We are only now beginning to understand the true extent of Qatar’s long campaign to subvert the American political establishment, to advance its own interests, and to advance the interests of <a href="https://ahvalnews.com/qatar-turkey/qatar-iran-turkey-alliance-erodes-regional-security-arab-weekly">close allies</a> Iran and Turkey. It seems like every passing month reveals <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/ords/f?p=1381:130:12387682161381::NO::P130_CNTRY:QA">more public figures</a> working to advance the Qatari agenda. The latest to be make headlines is former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Dana Shell Smith, a senior foreign policy advisor to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.
Following the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Smith raised eyebrows when she <a href="https://twitter.com/ambdana/status/1188446888967786499">objected</a> on Twitter to President Trump’s pitiless description of Baghdadi’s death. She <a href="https://twitter.com/AmbDana/status/1188446071019724803">wrote</a>: “This gruesome, vivid and probably exaggerated description of dogs chasing down Baghdadi will endanger our personnel in the region. … When bin Laden was killed, we were careful to be clear that he had been given a proper Muslim burial.”
To be sure, she <a href="https://twitter.com/AmbDana/status/1188454050372698114">added</a> that, “The killing of Baghdadi was unquestionably good and necessary.” But her larger objection was met with <a href="https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2019/10/28/obamas-qatar-ambassador-has-some-thoughts-on-the-way-president-trump-talked-about-the-death-of-al-baghdadi/">scorn</a> by many who found it hard to believe that Smith wanted due honors given to a violent <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Baghdadi-rapist-led-genocidal-caliphate-died-in-tunnel-606053">murderer and rapist</a> like Baghdadi.
Why, then, does Smith care so much about Baghdadi’s dignity?
Possibly it is not she who cares, but her friends in Qatar. Despite their claims of moderation, many Qataris actually support ISIS. A 2014 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/28/support-isis-stronger-arabic-social-media-europe-us-than-syria">study</a> found that 47% of Qatari Arabic language social media messages discussing ISIS were supportive — the highest percentage in the world. And this is just one instance of Qatar’s <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/qatar">long history</a> of supporting extremists, including al-Qaeda and Hamas.
Normally one wouldn’t assume that an ex-diplomat would parrot the opinions of her former host country. But Smith’s case is special. She has a <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/africaTech/idAFL1N21J0DJ">long history</a> of <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/otaiba-ambassador-uae-leaked-emails_n_5932bf04e4b02478cb9bec1c">advocating for the interests</a> of Qatar. Earlier this year, investigative journalist Daniel Greenfield published a detailed <a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/07/qatar-supporter-advising-kamala-harris-daniel-greenfield/">exposé</a> of Smith’s long history of advancing Qatari foreign policy — even while serving as U.S. ambassador.
Canadian businessman Alan Bender went further. Bender, who had spoken with high-level Qatari officials, said that Smith was being paid by Qatar through her <a href="https://www.fp4america.org/dana-shell-smith">consulting firm</a> <a href="https://sccefile.scc.virginia.gov/Business/S655876">Decibel Strategy LLC</a> — which Bender described as “her fake company in the U.S.” (The company has no public presence and does not describe its clients or services.)
Smith is not the only former diplomat to be working for Qatar’s interests. Even if we stick to public data, several former ambassadors have gone so far as to openly take Qatari money.
