Textbook: `Jihad’ means doing good works

 

 

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS Textbook: Islamic ‘jihad’ means doing good works Also includes Muslims fighting ‘to protect themselves from harm’ http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59707 By Bob Unruh © 2008 WorldNetDaily.com An Islamic "jihad" is an effort by Muslims to convince "others to take up worthy causes, such as funding medical research," according to a middle school textbook used in California and other states. And even at its most violent, "jihad" simply is Muslims fighting "to protect themselves from those who would do them harm," says the "History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond" book published by Teachers’ Curriculum Institute. But a parent whose child has been handed the text in a Sacramento district is accusing the publisher of a pro-Muslim bias to the point that Islamic theology has been incorporated into the public school teachings. "It makes an attempt to seem like an egalitarian world history book, but on closer inspection you find that seven (not all are titled so) of the chapters deal with Islam or Muslim subjects," wrote the parent, whose name was being withheld, in a letter to WND.   Sacramento’s students are being taught "jihad" is an effort to convince "others to take up worthy causes."   "The upsetting part is not only do they go into the history (which would be acceptable) but also the teaching of Islam," she said. "This book does not really go into Christianity or the teachings of Christ, nor does it address religious doctrine elsewhere to the degree it does Islam." She said the book’s one page referencing Jews "is only to convey that they were tortured by Crusaders to get them to convert to ‘Christianity.’ (It fails to mention that the biggest persecutors of Jews throughout history and still today are Arab Muslims). It gives four other one-liner references to the Jews being blamed for the plagues and problems in the land. It does not talk about the Jews as making a significant impact on the culture at large." "How can the writers of this text get away with this?" she asked. Bert Bower, founder of TCI, said not only did his company have experts review the book, but the state of California also reviewed it, and has approved it for use in public schools. He said the company tries to move history out from between the covers of a textbook and into students’ minds, and that is how the book was developed. "Keep in mind when looking at this particular book scholars from all over California (reviewed it)," he said. "We have our own scholars who created the program, California scholars look at the program and makes sure [it] is accurate." One of those experts who contributed to the text, according to the American Textbook Council, which released a scathing indictment of the project, is Ayad Al-Qazzaz. "Al-Qazzaz is a Muslim apologist, a frequent speaker in Northern California school districts promoting Islam and Arab causes," the ATC review said. "Al-Qazzaz also co-wrote AWAIR’s ‘Arab World Notebook.’ AWAIR stands for Arab World and Islamic Resources, an opaque, proselytizing ‘non-profit organization’ that conducts teacher workshops and sells supplementary materials to schools." The textbook council, an independent national research group set up in 1989 to review history and social studies texts in public schools, quoted directly from the book to provide evidence of its bias. The word jihad means "to strive." Jihad represents the human struggle to overcome difficulties and do things that would be pleasing to God. Muslims strive to respond positively to personal difficulties as well as worldly challenges. For instance, they might work to become better people, reform society, or correct injustice. Jihad has always been an important Islamic concept. One hadith, or account of Muhammad, tells about the prophet’s return from a battle. He declared that he and his men had carried out the "lesser jihad," the external struggle against oppression. The "greater jihad," he said, was the fight against evil within oneself. Examples of the greater jihad include working hard for a goal, giving up a bad habit, getting an education, or obeying your parents when you may not want to. Another hadith says that Muslims should fulfill jihad with the heart, tongue, and hand. Muslims use the heart in their struggle to resist evil. The tongue may convince others to take up worthy causes, such as funding medical research. Hands may perform good works and correct wrongs. Sometimes, however, jihad becomes a physical struggle. The Quran tells Muslims to fight to protect themselves from those who would do them harm or to right a terrible wrong. Early Muslims considered their efforts to protect their territory and extend their rule over other regions to be a form of jihad. However, the Quran forbade Muslims to force others to convert to Islam. So, non-Muslims who came under Muslim rule were allowed to practice their faiths." The council, in describing the text as a book written by "dictation from Islamic sources," said such passages "should put speculation to rest about what California’s seventh-grade students may learn about Islam. At the very least, the passages are incomplete. More precisely, they are dishonest." Such passages fail to explain "the essentially religious nature of the subject," the council said. "It ignores any challenge to international security and western-style law. The treatment is lyrical and loaded, echoing the language recommended by Islamist consultants." The Sacramento parent said she became suspicious because of the school’s decision to send a copy of the book home with her son and he started describing how it would teach students to write in Arabic. A review left her even more worried. "I was disturbed probably the greatest portion of this book is about Islam. It goes into the doctrine of Islam in detail," she said. "There are 35 chapters. Out of those, I counted at least seven [that focus] on Islam." She said she looked at the publication’s list of contributors, and found the name of Ayad Al-Qazzaz, whom she’d had herself for a class on Middle Eastern studies. "That was a big flag for me," she said. WND previously has reported on the influence of Islamic "consultants" on public school texts in the United States, as well as how other schools have included the "Five Pillars of Islam" among their required courses. The parent said she just wanted people to know of the agenda being taught. "After seeing Al-Qazzaz as one of the main contributors I began to put two and two together … about the extra book coming home only in this class and I questioned where this book’s money source came from – I still do not know," she said. "I am very troubled that in the name of tolerance and educating American children about the Muslim empire in history they get away with giving beginning Islamic teaching which may cause many to perhaps one day become Muslims," she said. "My son tells me that the students will even be using calligraphy to copy parts of the Quran in Arabic as an enrichment activity." Click here to continue reading this article.

