BY
Jamie Glazov - Frontpage Magazine's editor
jamieglazov11@gmail.com.
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Brigitte Gabriel, founder of the nonprofit organization ACT! for America, and one of the leading terrorism experts in the world. Her expertise is sought after by world and business leaders. She has addressed the Australian Prime Minister, members of The British Parliament/House of Commons, members of the United States Congress, The Pentagon, The Joint Forces Staff College, The US Special Operations Command, The US Asymmetric Warfare group, the FBI, and many others. She is the New York Times best selling author of Because They Hate and They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It.
FP: Brigitte Gabriel, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
I would like to talk to you today about CAIR’s personal attack on you. Tell us about it.
Gabriel: CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, sent out a press release on March 17th, using its standard propaganda techniques such as name calling, which I won’t dignify by repeating here. This is not the first time that CAIR has attacked me. But in this case, CAIR’s attack could best be described as “throwing the kitchen sink” at me. It was a litany of accusations and references to statements I have allegedly made, or statements that were taken out of context, pieced together to create a distorted caricature of what I believe and how I define the threat of radical Islam.
FP: Why do you think CAIR did this?
Gabriel: It seems clear to me that CAIR is becoming increasingly desperate in its efforts to try to stop the truth about radical Islam from reaching the American people. It’s almost like they’re flailing, like a drowning man desperately trying to stay afloat. They have lost every court battle thus far in their fight against the authors of the blockbuster exposé Muslim Mafia. The Department of Justice has reaffirmed its finding that CAIR is tied to the terrorist organization Hamas, and a grand jury subpoena for CAIR records issued last November indicates a new government investigation of CAIR is ongoing.
Desperate organizations, like desperate people, are prone to do desperate things. CAIR is desperately trying to divert attention from its own problems, and they are many, by slinging mud at others – and not just me.
FP: I noticed that one of the sources CAIR quotes is the Australian Jewish News. Could you tell us about that particular interview?
Gabriel: This is one of the areas CAIR honed in on. Back in 2007 I was in Australia to speak at a major event honoring Prime Minister John Howard. While there I met with a Jewish journalist who brought along a friend, and we had coffee. The “friend” turned out to be an apologist for anything Islamic, including the Palestinians against Israel. He was so ignorant of the issues of terrorism that he didn’t even know what Hamas was. He was so uninformed that the journalist sitting next to me told him, “You are an embarrassment to journalism.” The man who invited him apologized to me in the car for his friend’s behavior and told me that he will never invite him again to a press conference. This person was a regular at the Islamic Mosque and was very close friends with the Imam and members of the mosque. He ended up writing a blog that badly distorted things I said in the conversation.
CAIR has since been quoting this blog to falsely allege things that I don’t believe. For instance, I don’t believe that there are no moderate Muslims. Of course there are.
FP: You have made statements about “practicing Muslims.” Tell us precisely what you mean in these statements.
Gabriel: When I have made statements about “practicing Muslims,” here is what I’m saying:
In any religious faith, and that includes Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, there are people who are very orthodox and very devout, and then there are others who are less so. There are Christians who read their Bibles, attend church regularly and pray every day, and there are those who don’t. The same dynamic is true in Judaism.
And the same is true in Islam. There are many, many Muslims who have never read the Koran in their own language, who don’t even know many of its teachings or closely adhere to its teachings and those of the Hadith, and who don’t pray five times a day. These are the Muslims who are often described as “moderate,” or less devout, or even “secular.”
Then there are those Muslims who take the Koran and Hadith very seriously. They follow the Islamic shariah law and they subscribe to the supremacist political ideology embedded within the Islamic holy books. They aspire to emulate Mohammed, who any honest historian will tell you spread Islam by terror and the sword. They agree with the doctrine of jihad. They believe that Islamic shariah law should reign supreme over all and that man-made laws are invalid. They agree with the Islamic command that their allegiance is to the “ummah”, the Islamic nation, rather than to any country.
It is these Muslims, who are typically referred to as practicing “radical Islam,” that I refer to when I say such Muslims cannot be trusted to be a loyal citizen to our country – or any country for that matter – and who do not acknowledge that here in America we recognize the Constitution as the “supreme law of the land.” It is these Muslims I have referred to as “practicing.”
Just look at what Imam Al-Awlaki, the American Al-Qaida leader in the Arabian Peninsula, said just last week: ”I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other Muslim.”
As you can see, this explanation does not lend itself well to a 20 second sound bite. So it’s easy for Islamists and their apologists to lift one sentence out of context to lead people to conclude something that I’m not saying. And they don’t do it just to me – they do it to anyone who they perceive as a threat to their ideological agenda.
FP: For real.
Even more interesting: isn’t it true that CAIR leaders have made public statements that actually confirm what it is you’re saying?