The list is impressive. Former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar (1995–1998) <a href="https://qataramerica.org/team/ambassador-patrick-theros/">Patrick Theros</a> was the long-serving president of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, and also was one of the first board members of Qatar Foundation International. Amb. <a href="http://untermeyer.com/resume/">Chase Untermeyer</a> (2004–2007) did business consulting for U.S. firms operating in Qatar before becoming the founding chairman of the Qatar-America Institute in 2017. And Amb. <a href="https://www.squirepattonboggs.com/en/professionals/l/lebaron-joseph">Joseph LeBaron</a> (2008–2011) is now <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lebaron1">vice chair</a> of Daruna, a firm providing housing for migrant workers in Qatar and the chairman of which is Qatari royal family member Shaikh Nasser Al-Thani; LeBaron also became a senior advisor to Squire Patton Boggs, which has <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/2165-Exhibit-AB-19940201-DBKPB503.pdf">lobbied</a> for Qatar since 1994.
Other public figures known to have previously taken Qatari money include <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/23/rudy_giuliani_loves_america_except_when_hes_consulting_for_qatar/">Rudy Giuliani</a> and <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/ords/f?p=1381:130:12387682161381::NO::P130_CNTRY:QA">dozens</a> of lobbying firms in Washington. And Qatar-financed lobbyists Nick Muzin and Joey Allaham were the point-men in a controversial <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-lobbying-qatar-targeted-250-trump-influencers-to-change-u-s-policy-1535554647">Qatari campaign</a> to target some 250 “influencers” in and around the Trump administration, at least some of whom were handsomely paid themselves as a result. Qatar paid the pair $3 million for that effort, and <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/qatari-lobbyists-received-millions-through-shadow-firm/">another</a> $3.9 million for “foster[ing] dialogue” with American business leaders.
It’s not illegal to take foreign money, as long as it is properly disclosed. But if Smith or Decibel Strategies is indeed being paid by Qatar, she has not disclosed it in a Foreign Agent Registration Act (<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2009-title22/pdf/USCODE-2009-title22-chap11-subchapII.pdf">FARA</a>) filing — though she is mentioned in other entity filings, having <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/2165-Supplemental-Statement-20160714-24.pdf">met</a> with Squire Patton Boggs several times while ambassador.
Whether or not Smith is actually on the Qatari payroll, she appears to be participating in a massive and well-funded effort by Qatar to subvert our foreign policy. This broad-spectrum effort includes <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/16/qatar-georgetown-texas-university/">hundreds of millions</a> of dollars paid to our universities, for which Qatar has gotten <a href="https://twitter.com/Bush41Library/status/922929216953503744">valuable</a> <a href="https://www.qatar.georgetown.edu/news-events/news/report-highlights-georgetown%E2%80%99s-thought-leadership">quid pro quos</a>; the extensive propaganda operations of regime-owned Al Jazeera, which have sparked calls from lawmakers to make it <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/401145-al-jazeera-propagates-hatred-is-it-also-a-foreign-agent">disclose</a> its <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/al-jazeera-pushes-back-on-gop-effort-to-force-it-to-register-as-a-foreign-agent">activities</a> under FARA; and the well-publicized <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/us/politics/foreign-powers-buy-influence-at-think-tanks.html">corrupting</a> of major think tanks such as the Brookings Institute. And that’s merely the legal elements of Qatar’s plan.
Qatar has every right to advocate for its interests, and even to hire American figures to make its case. But there is a difference between advocacy and corruption. American foreign policy needs to be built around America’s interests, not those of foreign countries with large bankrolls.
&nbsp;
Dr. Oren Litwin is a Fellow for <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/">Islamist Watch</a>, a project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>.