 

 

Score a Victory for Free Speech

 

 

 

Visit our News page Score a Victory for Free Speech Last week, our colleague Joseph Shahda posted an article that was very disturbing. A terrorist web site Ekllaas, hosted by the Tampa-based Internet Service Provider HiVelocity, had circulated a rumored petition campaign to its members, to be spread across other terrorist forums, to try and knock off a Coptic Christian anti-Islamic Arabic language chat room from Paltalk. The leadership here at ACT! for America and American Congress for Truth, deeply concerned about this matter, decided to contact PalTalk to encourage them to dismiss this Islamist effort to stifle free speech. Today, in response to our letter, Paltalk confirmed to us that they are not going to ever submit to any petition directed against constitutionally protected freedom of speech. Further, they asserted they will never bow to the pressure of the petition submitted by Muslim activists to shut down a Christian chat room that criticizes Islam. In fact, Paltalk emphatically told us that the Muslim activists spread the false rumor about Paltalk closing the Coptic Christian room if 1 million signatures were obtained for their petition. This amounted to classic Islamic ‘taqiyyah’ – deception used to advance the cause of Islam. We are of course delighted to hear that Paltalk, the most prominent voice chat room service in the world, will not bow to Muslim activist pressure to shut down Christian rooms that these activists find “offensive.” We would like to thank Paltalk for their strong stand to protect Constitutional Free Speech Rights. One side benefit of this exchange: Palktalk said they would love to have Brigitte Gabriel host a weekly program on its large network. Islamist assaults on free speech have become a staple in their arsenal. As we reported last week, legislation has been introduced in the New York legislature to protect journalists, authors and publishers from intimidation lawsuits filed in foreign courts. Such efforts at intimidation have been dubbed “libel terrorism.” We will soon provide you an update on the status of this legislation and what you can do to help ensure its passage.

This Legal Jihad Must Be Stopped!

 

Visit our News page American Free Speech and Press Rights Under Assault This “Legal Jihad” Must Be Stopped! Imagine an America where no journalist, author, or speaker dared to write or speak out about militant Islam and Islamic terrorism. Imagine an America where books like Brigitte Gabriel’s Because They Hate were never published out of fear by the publishing company that they could be bankrupted by “libel” lawsuits. Sounds impossible in America, right? After all, this is the world’s beacon light of free speech and free press, right? Yes, but those rights are under very serious assault from another tentacle of Jihad – “Legal Jihad.” One of the tactics being employed by Islamists to intimidate critics and muzzle investigative reporting of Islamic militancy and terrorism is the use of lawsuits alleging defamation of character and slander. A particularly egregious example of this has ensnared Rachel Ehrenfeld, noted author on terrorism and related issues, and a member of the Advisory Board of American Congress for Truth, ACT! for America’s sister organization. Ehrenfeld was sued in a British court by Saudi billionaire Khalid Salim bin Mahfouz for detailing in her book how Bin Mahfouz, and some of his family, are allegedly tied to funding terrorist organizations. She lost the suit by default and was ordered to pay Bin Mahfouz over $225,000 in damages. Bin Mahfouz has used the British legal system to obtain more than three dozen such judgments affecting the U.S. media. His tactics have been so successful that several major American media companies and book publishing companies have chosen to pull books and issue apologies and retractions, rather than face the economic consequences of losing to him in British courts. Such legal assaults, if allowed to succeed, have chilling and far-reaching implications for our cherished freedoms of speech and the press so enormous that they threaten the very foundation of American liberty. It is no accident that our Founding Fathers placed freedom of speech and the press in the very first amendment of the Bill of Rights. They understood that without such freedoms, there cannot be a free people. Ehrenfeld rightly sought a court order and legal protection of her constitutional rights in the New York court system. Shockingly, a New York Court of Appeals has ruled that it cannot protect her from this lawsuit. The court ruled that it does not have jurisdiction to protect Americans – on U.S. soil – from a foreign defamation verdict!! This court ruling has stunned many in the legal, media and publishing community. The British court system’s legal standard for libel is much lower than that in the United States, which explains why litigants like Bin Mahfouz file lawsuits in Great Britain. They recognize they are unlikely to succeed with such lawsuits in America, so they use foreign courts in an attempt to intimidate and muzzle American authors and journalists. This is nothing more than “Legal Jihad” – and it must be stopped. Fortunately, a bi-partisan effort is now under way in New York to pass legislation designed to protect journalists, authors and publishers from lawsuits filed outside the U.S. by foreign nationals seeking to muzzle the First Amendment rights of American citizens, particularly those reporting on terrorism and its financiers. This Sunday, January 13th, at 10:30 a.m., on the steps of the New York Public Library, 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, a bi-partisan news conference will be held by New York State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman, where they will announce the introduction of such legislation. The two lawmakers, Ehrenfeld, and members of the bar, will warn that without this legislation, not only are authors and journalists threatened, the contents of the New York Public Library could be subject to assault by foreign nationals seeking to silence public debate in America. They are to be applauded and supported for this effort. If you live in the New York area, you are invited to attend this news conference. Next week, once we have specific details regarding the legislation, we will launch a full-scale educational and lobbying effort to ensure its passage – so please watch for our alerts in your email boxes. Ladies and gentlemen, if Islamists are allowed to “court shop” around the world, seeking friendly judges who will issue court rulings and monetary judgments against anyone in America who dares to write or speak out against the assault of militant Islam, not only will our ability to resist this threat be dramatically imperiled. This will be a stake in the heart of American free speech and press rights. We cannot allow this to happen.   ——————————————————————————————- ACT for America P.O. Box 6884 Virginia Beach, VA 23456 www.actforamerica.org

 

FW: [Stopliberalmedia.org] Cordless Bungee Jumping–Shari’a-style

 

 

