its Jewish community – deserves leaders who prioritize security over optics and refuse to treat terror-linked associations as something merely to be reworded.
Singer still refuses. That refusal is on the record.
Scott Singer, do you condemn ICBR's antisemitic rhetoric? Do you condemn its radical imams and leadership? Do you call for their annual pro-Hamas conference to be shut down? If not, why not? Why are you protecting these extremists? Do you have financial interests coming from these groups?
Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, and Shawn Malachovsky, Esq. contributed to this report.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/8206