Doha Qatar skyline

LITWIN: Former Diplomat And Top Kamala Harris Campaign Advisor Acts As Mouthpiece For Terror-Supporting Qatar

Al Qaeda

Hamas

Islamic State (ISIS)

Kamala Harris

Qatar

Radical Islamic Terror

Terrorism

India’s recent revocation of Kashmir’s autonomous status, and its imposition of a security lockdown, is an aggressive move in a long-running and complex conflict. Voices in support and opposition to the move have been loud and heated. But whether or not one agrees with the takeover itself, or the way it is being handled, it is worrying that opposition to the move in the U.S. has been orchestrated and dominated by Islamist groups.
Since August 6th, several <a href="https://www.standwithkashmir.org/upcoming-events">protests</a> worldwide have been <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StandWithKashmir/">coordinated</a> by <a href="https://www.standwithkashmir.org/who-we-are">Stand With Kashmir</a>, whose website was first <a href="https://www.whois.com/whois/standwithkashmir.org">registered</a> in March of this year and which has not disclosed the identity of its officers or backers. But at least some of the protests have heavy Islamist involvement. The August 9th <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2200891790201451/">protest</a> in New York lists several co-organizers and sponsors, among them the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and the Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA).
MAS is the American branch of the <a href="https://spectator.org/the-real-face-of-the-muslim-american-society/">Muslim Brotherhood</a>; ICNA is the American branch of the South Asian extremist movement Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) (Earlier this year, India <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/india-bans-jamaat-islami-kashmir-conflict-pakistan-190228200217590.html">banned</a> JI from Kashmir for five years for supporting terrorism, in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed 42). Both of these groups have been involved in anti-India Kashmiri partisanship for years, <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/58450/india-should-beware-of-american-islamism">coordinating</a> with known agents of the Pakistani intelligence service ISI.
On August 16th, the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a lobbying umbrella group of <a href="https://www.meforum.org/58206/new-islamist-lobby">Islamist</a> organizations, held a D.C. rally for Kashmir in front of the Indian embassy. The rally was cosponsored by ICNA and MAS, along with the extremist mosque <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/mosques/417/dar-al-hijrah-mosque">Dar al-Hijrah</a> and the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC). WikiLeaks emails <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/09/26/cair-chief-meets-with-turkish-and-iranian-presidents/">revealed</a> that TASC coordinates closely with regime figures from the authoritarian Turkish government.
Other “Stand With Kashmir” protests have not listed their cosponsors, but in several cases they have been attended by Islamist groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/361/cair-identified-by-the-fbi-as-part-of-the-muslim">founded</a> by members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s “Palestine Committee.” CAIR <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/posts/10156736094502695?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDchOCkf9LY1Zpd5jtsp3EcZMY7829P4-dDyR_HhMI25UdpMp7pQdtvO_x5VTgwX0fKE33gB6i7l3G5waO5wrrcPpDgS4-2_rhJyl2A2JB3f_xpcpkGYt4mc9l5UgIV87TjIsfb1a0UWLnNtG-DdR770DJYQn-MIexdro-l4Sm9WdC6j6qxsiSFzdc_1VhKEUbmtpzYSFc7IhlzWFGvZw9f1sn003B2xdK-NyHqCvPOydIxBktbf1aIZAFk_n9Iqz5xzEcuWkLDE66XHYcqKmaSd66FpaPXtULbM2mF_grNIQ4AEpPMp3o5VmklE_aTf1tpGuy2DyP_sDkJjg&amp;__tn__=-R">publicized</a> the emergency protest in Washington, D.C. on August 6th, during which CAIR co-founder Nihad Awad <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/videos/440546026672705">spoke</a>; CAIR and ICNA were also among the <a href="https://ca.cair.com/sacval/news/media-advisory-groups-will-rally-for-kashmir-at-the-california-capitol-on-tuesday">attendees</a> of an August 12th rally in Sacramento.