Cordless Bungee Jumping—Shari’a-style By Alyssa A. Lappen http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/ As noted today in Pajamas Media, notwithstanding flashy headlines extolling Shari’a finance (Islamic banking) and Wall Street bankers jumping into the market, investing or participating in shari’a finance is akin to bungee jumping without a cord—or following lemmings over a cliff. But the banking industry has a short memory. In 1955, Citibank established the Saudi American Bank in Jeddah and added a Riyadh branch in 1966. But on February 12, 1980, Saudi Arabia confiscated Citibank’s business by royal decree, changed its name to Samba, and forced America’s premier bank to accept a subservient role, staffing its old bank—with a promise not to take any profits. Yet, Shari’a is “the path of Allah,” Nizam Yaquby told October conference-goers–although the purportedly “ethical” and “socially responsible” investing supports neither environmentalism nor “renewable” growth. A 20th century construct, without basis in Islamic history, it often funds destruction. This “invented tradition” empowers Islamic radicals, writes USC King Faisal Professor of Islamic Thought, Timur Kuran, in Islam and Mammon: “Neither classical nor medieval Islamic civilization featured banks in the modern sense, let alone ‘Islamic’ banks…” Consider its downside risks. With 19.99% of Nasdaq in hand, Bourse Dubai, the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) parent—certified for “Islamic ‘purity’” by Bahrain’s Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAIOFI)—now plans to “rebrand” America’s international over-the-counter market as Nasdaq-DIFX. What does this mean for presumably “unIslamic” Nasdaq companies (like Israeli generic drug giant, Teva)? Supposedly, Bourse Dubai will be “restricted to 5 percent voting rights” in Nasdaq. But in anticipation of Nasdaq-DIFX’s “rebranding,” DIFX named four new board members. Boards of directors generally call the shots. Meanwhile, Citgroup is receiving a second-generation, $7.5 billion Islamic-cash-bailout from the ultra-conservative United Arab Emirates (UAE) sheikdom, Abu Dhabi. Its initial, 1991 Islamic-rescue followed billions in bad loans, single-quarter losses of $855 million, and U.S. Federal Reserve Board concerns about Citibank’s potential failure. Suddenly, Citi’s then-Middle East business chief, Shaukat Aziz—fresh from seven years in Riyadh running Citi’s confiscated bank, and hobnobbing with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal—convinced the latter to trade $600 million for shareholder-rights, Bangladesh’s Depardes reported in June 2004. 1 He now has 3.6%. Aziz later headed Citicorp Islamic Bank, and maybe initiated Citi’s supposedly prospering Shari’a finance business. But who controls whom? Today, doubling as Pakistan’s Finance and Prime Ministers, Aziz supports “Shariah compliant banking,” which the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in 2005 strategically planned to promote “as a parallel system.” He’s discussed its potential with Bahraini Bank Alsalam CEO, Yousif Taqi. Likewise, bin Talal wants to dominate U.S. businesses. Rather than boycott, “Arabs…stand more to benefit from maintaining trade ties with the US because the trade balance … is in our favor,” he told Saudi Arabia’s Arab News daily on May 1, 2002. Both men’s ideas fit the 1928 cloth of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, whose disciples tailor-made it into shari’a finance—specifically to supersede Western banks, markets and democracies through “parallel economic” and financial institutions. It rests on shari’a—the 7th Century Qur’anic legal code developed by Mohammed’s followers—which clerics consider one, indivisible package, by definition seeking global Islamic supremacy and law. With wife-beating, stoning women, dismembering thieves, hanging homosexuals, supremacist ideology and an annual head tax (jizya) on non-Muslim subjects—shari’a also commands Muslims to fund jihad (financial jihad—al Jihad bi-al-Mal). As in Qur’an 61:10-11, “strive for the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives…” and Qur’an 49:15. “Financial Jihad [is]…more important…than self-sacrificing,” says Saudi cleric and Muslim Brother Hamud bin Uqla al-Shuaibi. The 1982 Muslim Brotherhood document, “Towards a Worldwide Strategy for Islamic Policy”—discovered by Swiss police in November 2001 and known as the Project—maps al-Banna’s plan. His successors, and author MB spiritual leader Yusuf Qaradawi, Swiss authorities say, order Muslims to engage “economic institutions adequate to support the cause financially” in directives covering roughly 14 pages, headlined “departure points.” Elsewhere, Qaradawi decrees, “holy war…is an Islamic duty… [F]ighting…is the Way of Allah for which zakat must be spent.” His 1999 “Fiqh az-Zakat” describes the “most deserving” zakat and jihad, “…to rebuild Islamic society and state and to implement the Islamic way of life in the political, cultural and economic domains.” Itself now partly owned by bin Talal, the Wall Street Journal in November 2007 ironically noted the tragedy that bad management and “blundering U.S. monetary policy” had again left Citigroup prey to Arab sheiks. Citi got its cash transfusion by granting “only” a 4.9% “minority stake”—and no board seats—magically for 0.1% under the 5% necessitating U.S. Federal Reserve Board approval. The Fed should intervene anyway—given the avid and ongoing, apparent UAE observance of zakat and jihad directives from Muslim Brotherhood leaders like Qaradawi: The UAE banks wired most of the funds for the 9/11 attacks. In 2006, UAE donated $100 million to house Palestinian Authority prisoners and suicide bombers’ families, named for the late father of the current UAE president, who over 30 years donated millions to PLO, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror. Hamas in July 2005, thanked Al-Nahayan’s “sisterly UAE” for its “limitless [financial] support…,” and “aid for our Mujahid,” in other words, Hamas jihadist “charitable societies.” The Palestinian Authority in May 2005 itemized millions of additional UAE U.S.-dollar aid, including $3 million paid directly to the Al Aqsa Intifada Fund. UAE president Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahayan’s late, terror-financier father also “owned the infamous [global] Bank of Commerce and Credit International” (BCCI)—which bilked depositors of billions before being shuttered in 1991; funded terrorist groups, states and projects like Hezbollah, al Qaeda, Syria, Iran and Pakistani nuclear bomb manufacturing; and was created “to help the world of Islam, and [as] the best way to fight the evil influence of the Zionists,” as noted by Rachel Ehrenfeld in Evil Money (Harper Collins, 1992, pp. 160, 164-5, 169-70). In October 2007, Dubai violated World Trade Organization (WTO) rules—banning the Israelis from the Federation of International Freight Forwarders and Customs Clearing Agents world congress. Dubai Ports World and its government holding company prohibit trade with Israel. In 2003, the UAE established a federal agency specifically to collect zakat on government tax revenues from “companies listed on the Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Securities Market… oil-producing companies and branches of foreign banks,” obviously including U.S. oil companies and banks. This year alone, the UAE zakat tax agency collected an estimated $13.5 billion.

