My What Strange Bedfellows the Heritage Foundation Has!

This is part 2 of a 3 part series about the Heritage Foundation’s endorsement of President Obama’s Countering Violent Extremism program (CVE). In the last article it was shown how CVE actually promotes the Islamist narrative of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. That alone should have made the Heritage Foundation avoid anything to do with the CVE. However, they chose to promote articles which endorse it.

The Heritage Foundation owns the Daily Signal. Josh Siegel wrote two articles for the Daily Signal promoting CVE: Houston’s Muslim Led Plan to Protect the Homeland on April 17, 2016 and How these Texas Muslims Fight Against Terror on April 18, 2016. At the center of these articles was a 42-page document that was full of references to the Muslim Brotherhood. Thus this article will concentrate on the strange bedfellows the Heritage Foundation has made by promoting Mustafah Tameez's 2014 report, Building a Resilient Community to Counter Violent Extremism to the people of America as something good.

Mr. Siegel is not alone in the blame. I personally notified one of the editors of the Daily Signal asking them to remove the stories because of their ineptness and lack of journalistic integrity in that they said nothing about the Muslim Brotherhood connection. I also tried various ways to contact the Heritage Foundation through my various professional connections. I tried three times to warn them before I published the first article. I received no response. With that said, the Heritage Foundation owns these strange bedfellows willingly, for the sole purpose of endorsing Obama’s Countering Violent Extremism program.

It should be said that by promoting Tameez's report as something good, the Heritage Foundation’s journalist, Josh Siegel for the Daily Signal apparently never looked at the people listed in this short document nor did he look at the organizations. If these ties were examined the few connections I am listing below should have been enough for Heritage Foundation to SHOUT: “NO WE DON”T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM. DON”T RUN THIS STORY.” But after being told that the Islamic Society of Greater Houston was Muslim Brotherhood and that the CVE program was a platform to promote Muslim Brotherhood Islamists they still found importance in backing the story.

The Heritage Foundation is supposed to champion conservative causes. As you read about these strange bedfellows below ask yourself these two questions: 

1. Is this a Conservative stand?

2. Will this person or organization be part of protecting America or are they more interested in attacking her from within?

Strange Bedfellow #1

Islamic Society of Greater Houston and by extension the The Muslim Brotherhood

In the last article I provided indisputable evidence that the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) gave its dues paying members membership in the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) which is considered by the Muslim Brotherhood as one of its own organizations.

The North American Muslim Brotherhood’s Explanatory Memorandum was written in 1991 and it states:

Ignoring this document’s stated purpose of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America is the only way Siegel’s article can begin to smell good.

Page 2 of the document Heritage Foundation promoted through Siegel’s articles provides a list of 25 consultants. You have to wonder if the Heritage Foundation had any clue who they were promoting. Amongst these were:

Strange Bedfellow #2

Sheikh Waleed Basyouni

Sheikh Waleed Basyouni is listed third and his position given as the Imam of the Clear Lake Islamic Center (CLIC). Patrick Poole wrote about Basyouni in 2007.

Waleed Basyouni attended the Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the academic heart of Wahhabi Islam, where he obtained a Bachelors and a Masters Degree. According to Basyouni’s DiscovertheNetwork.org profile, he studied under Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Baz, who author Gilles Kepel identifies as “the principal Wahhabite ideologist” in his book, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (p. 210).

The terrorist Osama bin Laden was a Wahhabite Muslim.

Sheikh Basyouni is also a member of the North American Imam’s Federation. Discover the Networks describes this organization as a part of the Muslim Brotherhood since its inception in 2003.

Josh Siegel wrote an additional article supporting Sheikh Waleed Basyouni on May 4^th of 2016.  The article spoke of how the Islamic State had placed Sheikh Waleed Basyouni on a hit list for his apostasy in refusing to recognize the self-proclaimed Caliph, which the international conglomerate of the Muslim Brotherhood has never officially accepted. This allowed Basyouni to issue a fatwa against Muslims going to the Islamic State to fight or live. Yes the fatwa he issued makes him seem moderate. However, he is far from that. In practicing Civilization Jihad, which is the term used by the Muslim Brotherhood for their war against North America, the fatwa he issued actually in truth promotes the Muslim Brotherhood agenda for North America.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) published  a translation of Saudi cleric, Muhammad Al-Habdan who declared it unlawful to seek European or American citizenship instead of going to an Islamic country. This was said while it is publically known that the Saudis have refused to receive any “Syrian” “refugees.”