It is worth noting that CAIR receives much of its <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2013/09/21/cair-collects-millions-from-foreign-donors-thanks-to-non-profit-shell-game/">funding</a> from the government of Qatar (in addition to <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/09/26/cair-chief-meets-with-turkish-and-iranian-presidents/">coordinating</a> closely with Turkey). This matters because Qatari propaganda organs Al Jazeera and Middle-East Eye have been relentlessly <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/red-dot-symbolised-kashmiri-resistance-india-move-190815113019954.html">opposed</a> to the Kashmir takeover; and it seems that CAIR and the other Islamists dependent on Qatari money are following their patron’s lead.
The heavy influence of Islamism may be responsible for a growing narrative, pushed by Qatari journalists and Islamist activists, that the Kashmir takeover is “just like” Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. The Middle East Eye <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/indias-annexation-kashmir-straight-out-israeli-playbook">claimed</a> that “India’s annexation of Kashmir is straight out of the Israeli playbook”; and the <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/263409/bds-umbrella-group-linked-to-palestinian-terrorist-organizations">terrorism-linked</a> Palestinian BDS National Committee <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/palestinians-denounce-indias-israeli-style-tactics-kashmir">organized</a> protests by Palestinians and claimed that India was using Israeli weapons that were “field-tested on Palestinian bodies.” CAIR-Los Angeles director Hussam Ayloush <a href="https://twitter.com/HussamA/status/1161656688883187715">tweeted</a> that “Kashmir and Palestine share the struggle for self determination [sic] against colonial occupation.”
Notably, in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StandWithKashmir/photos/gm.404778633481485/1649204458545713/?type=3&amp;theater">images</a> published by Stand with Kashmir, attendees are asked to “stand up against” several offenses, including “settler colonialism.” This is apparently a reference to the Indian government’s plan to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/india-bjp-revive-hindu-settlement-plan-kashmir-report-190712111627296.html">resettle</a> some of the hundreds of thousands of Hindus who have been driven out of Kashmir by violence since 1989. But Palestinian and Islamist activists are repeatedly using such language to connect Kashmir to the Palestinian conflict, and vice versa; among the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2200891790201451/">sponsors</a> of several of the protests are the radical groups Palestinian Youth Movement and Adalah.
Many supporters of the Kashmiris have recently begun replacing their social media profile pictures with red dots, or entirely red images, to show solidarity. This was begun by Stand With Kashmir, and the use of red images and clothing is repeatedly encouraged by them in their communications. SWK volunteers told Al Jazeera that the red <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/red-dot-symbolised-kashmiri-resistance-india-move-190815113019954.html">symbolizes</a> “the resistance of the Kashmiri people, their blood.” How many concerned supporters of Kashmir realize that their wearing red clothing or displaying red images is an unwitting endorsement of violence, the consequences of which will fall on the Kashmiris themselves?
Whatever one’s views on the Kashmir crisis, we must all be alert to the ways in which it is being exploited by extremists. The Kashmiri situation is far too serious for our views to be distorted by extremism and foreign meddling.
Oren Litwin is associate director of the Islamism in Politics project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>.