 

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Posted By Stop Liberal Media to Stopliberalmedia.org at 12/27/2007 09:46:00 AM

Jihadis Post Scenario for the Defeat of the United States

The story below is important to pass along for three reasons. First, as the last paragraph notes, it reveals the mindset and intent of al Qaeda and its allies. Second, we cannot afford to become complacent, no matter how calm circumstances may appear around us. And third, it is essential that, in next year’s elections, America chooses a President who understands the long-term threat arrayed against us and has the experience to deal with it. These are some of the key reasons why ACT for America plans next year to research candidate stands on national security and Islamofascism and to distribute voter information flyers to voters across the country. Jihadis Post Scenario for the Defeat of the United States By Abdul Hameed Bakier, Erich Marquardt http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373415 On May 14, jihadi forum users Abu Kandahar and Roslan al-Shami posted a five-point scenario for the collapse of the United States and the rise of the Islamic ummah, entitled, “The Next Strikes in the Heart of America, When and How.” It appeared on the al-ommh.net forum, although at least one other jihadi forum, alhanein.com, reposted the scenario. The posting outlines a scenario for attacking the United States, although the sheer size of the operation suggests that it is jihadi propaganda and not an actual plan that could be operationalized. The alleged operation is dedicated to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq. The first stage in the scenario involves multiple terrorist attacks on three major U.S. cities, preferably with nuclear weapons, using an unspecified number of trucks. The scenario places priority on attacking New York City because it is the central artery of the U.S. economy and it would prove that the mujahideen are capable of recurrent attacks on the same target. The second city to attack is Los Angeles, an important West Coast “atheist” city. The third “city” to be attacked is Florida because, they argue, it is an East Coast congregation city and has the Kennedy Space Center (considering the description, the statement’s authors probably meant Orlando). While those are the three primary cities for attack, the writers of the document suggest that if the mujahideen wish to expedite the collapse of the United States, they should also conduct attacks in Seattle since it is a strategic border city; Washington, DC, the political center of the United States; and cities in Texas, since the “biggest oil companies” are located there. According to the writers, the purpose of attacking these specific cities is to cause a sharp decline in the U.S. economy; mass amounts of casualties; the support for the mujahideen by anti-U.S. countries such as Cuba and Venezuela; a decrease in American support for their own government; the withdrawal of the “blasphemous” U.S. military from Islamic territories; mass military desertions; and the inability to fuel U.S. military fighter jets. The document also outlines how the fallout from such large-scale attacks would cause the U.S. military to return to the United States in order to conduct massive relief operations. They refer to the example of how Hurricane Katrina overburdened the U.S. National Guard, calling the hurricane a “Soldier of God.” After such attacks, they argue that the Islamic State of Iraq will seize the opportunity to launch mass strikes on the apostates in the Iraqi military and police, paving the way for the third stage of the scenario: the commencement of the golden era of the triumphant Islamic conquests that includes the implementation of Sharia, the liberation of the Arabian Peninsula, the removal from power of “the U.S. ruling family” in Jordan and, finally, the big march toward Palestine. In the end, even Washington, DC, will fall to the mujahideen and that will conclude the final stage of Islamic control of the globe. The scenario appears less of a planned operation than a hope for the fulfillment of a prophecy. The supposed factuality of the scenario is based on various verses in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings. Nevertheless, some of the users on the forums who discussed the scenario asserted that all of the details to execute the operation had already been prepared. One such user, by the alias of Abu Nedal, said, “For your knowledge, the operations are ready and awaiting the orders from our leader Osama bin Laden, God protect him, to decide what he deems appropriate either to strike now or to wait.” Islamist extremists have always fabricated factitious scenarios for victory over the West based on their own interpretations of Quranic prophecies in times of crisis and defeat. Nevertheless, al-Qaeda has shown prior interest in acquiring nuclear materials for use in an attack, and it is necessary to take such forum postings seriously as they display the mindset and the intent, although perhaps not the capability, of al-Qaeda-affiliated militants. ——————————————————————————————- ACT for America P.O. Box 6884 Virginia Beach, VA 23456 http://www.actforamerica.org/ ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. HOW CAN I TELL OTHERS ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION? Send a personalized version of this message to your friends. HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOUR ORGANIZATION? Click here to give an online donation.