Gabriel: That’s the delicious irony of all of this. CAIR’s press release criticized me for my statements about how radical Muslims cannot be trusted to be loyal citizens. Yet public statements by some of their own leaders confirm what I’m saying.
For instance, Omar Ahmad, the founder of CAIR, made this statement in 1998: “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Qur’an should be the highest authority in America.” This was reported in the San Ramon Valley Herald on July 4, 1998. Look what Ahmad is saying – he wants an Islamic theocracy in America. How is this any different from my position that says there are those Muslims who believe that Islamic shariah law should reign supreme and that man-made laws are invalid?
Then there’s Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s Communications Director, who said in a 1993 Minneapolis Star Tribune interview, “I wouldn’t want to create the impression that I wouldn’t like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future…”
If that sounds to you like he wants an Islamic theocracy in America where Islamic shariah law reigns supreme, you’re right.
Which begs this question: Can Omar Ahmad and Ibrahim Hooper be counted on to be loyal citizens of the United States and to the Constitution, our law of the land?
FP: This is the question that many people are afraid to answer.
So what do we conclude from all of this?
Gabriel: Everywhere I go I make the point of saying just what I said earlier, that there are many, many Muslims worldwide who either don’t know, don’t understand, or don’t subscribe to the ideology of political Islam, the doctrine of jihad, and the supremacy of Islamic shariah law. Of course, we have no idea how many people make up this group.
But ultimately, that’s not the issue. The issue is the radical, passionate Islamists worldwide who are driving the militant Islamic agenda in the world. Read the words of the revered and respected Muslim clerics worldwide. They are committed to supremacy, jihad, and Islamic shariah law. This is what drives the terrorists and those devoted to “stealth jihad.” It doesn’t matter if even most Muslims don’t think this way, because as history teaches us, the “moderate” element within a movement don’t drive the agenda. Most Germans during World War II weren’t committed Nazis, but that didn’t prevent Nazism from leading to the deaths of 60 million people. The same can be said for the Communists in the Soviet Union and the followers of Mao in China.
FP: Words of wisdom.
So before we go, a final thought?
Gabriel: Thanks Jamie.
A final thought?
Well, let’s face the truth of the dire situation we are facing: Islamists are intent on doing us harm, either through violent jihad or stealth and cultural jihad. They are driven by their commitment to the ideology of political Islam, the doctrine of jihad, the supremacy of Islamic shariah law over all other law, and their allegiance to the ummah rather than any one country. They see this as a state of war between Islam and the “infidel” world, and the practice of everything from deception (taqiyya) to violence is acceptable for their use in fighting this war. That includes the propaganda techniques employed by organizations like CAIR. Understanding all of this is essential to understanding how our enemies think and why they do what they do – and what we must do to defeat them.
FP: Brigitte Gabriel, as always it was an honor and privilege to speak to you. Thank you for your courage and nobility. Thank you for your fearless fight for liberty and the truth. The world doesn’t make many people like you.
Why is CAIR Smearing ACT! for America?
And is CAIR breaking the law?
Dear Morris,
CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is revving up its propaganda machine against ACT! for America. Clearly, CAIR has decided we’ve become too effective in getting the word out about the threat of radical Islam.
CAIR, the U.S. propaganda front group for the terrorist organization Hamas, is notorious for aiming its invective at anyone or any group that dares to expose the threat of radical Islam or expose who CAIR really is.
The reason is simple. Unable to debate the substance of the information published by organizations like ours, CAIR attempts the age-old ploy of smearing the messenger in hopes of diverting attention from the information that is so damning.
As Brigitte Gabriel noted in a recent interview with FrontPage Magazine, CAIR is getting more desperate with every passing month. Desperate organizations—like desperate people—do desperate things.
The blog below (highlights added) is well worth reading.
The Pastor, the Pedophile and CAIR
by Adam Savit
On April 5 the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release urging GOP leaders to “insist” that Congresswoman Sue Myrick (R-NC) withdraw support from the non-profit grassroots advocacy organization ACT! for America. CAIR referred to ACT! for America, one of the largest national security (and pro-American and pro-Israel) citizens organizations in the United States, as an “anti-Islam hate group.”
As we at the Center for Security Policy have reported previously at Big Government, we believe – with the backup evidence to prove it at CAIRObservatory.org – that CAIR has been operating as an unregistered foreign agent, as defined by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). FARA § 611 (o) states that foreign agents who engage in any activity to “influence any agency or official of the Government of the United States or any section of the public within the United States” must register as a foreign agent and report such activity to the Department of Justice. Therefore as Rep. Myrick and GOP leaders are “officials of the government of the United States,” CAIR’s attempt to influence their conduct and associations in this way is a clear violation of the FARA statute.