PAKISTAN-INDIA-KASHMIR-UNREST

LITWIN: Islamists Are Exploiting The Conflict In Kashmir

CAIR

Foreign Policy

India

Israel

Pakistan

Palestinians

Radical Islam

Lately, 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has been staking out a position as a defender of the American Muslim community against the alleged white nationalism of Donald Trump. Along with fellow candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Warren was outspoken in support of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) when President Trump attacked Omar earlier this year. Warren has also vocally opposed the so-called “Muslim Ban,” a major priority for Muslim activist groups.
Unfortunately, in the process, Warren has become close to several organizations that promote political Islamism — an imperialist ideology demanding that Muslims seek political supremacy as a religious imperative. Some of these organizations are connected to actual terror organizations or are otherwise supportive of them.
For example, in December 2016, Sen. Warren was a featured speaker at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC) — the infamous “Roxbury Mosque” — at the <a href="https://counterjihad.com/terror-experts-concerned-sen-warren-aide-radical-mosque">urging</a> of one of her staffers who attended the mosque. This mosque has deep connections to <a href="https://www.peaceandtolerance.org/2016/12/10/faith-leaders-urge-sen-elizabeth-warren-and-boston-mayor-martin-walsh-not-to-legitimize-jihadist-mosque-interfaith-gambit/">terrorism</a>: The Islamic Society of Boston was founded by convicted terror financier Abdurahman Alamoudi, the Roxbury Mosque itself had Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi as a trustee, and several attendees later joined al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Furthermore, at the time ISBCC was under the direct control of the Boston chapter of the Muslim-American Society (MAS), the <a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/85.pdf">American arm</a> of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In her drive to oppose Trump and support an embattled minority, Sen. Warren is actually lending her credibility to radical groups that do not reflect the American Muslim mainstream. This could simply reflect a commitment by Warren to civil rights and equal treatment for all Americans, coupled with a lack of care over with whom she ought to associate.
But it could also be part of a disturbing new trend, in which a former <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-does-elizabeth-warren-have-a-plan-for-israel-1.7409088">supporter</a> of Israel is ostentatiously embracing political Islamism to slyly court the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/05/progressive-anti-semitism-multicultural-left-new-york-times/">increasingly anti-Semitic</a> radical wing of the progressive movement. By supporting Islamists, Sen. Warren might be signaling that she’s now on board with the hard-left argument of “intersectionality” — that all so-called “marginalized” groups need to be uncritically supported against their supposed oppressors, including the United States itself.
The warning signs have been piling up. Starting with President Trump’s election in 2016, Warren also began associating with Islamist groups in order to criticize Trump’s “Muslim ban.” In January 2017, Warren was one of the featured speakers at a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/photos/a.92140837694/10154480568662695/?type=1&amp;theater">protest</a> against the misnamed “Muslim ban” held by the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization presenting itself as a civil rights champion of Muslims that actually was <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/1059.pdf">founded</a> by the covert Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood. The FBI <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/1029/fbi-explains-its-cair-cut-off">severed ties</a> with CAIR in 2009, after evidence of its close ties to the terror organization Hamas was presented during the infamous Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial.
CAIR also <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_says_maryland_governor_s_anti_bds_order_violates_first_14th_amendments">works</a> <a href="https://ca.cair.com/losangeles/news/cair-ca-calls-on-uc-board-of-regents-to-retract-anti-bds-anti-free-speech-statement/">constantly</a> to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational/posts/bdsmovement-cair-anti-bds-bills-expected-to-feature-prominently-at-aipacon-frida/10155579678417695/">support</a> the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) campaign against Israel. BDS was initially funded and propelled in the United States by the Islamist group <a href="https://www.ampalestine.org/what-bds-0">American Muslims for Palestine</a>, a <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/7884/revised-complaint-bolsters-amp-ties-to-old-hamas">front group</a> for Hamas, and it has the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/04/the-bds-movement-is-a-cleverly-disguised-campaign-to-destroy-israel/">professed aim</a> of destroying Israel entirely and ethnically cleansing its Jews from the region.
In June 2018, Warren <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/we-will-not-obey-hundreds-of-women-rally-in-dc-to-protest-zero-tolerance-immigration-policy/2018/06/28/d1aca604-7a4a-11e8-aeee-4d04c8ac6158_story.html">participated</a> in the “Women Disobey” march against the family separation policies carried out at the Mexican border. One of the main <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/news/393302-womens-march-organizers-plan-protest-against-family-separation">organizers</a> was Linda Sarsour, a noted <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/opinion/womens-march-progressives-hate.html">Islamist radical</a> who is the executive director of MPower Change — a group that regularly claims the United States is corrupted by <a href="https://twitter.com/MPower_Change/status/1138580194342592512">white supremacy</a> and even calls for the <a href="https://twitter.com/MPower_Change/status/1131231289699315712">abolition</a> of ICE and the entire <a href="https://twitter.com/MPower_Change/status/1125883211970531328">prison system</a> alike!