Strange Bedfellow #3

Shariq Ghani

Shariq Ghani is listed as a founder of the Fajr Program. What is not said is that he is a former director of CAIR-Houston. CAIR has been recognized in a federal court as having ties to Hamas! Hamas was recognized as terrorist group under President Clinton. Many counter-terrorism experts say that CAIR is Hamas in America. 

The Hamas’ Charter also known as the Hamas Covenant states it is a chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

Strange Bedfellow #3

Hesham Ebaid

Hesham Ebaid is listed as the Head of the Executive Committee for the Muslim American Society (MAS) Katy Center. This is another mosque in Houston, which in the planning stages was described in the Houston Chronicle in 2012, as being a future “two-story domed prayer area of 15,000 square feet, and an attached 8,000-square-foot multipurpose hall with gymnasium and meeting space.” MAS has long been identified as part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdurahman Alamoudi has testified under oath that “everyone knows MAS is the Muslim Brotherhood” in 2012!

Strange Bedfellow #4

Dr. Mazhar Kazi

Dr. Mazhar Kazi is a well known Islamic scholar. Dr. Kazi was one of the founders of the Muslim Student Association in 1963, the first organization in the USA of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Dr. Khazi’s books have been promoted by the Islamic Circle of North America’s (ICNA) Young Muslims. ICNA is another group claimed by the Muslim Brotherhood as their own in the Explanatory Memorandum. The same document by Young Muslims that promotes Dr. Kazi’s book, Guidance of the Messenger also promotes books by Youssef Al-Qaradawi.

Youssef  Al-Qaradawi proclaimed himself the “Mufti of martyrdom operations.” Al-Qaradawi is not allowed to visit America for several good reasons. Amongst them is this:

Those [Muslims] killed fighting the American forces are martyrs given their good intentions since they consider these invading troops an enemy within their territories but without their will.[1]

Young Muslims used to run camps they called “Jihad Camps” prior to 9/11.

**** ***** ********* ***************************************************************

There are 23 companies/entities mentioned in this 42 page report. This document is clearly endorsing every one of them. Keep asking yourself: "Do these entities have a Conservative mindset?"

STRANGE BEDFELLOW#5

Muslim Students Association (MSA)

The Muslim Students’ Association started in 1963 as the first legal entity of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America. Not surprisingly this started as a student movement whose leaders later created ISNA, ICNA, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and many other entities which function for the purpose of promoting civilization jihad in North America.

MSA has been recognized by every major counter-terrorism entity in America as a part of the Muslim Brotherhood.One of the best resources on this topic is the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Even the FBI presented material on this in court during the Holy Land Foundation Trial which resulted in several convictions.

STRANGE BEDFELLOW#6

Islamic Networks Group (ING)

Islamic Networks Group is mentioned on page 8 with a small dedicated section. ING offers public speakers for a variety of “interfaith” activities. ING was founded by Maha ElGenaidi, who serves as its Chief Executive and President. Pipe Line News states that Ms. ElGanaidi “has forged alliances with the Council on American Islamic Relations  [CAIR] and the Islamic Society of North America [ISNA], both unindicted co-conspirators in America's largest federal terror prosecution.”[2] When a founder of an organization has found it important to forge ties to groups in the Muslim Brotherhood is that a group you want to be doing business with?

STRANGE BEDFELLOW#7

Qalam Institute

The Qalam Insititute in Dallas, Texas is referred to on page 31. The Qalam Insititute is actually located in E. Arlington, Texas a spot in between Dallas and Fort Worth. It pays to look at who they consider good instructors of Islam to understand what they are in store for when Mr. Kazi, the Khutbah Chairman for ISGH refers them.

Qalam Insititute has an entire web page devoted to one of their instructors, AbdelRahman Murphy. AbdelRahman Murphy served as an intern for the Communications Department at CAIR-Chicago in 2006.  Keep in mind that CAIR is an entity with direct connections to Hamas, an organization Clinton declared a terrorist in the ‘90s. Murphy engaged in misinformation campaigns against ACT for America in 2014. The campaign give him a win and a loss not for ACT for America but for the Knox County School District in Tennessee that listened to him and CAIR. Knox County School District had to pay out “$17,500 in attorney fees, administrative costs and monetary damages tied to advertising for the event.”