CAIR called ‘turnstile’ for terrorist suspects

 

The WorldNetDaily story below is a triumph of good investigative journalism. CAIR (The Council on American-Islamic Relations) repeatedly denies ties to terrorist organizations, but the evidence disputing those denials continues to grow. As the old saying goes, "where there’s smoke, there’s fire." In CAIR’s case, there’s so much smoke CAIR must be hoping that the smoke will blind our eyes from seeing the fire. HOMELAND INSECURITY CAIR called ‘turnstile’ for terrorist suspects ‘Proven record of senior officials being indicted, imprisoned, deported from U.S.‘     Posted: December 4, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern   © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com   As the Council on American-Islamic Relations lobbies Congress to help strike its name from a list of co-conspirators in a federal terror case, WND has learned the Muslim group’s ties to terrorism and extremism are far more extensive than first believed. Although CAIR is a nonprofit organization, it does not disclose complete directories of its staff or advisory boards, and even refuses to make its federal tax filings readily available to the public. But a review of federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that Washington-based CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations. "Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters," said one FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials. As previously reported, three CAIR officials have been linked to terrorism. But WND has learned that at least 11 other CAIR officials have been caught up in terror investigations, bringing the total to 14. Congressional leaders say they are warning lawmakers and other Washington officials to disassociate from the group due to its growing terror ties. "Groups like CAIR have a proven record of senior officials being indicted and either imprisoned or deported from the United States," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., co-founder of the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus. CAIR itself recently was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an alleged scheme to funnel $12 million to the terrorist group Hamas. In the Holy Land Foundation case, federal prosecutors also listed CAIR as a member of the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement that gave rise to Hamas, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The government will retry the Holy Land case, which ended in a hung jury. "There was a lot of evidence presented at the recent Holy Land Foundation trial which exposed CAIR and others as front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States," Myrick said. Still, CAIR is lobbying House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and other sympathetic members of Congress to pressure the Justice Department to expunge its name from the case, arguing the negative publicity has hurt membership and fundraising. The federal judge during the trial refused a written request by the group to strike its name from the list of co-conspirators. The petition is still pending before the court. CAIR denies supporting terrorism and continues to claim to be a "moderate" voice for Muslims in America. The group says its critics are the extremists, including radio personality Michael Savage, whom the group is now attacking with a boycott campaign. So far it has convinced Wal-Mart, OfficeMax, AT&T, JCPenney and other companies to stop advertising on Savage’s popular show. In response, Savage last week filed a lawsuit against CAIR, accusing the organization of being a "political vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR’s clients." Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for CAIR, told WND the group would not comment on Savage’s action until the document had been reviewed. CAIR, which runs 33 offices and chapters nationwide, also recently helped defeat an anti-terror plan by Los Angeles police to map the local Muslim community for extremist neighborhoods. Now it’s pressuring GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to back down from his position against appointing a Muslim to his Cabinet. Critics counter that CAIR has no legitimate voice to make such complaints, because the group is itself an extremist organization that has employed or appointed to its boards of directors and advisers an inordinate number of radical co-conspirators, suspected and convicted terrorists, and other criminals. To read the rest of this article, click here.

 

 

 

 

CAIR Pressures Office Max to Stop Advertising on Michael Savage Program

CAIR Pressures OfficeMax to Stop Advertising
On Michael Savage Program !! ACTION ALERT !!

Please Call OfficeMax As Soon As Possible

Dear Mark,

The brief story highlighted below reports that CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) has successfully pressured OfficeMax to drop its advertising on the Michael Savage radio program. And notice the story says OfficeMax has “joined a growing list of companies” with its decision to stop advertising.

OFFICEMAX DROPS MICHAEL SAVAGE ADS OVER ANTI-ISLAM BIAS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/15/2007) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today announced that OfficeMax, a leading office products retailer, has joined a growing list of companies that have stopped advertising on Michael Savage’s nationally-syndicated radio program because of the host’s anti-Muslim views.

CAIR recently reported that Savage, whose “The Savage Nation” airs on more than 300 radio stations nationwide, screamed attacks on Muslims, Islam and the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, during his October 29, 2007, program

The decision by OfficeMax was announced the same day the Los Angeles Police Department announced it was dropping its proposed anti-terrorism program due to pressure from groups like CAIR.

This is just another example of why it’s so important that we build ACT for America into the nation’s most formidable grassroots organization. Look what’s happening! A tiny, tiny percentage of Americans are represented by CAIR, but because companies like OfficeMax don’t hear from anyone else, they cave in to CAIR’s demands.

We need to let businesses and communities know that we have a voice that is much, much larger than CAIR’s.

Please ACT! today. Here’s all you need to do:

1. Call the OfficeMax office headquarters at 630.438.7800, press “0″ when asked who you want to speak to, and when you get an operator, in a polite but firm manner, tell the operator you have heard about the company’s decision to stop advertising on the Michael Savage program because of the pressure from CAIR. Tell them you will no longer shop at OfficeMax until OfficeMax reverses this ill-advised decision.
2. If the 630-438-7800 number is busy, call the Customer Service line, 800-661-5931. It’s better to call the office line first, because if enough people call their phone lines will get clogged up and they’ll know right away that something is happening. Call the 800# only if you can’t get through on the 630.438.7800 line.
3. Some people ask about sending emails in a case like this. Phone calls are better. A barrage of phone calls will get immediate attention from the company.
4. Forward this email to everyone you know, with a short personal message asking them to place a call as well.

Next week, ACT for America will launch a petition that we will take to not only OfficeMax but other companies that have caved in to CAIR, as well as companies that CAIR is pressuring right now.

If CAIR can succeed in this effort to silence Michael Savage, consider the chilling effect this will have on every talk radio host in America. Enough is enough – let’s ACT now!

Brigitte Gabriel

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ACT for America
P.O. Box 6884
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
www.actforamerica.org

ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam.

Obama Supports Drivers Licenses for Ilegal Aliens!