Unsurprisingly, observers have noted a recent shift in Warren’s tone towards Israel — from her previous support to sharp criticism. As late as 2014, Warren <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/news/elizabeth-warren-2020-where-does-progressive-senator-stand-palestine-976905873">stated</a> that “America has a very special relationship with Israel” and defended increased military funding; but more recently, Warren attacked Trump’s move of the American embassy to Jerusalem, condemned new “settlement” activity, and called for expanded U.S. aid to Gaza. Some former supporters grew <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-does-elizabeth-warren-have-a-plan-for-israel-1.7409088">concerned</a> that Warren was no longer “doing her homework” and was trying to position herself for the 2020 presidential campaign at Israel’s expense.
Then in March 2019, Warren refused to attend the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC’s national conference and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/27/did-eight-democratic-candidates-boycott-aipac-conference/?utm_term=.c25309633c7e">gave no explanation</a>, despite having attended in the past. This followed a joint <a href="https://thetempest.co/2019/03/25/news/democrats-boycott-aipac/#content">pressure campaign</a> by MoveOn.org and Sarsour’s organization MPower Change.
After the massacre of Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand, Warren <a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1107627965418868736">stated</a> that “in the same way that [Islamic State] and al-Qaeda terrorism pose a threat to the United States, so does the rise of white nationalism.” The comparison is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-03-21/white-nationalism-is-not-a-terrorist-threat-like-islamic-state">overheated</a>; while white supremacist terrorism is more dangerous now than in recent years and needs to be dealt with, modern white supremacists have never marshaled standing armies with thousands of personnel, nor have they managed to control territory or form their own state as did Islamic State.
So why compare the two? Here, Warren was echoing a line pushed in unison by hard-left activist groups and Islamist organizations such as CAIR and Emgage; CAIR-Oklahoma director Adam Soltani went so far as to <a href="https://twitter.com/CAIRNational/status/1128662057723863043">say</a> that “white supremacy is the root of Islamophobia,” and Emgage has made white supremacy a <a href="https://twitter.com/Emgageaction_/status/1125091707262001154">recurring</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EmgageAction/status/1135637277487407104">theme</a> in its messaging.
In June, the Warren campaign hired a new Director for Progressive Partnerships, an activist named <a href="https://twitter.com/maxberger/status/1142208194606968834">Max Berger</a>. Berger has a long history of <a href="https://freebeacon.com/politics/warren-staffer-draws-criticism-for-anti-israel-tweet/">incendiary claims against Israel</a> and claims in <a href="https://www.jns.org/opinion/zoa-urges-warren-to-fire-hamas-loving-israel-hating-ifnotnow-co-founder-max-berger/">support of domestic Islamists</a> like Omar Suleiman — claims which were so virulent that Berger recently cleared his entire Twitter history to conceal them.
Finally, on June 24th, Warren was one of only two presidential candidates (the other being third-tier candidate Jay Inslee) to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/muslimcaucus/videos/518338828905378/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARB_ESNTRN9AH2Obl9etyBfuk57ydLE5f2wRaZblH2SZay3TYMzGUvjSt2SicEUfPojcxtD2ju4iBlHCZ0QPwmF-l1qjc3EqZMwNNScq7_0ZEZA8m5NJlh1Ula6KeN3njoveIrUMaQipm8UI3VKUA3xAAJbTQh2tgrhgkd0xpS77Ult9dRaZkHxkyI4T1_pycMXJ9tBkaWEXoirrwx7cjed4wWGCWQ7bXaS2FSFt-mvY1DpfYGXtAPPEGI27adOnjBMfK8k8dpRuSrWAdFC7mAzYQuhIFT2Cl4Hijl2Pz9VK2TCYXtkoizJvaUuVIXbfp0nwBF3sLVGLerA7IOxA5IRmh1JuqXF6-ETD9Q&amp;__tn__=-R">address</a> the <a href="https://www.muslimcaucuscollective.org/agenda">Muslim Collective for Equitable Democracy 2019</a>, a conference of Islamist politicians, candidates, and activists that featured some of the most harmful Islamist voices in the United States, such as CAIR founder Nihad Awad.
Supporting the American Muslim community against the Trump administration has become sound progressive politics. But associating herself with Islamists like CAIR and Linda Sarsour indicates that Warren may be going far beyond simple political gestures — she is now actually internalizing the Islamist narrative. That is a mistake. The goal of the Islamist movement is nothing less than the <a href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/22032/popular-us-imam-constitution-inferior-to-sharia">delegitimization</a> of the American constitutional order and the seizure of political power. The American Muslim community is incredibly diverse and has more voices than just the Islamists; if Warren wants to support the Muslim community, associating with the Islamists is the last thing she should do.
Dr. Oren Litwin is the associate director of <a href="https://www.meforum.org/59041/middle-east-forum-launches-islamism-in-politics-project">Islamism in Politics</a>, a project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>.