Qalam Institute likely has others who favor Hamas besides Murphy. This is where ISGH refers people to learn more about Islam so that they will not become radical extremists. It makes you question the intention of the program!

STRANGE BEDFELLOW #8

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

The ACLU is touted as a good partner against the government on page 5. The ACLU was started by Roger Baldwin, a man whose communist connections include a trip to the USSR during Stalin’s forced collectivization which resulted in the deaths of approximately 10 million Ukrainians. The ACLU has led the fight against several conservative issues. Of late it has joined with Muslims making claims that the FBI should not be asking Muslims to act as informants against their community. Page 5 of the report states: “Community leaders believe that law abiding Muslims have been pressured into becoming informants.” One has to ask, "Why it is a bad thing to inform your government of those who are going to attack it?"

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Conclusion

This article could go on and on about other organizations and persons that Siegel’s poor excuse for journalism has forced the Heritage Foundation to find itself with very strange bedfellows.

If Mr. Siegel actually read this document he would have found more claims by this report that they do not have a problem with “radical extremism.” Yet, they refer people to those with ties to a group several countries have recognized as international terrorist group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ask yourselves now:

1. Is snuggling up to the strange bedfellows listed above a Conservative stand?
2. Were the persons or organizations listed above willing to protect America or were they more interested in attacking America from within?

It is up to you to act on what you know. My suggestion is to call the Heritage Foundation and complain if this bothers you. Let them know Paul Sutliff is willing to teach them the basics about Civilization Jihad because at this point they do not even understand that they are aiding and abetting it.

The Heritage Foundation
214 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington DC 20002-4999
Phone: 202.546.4400

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[1] Rabinowitz, Beila, and William Mayer. 2008. "Islamic Networks Group - Dialogue As Da'wa." Pipe Line News. April 10. Accessed May 26, 2016. http://www.pipelinenews.org/2009/mar/12/islamic-networks-group-dialogue-as-dawa.html.

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[2] Note: The source listed here has since been scrubbed from access: Nur Eddin Al-Uwaydidi, “Those Who Die Fighting U.S. Occupation Forces Are Martyrs: Qaradawi,” IslamOnline.net. January 27, 2003.Last accessed June 1, 2014.  http://www.islamonline.net/english/news/2003-01/28/article08.shtml. 

Why is Heritage Foundation Promoting Countering Violent Extremism (CVE)? (Part 1 of 3)

The Heritage Foundation, one of the most prominent  Conservative think tanks today, which generally does good work has taken upon itself the task of promoting President Obama’s Countering Violent Extremism program. This small series of articles will examine the persons involved and expose those with known connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. It will also expose the incredible joke that CVE in truth is and why its lack of success is not a sign of failure to it, but rather a testimony of its success in deceit.

Background

David Inserra of the Heritage Foundation wrote “Revisiting Efforts to Counter Violent Extremism:  Leadership Needed” in 2015. The article calls out federal agencies for not stepping up and taking the lead. This article attempts to explain why the FBI is not a good fit to lead since they are in law enforcement. Inserra proposes that the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) take the lead. This article is not just a corrective suggestion it is an endorsement for President Obama's Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program.

So what is the mission of the CVE program? 
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the CVE program "consists of various prevention and intervention approaches."

1. to increase the resilience of communities to violent extremist recruitment narratives,
2. provide non-violent avenues for expressing grievances, educate communities about the threat of online recruitment and radicalization to violence, and other innovative community-based approaches. (https://www.dhs.gov/countering-violent-extremism)

CVE has an additional mission, “Training should be sensitive to Constitutional values.”[1]This is code for: “We will not say Islamic extremist” and, “We will not teach why Muslims believe in jihad.”

By avoiding naming an enemy, you can then avoid creating a winning strategy. Sun-Tzu wrote about the importance of knowing your enemy. He would say those who created CVE doom us to losing not only a battle but, the entire war.

