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| Radical Islam: Outspoken cleric, jailed activist tied to new Hub mosque | |||
| 2003-10-28 | |||
| Front page: Boston Herald. Thank God it’s a Religion of Peace or I’d be worried. First of two parts. I’ll post the second part tomorrow. The Islamic organization poised to build the largest mosque in the Northeast on a site in Roxbury has long-standing ties to an Egyptian cleric who praises suicide bombings and a Muslim activist indicted last week in a terrorism financing probe. A "cleric" hooked up with terrorists... can you beat that. The Islamic Society of Boston, which has city approval to build a sprawling $22 million Islamic cultural center and mosque on Malcolm X Boulevard, has had a long association with Dr. Yusuf Abdullah al-Qaradawi, whose vocal support of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas prompted the State Department to bar him from entering the U.S. four years ago. The local religious organization, now headquartered on Prospect Street in Cambridge, was founded by Abdurahman Muhammad Alamoudi - a high-profile Washington, D.C. activist who has publicly supported Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. Alamoudi was arrested Sept. 28 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and charged with making illegal trips to Libya and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Libyan government in violation of U.S. law. Last Thursday, Alamoudi was indicted for his dealings with Libya and portrayed by prosecutors as a key financier for militant Islamic groups and terrorist organizations. In that case, the U.S. government alleges Alamoudi funneled more than $230,000 to two front organizations for terrorist Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, as well as more than $100,000 to groups funding Hamas. Looks like the doctor’s got those "Muslim scholar" credentials... A lawyer representing the Islamic Society of Boston said the local group is not militant or extremist, and is in no way connected to Islamic terrorism. They never are. Until they get caught. Or exposed. However, public records indicate Al-Qaradawi and Alamoudi have both held leadership positions with the Islamic Society of Boston. Alamoudi, of Falls Church, Va., founded the Islamic Society of Boston in Massachusetts in 1982 and was the group’s first president, according to incorporation records in the Secretary of State’s office. Al-Qaradawi, who is based in Doha, Qatar, was listed as a member of the Islamic Society of Boston’s board of directors from at least 1998 until sometime in 2001. In 1993, when the Islamic Society of Boston set up a real estate trust, it identified al-Qaradawi as a ``proposed additional trustee,’’ records show.
Wonder why that happened? No use putting up a red flag for the feds... A leading voice of the fundamentalist Wahhabi sect of Islam, al-Qaradawi is also a high-ranking member of the oldest radical Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood. He was banned from his native Egypt in 1962 and moved to Doha, where he now hosts one of the most popular television shows in the Middle East on the al-Jazeera television network. Another big surprise... On his show and in speeches and interviews, al-Qaradawi praises Palestinian suicide bombers, declaring they are martyrs, not terrorists. He also regularly denounces U.S. support of Israel and encourages Muslims to either join the Jihad as combatants or contribute money to finance it. Give til it hurts. Or else... One alleged terrorism financier recently convicted of violating immigration laws in Virginia, Soliman S. Biheiri, described al-Qaradawi as a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood who is ``virulently anti-American,’’ according to a Sept. 11 court affidavit by senior special agent David Kane of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Al-Qaradawi is also involved in Bank al-Taqwa, which the U.S. Treasury Department says has financed numerous Islamic terrorist groups, including Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. In testimony before Congress last year, international terrorism expert Steven Emerson said that as of Dec. 31, 1999, al-Qaradawi was one of the largest shareholders in Bank al-Taqwa. The cleric is also a member of the bank’s Shariah Board, which oversees al-Taqwa’s transactions to make sure they conform to Islamic law, Emerson said. I think I have an idea what that means. Will it be used in some way to kill infidels and Jews? Approved.
Might’ve been interesting to hear their reactions . Would’ve been bullshit, but probably interesting. A lawyer for the Islamic Society of Boston, Albert Farrah, downplayed al-Qaradawi’s involvement in the organization. ``He’s not a director of the Islamic Society,’’ Farrah said. ``I know the trustees and have known them since 1993 and I’ve never met him. He has nothing to do with this project to my knowledge.’’ Nothing to see here. Move it along... In a statement released to the Herald yesterday, the group said the following: ``The ISB has a policy of disallowing groups or individuals with extremist views from having any forum for their divisive and destructive rhetoric at the Society’s mosque in Cambridge. Dr. Yousef al-Quaradawi has never played any role in the ISB. In 1993, before any controversy surrounded Dr. al-Quaradawi, the ISB considered inviting him to serve as an honorary member of our Board of Trustees. However, in the end he was not invited to serve on the ISB board, but due to an administrative oversight, was listed on our tax returns until 2000. Yeah, it was an ...oversight. That’s it! ``Abdulrahman Alamoudi was one of the founding members of the ISB. He has had no role in, or affiliation with, the ISB for approximately 20 years.’’ He just set it up... and moved on to the next target. The Islamic Society has been attempting to raise the money necessary to build the Islamic center for the last several years, and according to several sources most, if not all of the project’s financing has come from the Middle East. Boy, this article’s full of shockers, isn’t it?