LITWIN: Elizabeth Warren Must Stop Associating With Islamist Radicals

2020 Election

Boston

Democratic Party

Elizabeth Warren

Islam

Leftism

Massachusetts

On June 20th, Boston mayor Marty Walsh <a href="https://commonwealthmagazine.org/immigration/muslim-to-head-citys-immigrant-advancement-office/">announced</a> the appointment of Yusufi Vali as the city&#8217;s new head of the Office for Immigrant Advancement (OIA). Vali is the executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB), a mosque that is <a href="https://www.peaceandtolerance.org/the-case-against-the-isb/">notorious</a> for its deep connections with the Muslim Brotherhood and several terror plotters. More recently, Vali himself oversaw the creation of ISB&#8217;s new project, the Boston Islamic Seminary; several members of the faculty are open <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/54222/the-boston-islamic-seminary-is-training-the-next">anti-Semites</a>, and one (Suheil Laher) was even the head of an al-Qaeda charity.
Ironically, it was the American public&#8217;s scrutiny of ISB after 9/11 that led indirectly to Vali&#8217;s ascension: ISB responded by <a href="http://www.theology-centre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Islam-and-Community-Organising-V3-singles.pdf">building relationships</a> with several community interfaith groups, including the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO). Vali <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/yusufi-vali-65462847/">worked</a> as a community organizer with GBIO from 2009 to 2012 (when he became executive director of ISB), and that experience laid the groundwork for his deepening relationships with local politicians &#8212; which has now brought him to his current position.
Boston&#8217;s OIA has much to recommend it for Islamists. It oversees citizenship-application assistance, legal clinics, and classes in civic engagement &#8212; all useful resources for Islamists in their work to turn the Muslim community into a potent political force. Moreover, the previous head of the OIA stepped down in December in order to run for a seat on the Boston city council. The position is evidently a steppingstone to electoral office.
Vali is not the first Muslim-American official to be appointed to a government office that provides electoral advantages for the future. For example, City Councilman Alaa Abdel-Aziz, of Paterson, New Jersey, had <a href="https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/paterson-press/2018/07/11/abdelaziz-becomes-patersons-new-6th-ward-councilman/774871002/">lost his run</a> for city council in 2016, but was appointed by the council to a vacant seat in September 2018; he then won the election in November. Mayor Sadaf Jaffer of Montgomery Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, had been elected to the township committee in 2017, but was appointed mayor in 2019.
Neither of these officials is overtly Islamist, though Vali&#8217;s role at ISB is cause for concern. More alarming is Assad Akhter, appointed to the Passaic County (New Jersey) Board of Freeholders in 2016 to fill a vacancy; he then won re-election in 2017 and 2018. A veteran staffer on Capitol Hill, Akhter was listed in 2012 as one of the <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/726.pdf">founding leaders</a> of the National Muslim Democratic Council (NMDC), a political-organizing group meant to help American Muslims gain influence within the Democratic Party. His fellow NMDC leaders included Islamists such as radical Linda Sarsour and CAIR-Sacramento director Basim Elkarra.
It is natural for well-meaning politicians to want to appoint Muslims to government posts, to be more inclusive to an embattled minority group &#8212; and perhaps more importantly, to claim political credit for such inclusiveness. The risk such politicians face is that politically prominent Muslims, the kind of people who are more likely to get such appointments, are typically the ones who sought out political prominence. For some, it may simply be a matter of civic responsibility or personal ambition; but others are motivated by Islamism, which sees political supremacy as a religious duty.
Worse, it appears that few politicians appear to understand the risk. An example of excellence was Esam Omeish, who was appointed to a Virginia immigration commission by then-Democratic Governor Tim Kaine in 2007. At the time, Omeish was president of the Muslim American Society (MAS), which is <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/chi-0409190261sep19-story.html">widely known</a> to be a front for the Muslim Brotherhood. Kaine was forced to withdraw his appointment after <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/494/ipt-footage-takes-down-omeish">video surfaced</a> of Omeish publicly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cee0LJaI7Qk">calling</a> for jihad against Israel, saying that Palestinian terrorists had &#8220;elevated their worship&#8221; of Allah, and continuing that &#8220;we need to share with them their hardships and their jihad.&#8221;
Mr. Kaine was apparently blindsided by Omeish&#8217;s extremism; but he shouldn&#8217;t have been. Omeish&#8217;s leadership of MAS should have been a massive warning sign, and should have triggered much more due diligence by Kaine&#8217;s team than was seemingly carried out.
As American Muslims increasingly participate in the civic arena, it is critical that politicians learn to distinguish Islamists and avoid giving them power &#8212; especially if government appointments end up short-circuiting the democratic process and giving Islamists all the advantages of incumbency. Islamism is a dangerous ideology that calls for using government power to implement religious goals. Let&#8217;s not make it any easier for the Islamists.