One fascinating fact about the CVE program as a whole is that it works closely with groups documented by the FBI as having relations with the Muslim Brotherhood. The goal/mission of CVE stated above was found on a sheet that also directs its readers to the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, MPAC as it is more popularly known. MPAC has documented ties  as part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

While MPAC is listed as an authority on CVE, MPAC also has persons writing against it. Ahmad Shaikh writing reviews of CVE blasting it as the latest policy to target Muslims, while claiming he has developed a toolkit to make mosques wary of what to watch for in regards to potential terrorists. Humorously those who read Shaikh’s work How To Spot A Future Terrorist At Fajr: A Review of MPAC’s New “Safe Spaces” left comments such as:

I suggest this piece might be better titled. Something like “How Not to Spot a Terrorist at Fajr:…” with italicized emphasis on “not”.~M. Banville

Promoting the idea that the mosques can somehow counter terrorism, even if just for the sake of showing that the mosques are doing something, is counterproductive. It may get short-term notoriety or government funding but it will not have any real long term effect.~Manzer [emphasis added]

The purpose of working with the government and at the same time working against is synonymous with serving Allah since he is “the best of deceivers.”[2] It also fits the directive of the Muslim Brotherhood to destroy the government from within found in the Explanatory Memorandum of the North American Muslim Brotherhood.

SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EFFICACY OF CVE 

In order to establish that there is indeed an extremist ideology, there first must be identified a pattern of behaviors, choice of verbiage, etc. that could be shared openly in order to alert those concerned about the person in question. This would easily allow NSA to locate those involved in extremist discussions.

But what happens IF there is nothing to differentiate Islamic terrorists from general Islamic ideology? This would make the entire CVE program a bust based on an inability to identify and differentiate those with extremist ideologies. What IF there were no socio-economic indicators or social mannerisms that would indicate a person or group of persons was likely to become a terrorist? This would indicate that no matter how much you spend in time and finances nothing could be targeted and measured as successfully countering violent extremism.

These are important questions. Consider when cults were the big issue in the late 70s and early 80s, what did the federal government and media do? They immediately published established patterns of behaviors of those that were susceptible to cults that were shared via mass media through TV books public speeches and more. On top of this patterns of behavior on cult recruiters was published. Today they are almost a non-issue. 

So, what has been shared regarding violent extremists? Were they all poor? Wealthy? Did they have anything in common outside of Islam? We know that there are no socio-economic status (SES) indicators because those captured or dead have been from a broad variety of SES backgrounds.Maybe they all read the same book? The answer agains is there is no indicator that differentiates them. So, what is the CVE program targeting? What do they believe demonstrates a possible future terrorist?

CVE Promotes Islamists

Islamists are those who want to live under Sharia and have the entire world submit to what they believe is the supremacy of Islam.

Last year(2015) Ryan Mauro of the Clarion Project gave an expose of how President Obama’s pet program – CVE was actually being used to spread Islamic terrorism instead of countering. Mauro rightly pointed out and named individuals and groups that were given a platform to spread the very ideas that CVE is supposed to be against! Mauro listed the following who were given a platform at Countering Violent Extremism events:

1. Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi – “Yaqoubi preached in support of violent jihad against U.S. forces overseas. He said, ‘Wherever the American troops are, wherever they are, they are going to be defeated.’”[3]

2. Islamic Society of Boston – founded by a professed member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Abdurrahman Alamoudi, who was convicted on charges related to terrorism-financing. He also vocally supported Hamas and Hezbollah.[4]

3. Islamic Society of Greater Lowell – lists Wagdy Ghoneim as one its famous preachers. He was arrested in the U.S. due to evidence that he was financing Hamas. Ghoneim announced his support for ISIS in its fight against the “Crusader alliance” and said “America is the largest terrorist state.” [5]

4. Nabeel Khudairi (Islamic Council of New England) – Ryan Mauro wrote of them: Americans for Peace and Tolerance recalls that it was Khudairi who masterminded a lawsuit against the Islamic Society of Boston’s critics that was dropped once the process of discovery proved the mosque’s extremism. An email he sent explicitly said the objective of the lawsuit was that “they will be prevented from reporting on the story while the case is in court.”[6]

5. Jihad Turk – President of the Claremont Islamic School where Imam Suhaib Webb, the former leader of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center connected to Islamic Society of Boston mentioned above. Webb says that Muslims should refuse to work with the FBI unless the FBI restores its relationship with CAIR, a federally recognized entity of Hamas. Jihad Turk was an Iman at the mosque the founder of MPAC attended.[7]

6. Salam Al-Marayati – The president of MPAC a Muslim Brotherhood entity in the USA. According to one of its founders, MPAC was founded for the express purpose of spreading the Islamist narrative of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2003, MPAC criticized the designations of Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups, suggesting that it was done “based on political considerations.[8]

7. Michael Downing -- Downing is the Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Counterterrorism and Special Operations Bureau. In this position he has given oral support of CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood activities.[9]

CVE WA$TE$ TAXPAYER DOLLAR$

According to USAspending.gov, the federal government has spent $13.5 million on CVE! Some of these funds were directed to provide Muslims with religious training. In one case $654,688 was used to finance education for Pakistan Muslims. Some funds paid for Muslim Brotherhood members such as Eboo Patel, to attend functions of CVE outside of America.