Health Care America

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Dear Friends:

Michael Moore ends the movie “Sicko” with a lie. It may not be an intentional lie, but it is a falsehood, nonetheless. Michael Moore ends the movie saying that every European country offers “free” health coverage to their citizens and every European country provides such coverage through a “single payer” system.

Both statements are untrue. It is a sad commentary on the pathetically, uninformed state of the health care policy debate in America that health care journalists and American political leaders do not simply know that both of the statements are untrue and that they have not responded clearly and quickly to correct the error.

So what makes these statements untrue? Reality. Most European countries directly charge their citizens for their health coverage. It is not “free” anywhere. Some nations require people to buy coverage from health insurance companies that look very much like American health insurance companies. Other countries use a payroll tax on everyone’s paycheck to pay for health coverage. In those countries, each citizen pays a portion of their weekly paycheck for health insurance – - just like our Social Security payroll deduction. In Germany, each employee pays 7 percent of each paycheck for health care and each employer matches that 7 percent. People also can spend additional money to buy better coverage.

The government of the Netherlands takes 9 percent of a worker’s paycheck every week to purchase health coverage – - it’s hard to figure out how Michael Moore can legitimately call such a payroll deduction “free.”

Also, when the government of the Netherlands deducts that 9 percent, or when Germany deducts their 14 percent — they do not use, as Mr. Moore incorrectly claims, a “single payer system” like Canada to provide the actual health insurance for each citizen. Each of those countries has multiple health plans – or “sickness funds” — that people choose among. Citizens of Switzerland and the Netherlands choose between competing health plans to purchase their coverage.

So “Sicko” ends with a double lie: Coverage in Europe is not “free,” nor is it provided through a pure, Canadian-like single payer system. “Sicko” either deliberately misleads us or is unintentionally wrong.

Each country in Europe has found its own unique path to universal coverage. Switzerland has no government health program at all. Everyone in Switzerland is required to purchase from one of nearly 100 competing insurance companies. (The Swiss government pays for coverage for the poor.)

What about France – - a country Michael Moore described as Eden in “Sicko?” The government uses a sales tax approach and uses that money to buy a basic (not comprehensive) package of coverage for about 80 percent of the French people. The basic government benefit coverage is somewhat incomplete, however, so 92 percent of the people in France now purchase additional private insurance to fill in the 20 – 40 percent gap in various parts of their government benefits. About 20 percent of the French people skip the government program completely and purchase only private coverage. In either case, the coverage isn’t free and is not handled through a Canadian single-payer model.

It’s unclear from the movie whether Mr. Moore knows that he is not telling the truth about Europe’s health care systems, or whether he is still low on a learning curve relative to health care financing and delivery. The learning curve seems pretty steep. He criticizes the U.S. government Medicare drug benefit in “Sicko,” and he claims with some passion that the Canadians handle drug coverage much better. So how does the Canadian government actually handle drug coverage? Seven out of eight provinces do not cover non-hospital drug costs for anyone other than low income seniors. The federal government does not cover anyone.
People in those seven Canadian provinces might actually prefer the American Medicare system of partial coverage (favored by over 80 percent of enrollees), which Mr. Moore seems to sneer at in the movie. American Medicare drug coverage can have a “donut hole” in the middle. Seven of eight Canadian provinces skip the donut and give the citizens only the hole.
“Sicko” also tells the story of a Canadian on a golf vacation in Florida to illustrate the alleged superiority of the Canadian insurance and care delivery system because – - Mr. Moore claims in the movie – - the Canadian actually rushed home to Canada when he needed health care rather than getting that care in Florida. A valuable piece of information that “Sicko” conveniently does not mention at that point is that the Canadian government health coverage does not travel. Americans who are insured almost always have health coverage that covers at least emergencies whenever we travel. Canadians, however, have such long backlogs for care in so many places that the Canadian government benefit program can’t afford to let people simply leave Canada to access care elsewhere. So the Canadian system that Mr. Moore so eagerly advocates decided not to let its health care benefits “travel” outside of Canada. Canadians in Florida, therefore, actually do return to Canada for care when they can… not because they don’t think Americans deliver quality care, rather because their government does not cover care in America.

Again, it’s not clear if Mr. Moore is low on the learning curve on that point, or more directly duplicitous. We will probably learn which statement is true as the debate progresses.
There are rumors Mr. Moore offers $10,000 rewards for anyone who can prove that any point in his movies is untrue. Since he says that “every” country in Europe uses the Canadian model, and since there are quite a few countries in Europe, does he owe $10,000 per country or just $10,000 for getting Europe wrong as a package? Or is it $10,000 per country on “single payer” and another $10,000 per country for “free”?

We can let his conscience decide. Money is owed, however.

Thank you.

Sarah BerkExecutive Director, Health Care America

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Friday 29JUN07 11:30 p.m. EDT

Some of what you are saying back to us about the big amnesty victory

“I was so discouraged that I quit at least 4 times during this battle, but then I would reflect on my dad who died in the Korean War fighting for this country and I would pick up the phone again. “This is the first time in my 62 years that I have been active in politics and contacted anyone. I have called, faxed and emailed the President, Vice President, Senators, Representatives, and friends about this issue. I was scared to death to do it, but your encouragement kept me going. I am battle-weary from this fight, and I know the next one is very near. We are going to have to fight our own leaders to keep our own country, which seems ironic and so sad.” ———-Bob Hargis, Morrison, Colo.

DEAR FRIENDS,

I apologize that our NumbersUSA website does not have interactive pages for you to express your opinion to us and each other and for you to quiz each other about techniques to be more effective activists.

We are working on adding many new features of that kind in the near future. We want to unleash even more of the creative and symbiotic power of 450,000 American citizens (registered in our network) who are committed to action for a sensible immigration policy.