Dr. Oren Litwin is the associate director of the Islamism in Politics project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>.

LITWIN: Islamist Influence Can Hack Elections

On June 4th, a long-running <a href="https://www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org/press-release/cair-settles-with-fraud-victims-after-two-adverse-court-decisions/">lawsuit</a> against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was finally brought to a close. After 11 long years of fighting charges of fraud and conspiracy with every trick in the book, CAIR was forced to settle after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the case must be brought to open trial. CAIR faced the risk of being socked with over a million dollars in attorney costs if it had lost. But worse for CAIR was the certainty of having its dirty laundry openly aired in court.
The case itself was <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/869/cair-lawyer-has-own-legal-history">shocking</a>. In 2006, the now-defunct Virginia chapter of CAIR hired a man named Morris Days as a lawyer to serve local Muslims in need of legal advice. However, Days was not actually a lawyer and had never been to law school; worse, he extorted money from his Muslim clients for the supposedly pro bono legal advice he was expected to give them, and then proceeded to let their cases languish without action. Hundreds of Muslims were harmed; at least one of Days’ clients was deported from the United States due to his incompetence.
So far, the falsehoods by Days would be a simple case of fraud perpetrated on both the unfortunate clients and on CAIR-VA, his employer. But it gets worse. The now-settled lawsuit, filed in December 2008 by the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) and backed by the support of the Middle East Forum, alleged that CAIR-VA found out about Days’s extortion at least by November 2007 and his lack of a law license by March 2008 — and then worked overtime to cover up his crimes against fellow Muslims, refusing to notify law enforcement and offering a small handful of the victims money in exchange for their silence.
The terms of the settlement are confidential, as is typical. However, the lead plaintiff’s attorney, David Yerushalmi, <a href="https://www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org/press-release/cair-settles-with-fraud-victims-after-two-adverse-court-decisions/">stated</a>: “Our clients are extremely happy with the settlement and, in fact, they are so happy, they have authorized me to declare publicly that they have no problem disclosing all of the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement if CAIR agrees. It is unlikely CAIR would agree, of course, because it is unlikely CAIR wants the public to learn the terms of the settlement.”
So far, CAIR has not responded.
This is not a surprise. Why would CAIR want to disclose details about how it victimized fellow Muslims who had come to its offices seeking help? Why would CAIR want people to know that CAIR valued its own reputation more than it valued justice for its own defrauded community? Why would CAIR want people to read about just how badly its offices were run, so that a fake lawyer could fraudulently engage in shoddy law and extortion for nearly two years without interference? And why would it want people to learn about its craven refusal to accept responsibility?
Of course, people already knew about the lawsuit’s allegations from court filings. Could it be that what the AFLC found during the discovery phase was even worse? If so, what kind of criminal frauds could the AFLC have uncovered?
We may never know. But CAIR could settle the question by taking up Mr. Yerushalmi’s offer, and disclosing the terms of the settlement. After all, how bad could it possibly be?
CAIR brushes aside the many allegations of its extremism by claiming that it works for the welfare of all American Muslims. This lawsuit shows how hollow that claim is. When push came to shove, it appears that CAIR chose to aid and abet fraud and victimize needy Muslims rather than upholding justice and doing the right thing.
Dr. Oren Litwin is the associate director of the Islamism in Politics project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>.

LITWIN: CAIR Victimizes Fellow Muslims

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LITWIN: CAIR Victimizes Fellow Muslims