CAIR's Annual Banquet

Siraj Wahhaj




Dalia Mogahed



On October 24, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold its 15th annual banquet in Arlington, Va. The two main speakers are Jesse Jackson and Imam Siraj Wahhaj. Of course, everybody knows Jesse Jackson, so no need to comment here. You may not know who Imam Siraj Wahhaj is. He was born Jeffrey Kearse.

Here is what Discover the Networks has to say about Imam Wahhaj:
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"That same year, however, Wahhaj, in a speech before the Islamic Association of North Texas, called Operation Desert Storm (the U.S.-led military campaign to drive Saddam Hussein's invading forces out of Kuwait) "one of the most diabolical plots ever in the annals of history." Moreover, he predicted that America would fall unless it "accepts the Islamic agenda."

In September 1991 Wahhaj stated the following:

"…And [Allah] declared 'Whoever is at war with my friends, I declare war on them.' ... Your true friend is Allah, the messenger, and those who believe.... Hear what I'm telling you well. The Americans are not your friends ... The Canadians are not your friends ... The Europeans are not your friends. Your friend is Allah, the Messenger and those who believe. These people will never be satisfied with you until you follow their religion ..."

In a 1992 address to an audience of Muslims in New Jersey, Wahhaj expressed his desire to see Muslims seize control of the United States and replace its constitutional government with an Islamic caliphate. “If we were united and strong,” Wahhaj said, “we'd elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him.... [T]ake my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”

In 1995 Wahhaj was named by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as a possible co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Wahhaj angrily objected to that designation, noting in his defense that he had eaten "dinner with Secretary of State [Madeline] Albright -- after the list" of co-conspirators had been released.

Fousesquawk comment: Yes, he certainly did!!!

(cont.)
"In the summer of 1999, Wahhaj testified as a character witness for convicted terror mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. Wahhaj stated, on the record, that he considered it an honor to have had an opportunity to host Abdel-Rahman at his mosque, describing the latter as a “respected scholar ... bold ... [and] a strong preacher of Islam.”
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Of course, we all know that CAIR is a moderate organization, right? Forget that they were named as "unindicted co-conspirators" in the Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas. Forget the recent controversy over documents that indicate a desire to place Muslim interns in the offices of lawmakers in Washington involved with national security issues-as alleged by 4 Republican congressmen this week-based on information contained in a new book entitled, "Muslim Mafia".

CAIR is a moderate organization.

Accordingly, I will forget all that, give CAIR the benefit of the doubt since they deny those allegations. Innocent until proven guilty, right?

But why is CAIR having as its keynote speaker a man like Wahhaj, who has made such statements?

It is also interesting to note that President Obama's own appointed White House outreach advisor for Muslim affairs, Dalia Mogahed, has apparently backed out of the meeting as a speaker. She, of course, raised a few eyebrows this month when she appeared at a televised conference in the UK organized by the organization known as Hizb ut Tahrir, an extremist Muslim group, which seeks the non-violent Islamic takeover of America under Shariah law, in which she stated that the majority of women around the world associate Shariah with "gender justice." She also sat silent as other speakers defamed the West.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6274387/Obama-adviser-says-Sharia-Law-is-misunderstood.html#

I myself reported on this radical group in a posting dated July 19, 2009- "Radical Jihad Group Holds US Conference". (The conference was entitled, "The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam{.)

And she was to be a featured speaker at CAIR's banquet.

But CAIR is a moderate organization.