Kerry – and CAIR – for president?

The November presidential elections are weeks away, and the quest to get out the vote is in full swing. But when some swing voters have links to radical Islam, motives for eliciting their support must be questioned.

An e-mail announcement, dated Oct. 13 was sent out by the president of the Muslim Student Organization of Florida Atlantic University, Asmaa Metwally. It stated the following:

“Former Ambassador Osman Siddique, a representative from the John Kerry campaign will be coming to the Pompano Beach Masjid this coming Saturday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. (iftar time), to rally up the Muslim vote for John Kerry.”

It’s surprising that Asmaa Metwally would be the dispatcher of an announcement for a campaign for president of the United States, as his name appears on an endorsement of another event put on by the Palestine Solidarity Movement, a group that has, on numerous occasions, turned a blind eye to terrorist attacks against innocent Israeli civilians.

But then, as we read on in the e-mail, we find out that the Kerry event is being hosted by a Dr. Maged Metwally, an obvious relation to Asmaa.

Following this bit of information comes the real surprise. The event – again, an event for a campaign for president of the United States – is being held, as stated in the e-mail, “in coordination with the Pompano Beach Masjid and CAIR.” As the late announcer of the New York Yankees, Phil Rizzuto, would say, “Holy Cow!”

CAIR, or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is an organization that purports to be a harmless civil-rights group fighting against discrimination of the Muslim community. Yet, evidence shows that CAIR is nothing more than a militant Islamist organization.

CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association for Palestine, an organization that was founded by current Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook. CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad, himself, has stated that he supports Hamas.

Numerous leaders of CAIR have been cited for their involvement in nefarious activities. They include:

Ghassan Elashi (founding board member of CAIR’s Texas chapter) – was chairman of Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was shut down by the United States for raising millions of dollars for Hamas; in July of 2004, was convicted of conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements about shipments of high-tech equipment to countries deemed state sponsors of terrorism.

Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer (national staff member of CAIR) – past communications director of the Muslim American Society, an organization that publishes materials calling suicide bombings against Israelis justifiable; in April of 2004, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his participation in a network of al-Qaida-related militant jihadists centered in northern Virginia.

Bassem Khafagi (CAIR’s community director) – was co-founder and past president of the Islamic Assembly of North America, an organization that has been investigated for possible funding to terrorist-related groups and publishing of materials calling for suicide bombings in the United States; in November of 2003, was sentenced to prison for bank fraud and making false statements on his visa application; was later deported to Egypt.

Rabih Haddad (fund-raiser for CAIR’s Ann Arbor chapter) – was co-founder and past executive director and public relations director for Global Relief Foundation, which was shut down by the United States for its financing of terrorist groups, specifically al-Qaida; was arrested by INS for visa violations, in December of 2001 and was later deported to Lebanon.

Siraj Wahhaj (national board member of CAIR) – in February of 1995, was named by federal prosecutor Mary Jo White as a possible co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center; was a character witness for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who is serving a life sentence for his part in the ’93 bombing conspiracy; currently sits on the board of directors of the radical Islamic Society of North America.

Steven Pomerantz, former FBI assistant director and chief of the FBI’s Counter-Terrorism Section, has stated, “CAIR, its leaders, and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups.” And “CAIR is but one of a new generation of groups in the United States that hide under a veneer of ‘civil rights’ or ‘academic’ status but in fact are tethered to a platform that supports terrorism.”

Why would John Kerry, a candidate for president of the United States, allow himself or his campaign to be involved with such a group as this? And will a vote for John Kerry for president mean a vote for CAIR in the White House, as well?

Kerry and CAIR for president?