...and there’s another one! One source familiar with the project who spoke on the condition he not be named said the leaders of the Islamic society have made it clear that virtually all the financing for the cultural center is coming from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Gulf states. Many mosques and Islamic institutions in the U.S. are funded by wealthy individuals and foundations in Saudi Arabia. Those financiers are almost without exception followers of Wahhabism, a harsh Saudi-based fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, and they make sure the American mosques they bankroll adhere to the sect’s anti-Western ideology. ...and ANOTHER one! ``Saudis and Gulf financiers are strongly nationalistic and therefore will not give money to those who do not support their line of reasoning,’’ said Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, an assistant professor of religious studies at San Diego State University who studied for eight years in Saudi Arabia and taught at Brandeis University. The result, said some Muslim activists, is that many mosques in the U.S. are disconnected from the majority of the American Muslims they supposedly serve. You don’t say? Sounds like they’re almost "beach heads" maybe? ``It has created this phenomenon of Muslims without mosques, and I would say the Islamic Society (of Boston) is no exception,’’ said one Muslim activist who declined to be identified. ``The mosque is being paid for with money from the Middle East and it’s connected to a larger agenda. That agenda is ``fundamental Islamist politics, anti-Semitic and anti-American in many ways,’’ the Muslim activist said. Someone actually admits it. That’s actually refreshing. Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, president of the Islamic Council of New England and an Afro-American Muslim, said he knows the leaders of the Islamic Society of Boston and said that while most of them are from overseas, he does not view them as radicals or fundamentalists, but ``traditional Muslims’’ like himself. ``I see them as a very balanced group trying to find their way in America,’’ Faaruuq said. ``The ISB is doing good work. They are not a threat to me or my country.’’ They probably pay well, too. Faaruuq said he was not aware that al-Qaradawi was listed as a director of the Islamic Society of Boston. He added, however, that last year he attended a fund-raiser for the Islamic Society of Boston’s cultural center project at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston at which al-Qaradawi, who is barred from entering the U.S., delivered a videotaped message to the attendees encouraging them to support the project. I’d like to see what was on that tape. Farrah said he has no knowledge of the al-Qaradawi videotape, but confirmed the Islamic Society of Boston held a fund-raiser for the new cultural center at the Sheraton in November 2002, a few hours after the project’s ceremonial groundbreaking in Roxbury. Tape? What tape? Who? This is the part I like best... The Boston Redevelopment Authority granted the Islamic Society of Boston final designation as developer of the Islamic Center in August 2000 and at the groundbreaking in November last year the project was hailed by Massachusetts politicians as a bridge between Islam and Boston’s other religions. ``Boston is now and always has been a city of vibrant faith communities,’’ Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a prepared statement. ``By creating a space for inter-faith dialog, this center will bring both the Muslim community and the community at large closer together.’’ Look for Tommy to be exposed to the nation for the embarrassment he is next summer when the Democratic convention comes to town. U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) also attended the ceremony. He said the new Islamic cultural center will ``help to create a dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims so we may learn more about each others’ traditions.’’ Spout that PC crap, Mike. Cambridge is in the district and it’ll play well there. In May, the BRA sold the 1.9-acre lot to the group for the bargain price of $175,000, but construction has yet to begin. The Islamic Society of Boston’s own newsletter said the land is worth $2 million. Let’s sell a 2M piece of land for 175G’s and never get to collect taxes on it. Sounds about right for Boston. I’d like to hear the behind the scenes on how that deal got worked out. Farrah said the ambitious project has been in the works for a decade. Now, he said, the Islamic Society of Boston has all the necessary building permits from the city and the start of work on the site is imminent. ``It’s a wonderful project and has a lot of support,’’ Farrah said. ``That support is citywide, from the mayor, the BRA and from other religious organizations, particularly after (the terrorist attacks of) 9/11.’’ Yes, Muslims killed 3000 Americans on 9/11. Let’s build them a nice Mosque in thanks. In its statement yesterday, the Islamic Society of Boston said: ``The ISB has a proven history of being an open organization, eager to work with people of all backgrounds. As part of our ten year effort to build the new Cultural Center in Roxbury, we have worked to establish solid relationships with the community and city leaders. We are proud of the contributions our organization has made to the community.’’ Farrah praised the group’s current leadership. ``I see these people as gentle, kind, religious, peaceful, educated, and wanting to be part of the community,’’ he said. ``That’s the way the city of Boston sees them and other religious groups see them that way.’’ No. No links to those bad people. Nothing to see here... Tomorrow: A current trustee of the Islamic Society of Boston has been named in a federal Islamic terrorism financing investigation. Stay tuned. | |||
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #5 "How...circular." LOL! |
| Posted by: .com 2003-10-28 1:18:48 PM |
| #4 A Saudi-funded mosque on Malcolm X Boulevard. How...circular. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2003-10-28 11:58:46 AM |
| #3 Great post. More wahabi cash greasing the skids. Dialogue my ass, they just smile, genteel like. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-10-28 11:17:57 AM |
| #2 Glad they saved on the land. Recent history (see Big Dig) would lead me to believe that the project will be plagued by "cost overruns." Let's just say that Boston didn't help the US score with the Transparency Institute. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-28 11:14:51 AM |
| #1 How about we let them build their moskkk, and then we fly a plane into the building. I'd like to see that. We can get the plane and pilots from Egypt Air. Two birds with one allah blessed stone. Ha! Would that be like getting blood from a stone? How perfect would that be? US and coalition spooks could set up a fake jihadi ring in the mideast, recruit a few muslim murderbots, train them for their martyr mission, tell them they will be flying a plane into an FBI building, but oops, at the very last moment, as the plane is screaming toward the facility, they recognize the arabic writing on the sign out front (which they can't read because the are illiterate) and realize that we have sent them to bomb a moskkk. By then it would be too late. That would be fucking hilarious! Of course will have to notify all of the Joooos so that they aren't in the area on the day of the attack, just like all those phone calls to the Jooos who worked in the WTC. But this time, I hope we get some auto dialers. Dialing thousands of numbers manually can be hell on your fingers. |
| Posted by: Dr J 2003-10-28 10:10:53 AM |