Response to Amnesty Defeat “Thank You for making me feel a part of something big… My country. I know it’s not over: as we do this, we will only get better at it. I get paid soon so I will send a donation. You are a national asset and treasure. God Bless your organization, our Archangel in what was a dark moment for this nation. It is now a brilliant triumph. I hope we get to secure that border, and enforce the law with the laws we do have. Congratulations to all of you.” ———-Manuel Vega, Conway, South Carolina

“Thank you so very much for helping us to save America. You and your staff should be extremely proud of yourselves. It is a great feeling to know there are still people who will do the right thing for their country. Please help to keep us informed about what is going on with this subject, so that hopefully no one will become complacent.” ———- Sherrie Gibson, With Much Gratitude, Newport Beach, Calif.

“We all realize that this is just the beginning of a tough fight to complete the job. Would you spearhead the effort to forcefully require Congress to not wait any longer? By this I mean, build the fence now! We cannot afford to wait until 2009 to get this effort started. The money has been allocated; it is time to build the fence. No more excuses! Let’s put just as much pressure on Congress as we have just recently generated. Encourage them that now is the time to work out each part of this whole problem in a sound, sensible (no behind the closed doors secrets), and effective manner. It will be a tough fight again, but I think this country is ready to step up to the challenge. Let’s go get ‘em!” ———-Charles Ransierginaw

“Thank you for giving us a way to channel our voices and have our own ‘lobby’ in defeating this amnesty and this out of control increase in immigration. I phoned, emailed and faxed all day while I watched CSPAN.” ———- Toni McKinney, Lakewood, Colo.

“I am a regular working guy, and I have barely enough time for my family…let alone time to write to the elitists in D.C. I very deeply appreciate your work. Please tell everyone in your organization how much their work is appreciated by us regular ‘ole Americans!” ———-Jim Ridley “I want to add my appreciation for the fabulous job you do making it so easy for us to make our voices known.” ———- Marcy Underdahl, Price, Utah

“I am ashamed to admit that I have never called or written my senators or the White House until you came along! Thanks for reminding us what this great country is all about.” ———-Shelly Meissner, Richmond, VA

“I just called my Senator’s office in Washington, DC. The girl answering the phone was obviously frazzled. All I could get from her was “Yes ma’am, I’ll pass that on…” So I offered HER a little sympathy. I mentioned that I bet today has been pretty tough. She acknowledged that the last three weeks have been AWFUL. I said, “Well, it is even more awful for us, the people who live out here without any control of what is happening as the government seems bent on giving our country away.” I went on to say how critical to the survival of the USA this is and how letting all of these illegals in is a way to do away with the middle class and gain total control of the country. Her voice softened like she was about to cry and she said once more, “Yes, ma’am, I will pass that on.” ———-Diana Benson, Saginaw, MO

“I work helping disabled adults, and this is another community being ignored by illegal immigration. Just coming out of a meeting yesterday, there are approximately 54 million Americans in this country out of jobs because businesses still have an attitude that if you have a disability, you not capable of working. These Americans want to work, they don’t want to be on government assistance, and some are doing jobs ‘Americans don’t want to do’ so to speak. I know of a woman in Minnesota who is a housekeeper and she has a disability, but she likes being able to pay her own bills however hard it is. So please do a section on the unemployed disabled community; they need jobs! This is another case to stop illegal immigration. There are so many different aspects of Americans wanting jobs that are being ignored… She said she was going to sign up for your organization after I spoke with her. ———-Michael Craven, Lynn, Mass.

“I have never before called or faxed my senators and congressmen – never before joining Numbers USA. You made it easy for me to both call and fax them regarding the amnesty issue. Unfortunately, my senators (Cantwell and Murray) ignored my pleas as they continued to vote in favor of legalizing an illegal act. This will obviously bode poorly for them in the next general election. I didn’t think I was in a position where I could help the cause financially but I will donate on the next request, even if it means I do without something I want. Your efforts to make it easy for us average citizens to petition our Congress is more important than my individual needs.” ———- Jerry Heitzman, Lacey, Wash.

“Using Numbers USA excellent fax and phone services to express ourselves are the single greatest tools we have to swiftly contact our representatives.” ———-Ronald Lazar, Coquille,OR

“Wow! I am thrilled so many people responded against the amnesty bill. What’s next? Can you start a border fence campaign that will be just as effective?” ———-Patricia Ewers, Castro Valley, CA

“Now that the ‘amnesty’ bill has been rejected, can we get some help enforcing the laws already on the book? In other words: Send illegals back home and secure our borders! Maybe then we can help the hospitals and the Emergency Rooms and start using food stamps and welfare for our own needy. Take away medical and welfare from illegals, and they just might go home.” ———-Edwin Werntz, Baytown, TX

“Thank you so much for giving us an easy way to quickly forward our views. Both of my Texas Senators have written me several times in response to faxes sent through NumbersUSA and both of my Texas Senators have held the line and helped to kill this bill. I have already sent both of them an email thanking them for standing up for what is right for this country. Again, thanks for the vehicle we needed to reach Capitol Hill so quickly; Without organizations like this it simply could not have been done.” ———- Melissa Bohannon, Houston, TX

“What are Numbers USA priorities now? I feel the next task is to go straight to work on enforcing existing immigration laws, securing our ports and borders (building a fence!), stopping Mexican trucks from driving into America, and stopping a federal multi-billion dollar plan to use American money to rebuild Mexico’s infrastructure! Using Numbers USA excellent fax and phone services to express ourselves are the single greatest tools we have to swiftly contact our representatives.” ———-Ronald Lazar, Coquille, OR

“I made about 20 calls last night to Senators’ offices and of those, 6 calls were thank you and appreciation calls to some of the Senators who have stood up against this bill for the long haul. Many of these Senators’ mail boxes were full and no more messages could be left; a good sign! I understand this morning President Bush called all of the Senators about their vote, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez approached senators as they entered and left the chamber shortly before the vote. Tony Snow has been calling them for several days…I have never seen such strong arm tactics in my life along with the senate proceedings yesterday! They really wanted this passed, didn’t they? The one thing they underestimated was that when the grassroots citizens of this country have had enough of something they usually get things done! “I talked to a County clerk in my town and she was going to post the numbers website on the community courthouse bulletin board and also she will be checking out the site. Maybe members in their towns could ask for the same exposure to the website!” ———- Sue Watt, Scotland, Ark.