On April 13 CAIR-Tampa echoed the CAIR national office message with this action alert and directed readers to a petition calling for 5,000 signatures condemning the GOP and Myrick for associating with ACT! for America. CAIR could only find a single spokesperson to prop up their attack on ACT! For America, a certain Reverend Wilifred Allen-Faiella of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove, FL. The CAIR action alert quotes from her letter which echoes, word for word, CAIR’s talking points from their smear campaign:
“As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who preached love for all I am appalled that a Congresswoman can support a hate-filled group such as “Act for America”. Their statements about Muslims constitute hate speech and no responsible leader of this country founded on the principles that all are created equal should associate herself with such an anti-American group.”
Big mistake in spokepersons, CAIR.
The question is open as to whether CAIR bothered to investigate Allen-Faiella’s questionable background before they chose her to be their sole spokeperson, since she is best known for her starring role in a well-publicized 2004 Miami scandal when she allowed a convicted pedophile to volunteer at the thrift shop next to her church’s K-6 elementary school. On November 4, 2004 the Miami New Times reported that the volunteer, church member Steven Sypnieski, told the pastor in a “confidential pastoral setting” that he “had some problems in his past.” Apparently Allen-Faiella didn’t bother to check Sypnieski’s criminal record, easily accessible online. In 1992 Sypnieski was arrested by police for sexual battery on an 8-year-old boy he was babysitting, according to the arrest affidavit. He gave a confession and pleaded guilty to ‘custodial sexual battery.’ Astoundingly, he was sentenced only to ten years probation.
In October, 2003 – 11 years after the confession, just after his probation sentence ended – Sypnieski was brought into the Church School’s thrift shop as a volunteer by Allen-Faiella. Allen-Faiella admitted “I was made aware of his record on the sixteenth of December [a Tuesday in 2003],” but because the Christmas break was to begin Friday, she stated that “I intended to take care of the situation as soon as we got back. In fact I put it on the calendar for January 7 to talk with my priest assistant how we were going to handle the matter.” According to the Miami New Times, “When parents discovered the man’s criminal record, Allen-Faiella failed to take immediate action, so the school’s principal, Carol Shabe, forcefully confronted the pastor, demanding that the man’s school access be revoked at once….” According to the report, the school principal had to ask Allen-Faiella two more times to take Sypnieski’s keys away from him before Allen-Faiella would take action. Parents and donors withdrew support for the school in reaction to the pastor’s behavior; and Pastor Allen-Faiella fired the school principal Carol Shabe later that year for “divisiveness.”
Angry parents described Allen-Faiella as “intransigent and unresponsive.” Indeed, the pastor told the Miami newspaper “I think it’s being blown totally out of proportion… The appropriate people knew about it. No big deal was made about it. And suddenly it became a big issue.” According to the Miami New Times:
“Allen-Faiella also says that following Sypnieski’s dismissal, she’s learned his probation had ended prior to him volunteering, and that she’d read something indicating ‘he was not considered a criminal threat to the community.’ (She can’t recall where she saw the information.) Had she known these things earlier, would she have allowed Sypnieski to work at the parish? ‘That’s a moot point now,’ she responds.”
So let’s sum up. We assert that CAIR is an unregistered foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (see our report here at CAIRObservatory.org). This particular influence operation by CAIR targeted Congresswoman Sue Myrick (R-NC), using a related influence operation to smear a national grassroots organization – ACT! For America, with nearly 80,000 members and 380 chapters – as “hate-filled…anti-American.” And the sole spokesperson that CAIR-Tampa could find to support their smear campaign is best known for her earlier tolerance for a convicted pedophile, for whom she permitted potential access to children in her care, according to news reports in the mainstream newspaper Miami New Times. We’ve sent the Reverend Wilifred Allen-Faiella a letter, posted below, to alert her that when CAIR chose her as a spokesperson, she was being targeted in a possible unreported political influence operation. We urge her in the letter to report the details to FARA.
And who are the foreign principals – individuals, companies, organizations, government offices – bankrolling CAIR’s smear campaign using that most tolerant (of pedophiles at least) Reverend Allen-Faiella? A major one is the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), who gave CAIR $325,000 in 2007 – just part of the $6.6 million in cash and loans given to CAIR by foreign principals based in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. The OIC’s Ten Year Plan demands “deterrent punishments” for any alleged acts of so-called “Islamophobia” in non-Muslim countries.
These CAIR smear campaigns – against Congresswoman Myrick, and against ACT! For America – are only two of CAIR’s many political influence operations, targeting critics of CAIR’s Muslim Brotherhood links and critics of CAIR’s attempted enforcement of Shariah Law to silence free speech. Neither of these influence operations has been reported to the FARA office by CAIR as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
And we think that’s against the law.
No comments:
Post a Comment