Amongst the $13.5 million in spending, the State Department took American taxpayers funds and financed a technology camp targeted at Muslims in Niger by giving them $100,000[10]. The exchange rate according to Moneyconverter.com is $1 = 570.04 CFA. This equated to giving Niger 57,003,802.00 CFA. A furnished one bedroom apartment in Niger outside of a city costs an average of 250,000 CFA which comes out to renting an apartment for that amount for 19 years!                          

More on the wasteful spending for the CVE program to come in future articles.

Heritage Foundation continues to back CVE

With all this said, the Heritage Foundation still somehow finds it important to back President Obama’s CVE program and its apparent purposeful promulgation of Islamic extremism despite its name. In April of 2016 Heritage Foundation's Daily Signal printed two stories by Josh Seigel in support of CVE: Houston’s Muslim-Led Plan to Protect the Homeland and How These Texas Muslims Help Lead the Fight Against Terror and promoted a mosque tied to the “Violent Extremist” speech.

The research I have provided proves that both of Mr. Josh Seigel’s articles are examples of rushed journalism and a lack of desire to get the ENTIRE truth out. These articles promote the Islamic Society of Greater Houston and Mustafa as having made great strides against “violent extremism.” But there is more.

Is the Islamic Society of Greater Houston­ (ISGH) to be trusted?
What Mr. Josh Seigel and the Heritage Foundation neglected to inform its readers about the Islamic Society of Greater Houston is tantamount to promoting a story of falsehoods.

The Islamic Society of Greater Houston­  (ISGH) is publicly recognized as owned by the North Atlantic Islamic Trust (NAIT). NAIT is a federally recognized part of the Muslim Brotherhood in the USA. Ryan Mauro of the Clarion Project documented federal recognition of NAIT’s role as a financier of mosques in America in his article written January 6, 2015, Muslim Brotherhood Founded 50% of the Mosques in the West. Ignoring this article when promoting the good deeds of a mosque in the conservative community is simply poor journalism. Mauro provided copies of documents linking ISGH to NAIT and to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

In one document NAIT is clearly the owner of the property, as shown below

According to the By-Laws of this mosque, paying your “dues” is in this mosque also makes you a member of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) which is recognized as part of the Muslim Brotherhood by their own documents! ACT for America points out that by extension this means that all dues paying members of ISGH are also members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the parent of the following: Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas is one of its active chapters. Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be terrorists. ISGH claims the Cypress Islamic Center (CIC) as an extension of itself also. This means that a person “paying dues in the CIC also becomes a member ISNA and also becomes a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

--------------------- CONCLUSION------------------

The Heritage Foundation owns its continual endorsement of "Countering Violent Extremism." I am not the only writer warning them about what CVE is truly about. I may be the only one calling out their poorly researched articles written by recent college graduates suddenly elevated to titles like Analyst, who know little to nothing about the topic. 

Will HF wake up and smell the coffee? One can only hope. I for one am willing to volunteer my time teaching them about Civilization Jihad. All they need to do is ask.

The next article in this series will expose the lackadaisical work of the Heritage Foundation in promoting CVE by examining Building a Resilient Community to Counter Violent Extremism, the document at the center of two articles by Josh Seigel, which proves beyond a doubt that these articles were written rushed and with ignorance. 
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[1]  DHS. "Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Training Guidance & Best Practices." Department of Homeland Security. 2011. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/cve-training- guidance.pdf (accessed April 25, 2016).

[2] Quran 3:54

[3] Mauro, Ryan. "Islamists Featured at Countering Violent Extremism Summit." The Clarion Project. February 24, 2015. http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/islamists-featured-countering-violent-extremism-summit  (accessed April 28, 2016).

[4] ibid

[5] ibid

[6] ibid

[7] ibid

[8] ibid

[9] ibid

[10] Federal Award ID: SNG60015GR060, National Youth Council , Conseil National de la Jeunesse, Niamey, Obligation Action Date: 9/29/2015, Ending Date: 3/30/2016.