Several of you wrote in with wonderful and lavish personal praise addressed to me. I thank all of you, even though it would be in poor taste to reprint them. … Well, maybe I’ll include just one. This one from Brandon was exceptionally dramatic and ornate — and an energized way to look at our whole movement. As long as you didn’t see me in any of my CNN interviews this week, perhaps you can just envision the person hunched over this keyboard as a Gary Cooper.

Obviously, I love the flattery, but why do Sens. Sessions, Vitter, DeMint, McCaskill and Dorgan get to be Jimmy Stewart? “Dear Roy, I wonder if you’ve seen the movie “Meet John Doe”; if so you might recognize yourself as the modern day embodiment of Mr. Doe, played by Gary Cooper. Like John Doe, your vision and character are the foundation and catalyst of this mounting modern day populist uprising. Similarly a handful of principled Senators personify the embattled Senator, played by Jimmy Stewart, in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. Few can stand up to the pressures of such threats; but without these men and women of character, the enemy within would most surely have prevailed. “Of course there are other heroes along with villains and their victims in this epoch. Ranchers under siege along a border that has become a war zone comes to mind. Journalist turned Minuteman Chris Simcox, camera in hand, mobilizing average Americans from all walks of life. They monitor the border, exposing in graphic reality the human tragedy and environmental catastrophe.

No one should forget the Bush administration’s newest targets of political terror…America’s Border Patrol Agents. The message is clear…agents who dare do their job may well face ten years in a small cell as political prisoners… solitary confinement may well be ones fate. Yes there are lots of true heroines and heroes, and sadly, too many victims in this revolt. Be-that-as-it-may, your clarion call, like Paul Revere in his day, has raised the alarm; and given a sustaining voice to the growing numbers of citizens of the USA taking up the ‘call’ in this fight for America’s sovereignty and its very survival. “While the next battles in this war to turn back a ‘tsunami’ of foreign ‘labor’ is just over the horizon; incorruptible Patriots from every corner of America have you and the sustained energy of the NumbersUSA staff to thank. Exposing the skullduggery of the economic hit men [lobbyists> while not easy…it is essential. Wielding their insidious corrupting influence upon lapdog political minions these people haven’t only forgotten their roots, they’ve lost their souls. Keep the torches shining bright on those cowards and traitors who, for 30 pieces of silver, would betray America’s future. “Thank you for keeping America’s fate from being sealed this day in the cloture and dagger of wmd politics launched on America by globalist gwb (a man I’m sorry to say I voted twice for). Now hit hard in an offense that can’t be ignored. Ike in his time sent foreign labor packing, and we can too.” ———-Brandon E.

All of you deserve to claim whatever movie character you wish to represent you in a movie about how hundreds of thousands of regular American citizens reclaimed their country and began to set it back on course. I and all of the staff of NumbersUSA are honored to serve a facilitating role in assisting you to combine your voice with others to have real impact in Washington. We are thrilled that NumbersUSA has been so helpful in the mobilization.

We will continue to do our best to play this role with fidelity to our stated purposes and goals (see our Home Page) and without abusing the trust of the citizens who participate. Always remember that because our staff and members come from all parts of the ideological spectrum and are Democrats, Independents and Republicans (with a decent representation of Libertarians and Socialists to boot), NumbersUSA does not use your activism for any other policy change than to reduce overall illegal and legal immigration numbers.

We know that all of you have other really important political goals, but we focus only on immigration in order to put together the largest, most powerful force to change destructive immigration policies. Your combined efforts in this highly focused campaign the last two months were given an incredible tribute this morning by the editorial writers of the Washington Times:

(T)he amnesty coalition collapsed, and the 64 Senate supporters became just 46. What happened? As we noted above, talk radio proved that in modern times, it is indispensable for conservative political success. Much of the credit should also go to the bipartisan lobbying organization NumbersUSA, a powerful advocate for strengthening border security, which made it clear to members of Congress that they weren’t buying the phony games some lawmakers wanted to play: proposing tough-sounding amendments that stood little chance of becoming law, while voting for cloture — and in effect for amnesty.

In numerous publications, Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.) explained how a handful of committed junior Senators was able to defeat The Establishment on amnesty: “And we would have been railroaded, run over, completely flat, if the American people hadn’t gotten so mad about this.” And in story after story today, you volunteer activists using NumbersUSA tools have been given a lot of that credit, such as the article in USA Today which featured your efforts: Opponents claimed a populist victory over what Roy Beck of NumbersUSA called “the cheap-labor lobby.” Beck said his organization, which focuses on immigration-related issues, generated more than two million faxes against the immigration bill since May. Hours before the Senate vote, the Capitol switchboard was swamped with phone calls. “The intensity level and the passions on this bill, we’ve never seen anything like it. Not even close,” said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who voted against the bill despite a call from Bush. I think Vicki Robb was on to something today when she said, “NumbersUSA supplied the circuitry to carry the electricity that shocked the Congress.” Thanks again for your electrifying surge,
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