The Center for Security Policy has discovered that something called the “Interests Section of Iran” has donated to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group accused of supporting Sunni Hamas and discriminating against Shiites according to some of its former staff.
Frank Gaffney explains:
Even more concerning, was the presence of the “Interests Section of Iran” – a country that does not have an embassy in the U.S., since the countries have long cut off diplomatic relations. The “Interests Section of Iran” is the de facto diplomatic representation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United States. And therefore any gifts from the “Interests Section” to CAIR – say, a donation to a fundraiser – would constitute a gift from the government of Iran.
The link also includes videotape of Ahmed Bedier, former director of CAIR’s branch in Tampa, thanking the “Interests Section of Iran” and other donors.
The CAIR brochure also thanks the embassies of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. You’ve got to hand it to CAIR. It’s not an easy task pulling together so many foreign supporters, including those who hate each other, to support your cause.
Now, that’s reaching across the aisle. They just need to work on that part about lying about receiving foreign government support.
Ahmed Bedier, once again, has shown his true hateful nature. Once again, he has put himself on the side that wishes to destroy the Jewish homeland, the refuge for so many following the horrors of the Holocaust. Once again, he has uttered the inflammatory term which so many use to curse the existence of the state of Israel. Once again, he has spoken the word “Nakba.”
Ahmed Bedier has made a name for himself by working for groups and individuals connected to Palestinian terrorism. From February 2003 through May 2008, he held leadership positions within CAIR, including Communications Director for CAIR-Florida and Executive Director of CAIR-Tampa.
CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations has been outed as being a front for Hamas. It was founded in June 1994 by three operatives from the American propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). It was created as being a part of Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook’s American Palestine Committee. And recently it was named as a co-conspirator by the U.S. Justice Department for a Hamas fundraising trial, where all of the parties were found guilty of all charges. Read more ...
On March 10, 2009, members of a newly formed group called United Voices for America (UVA) traveled to Tallahassee for what was being called Muslim Day at the Capitol. The publicly stated goal of the organization was to lobby the Florida legislature on legitimate issues that affect all Floridians. However, when one looks at who is behind UVA, one can see that the group’s name and its mission were little more than a sinister ruse to gain a foothold within the government. Indeed, the group is nothing but another CAIR.
On May 23, 2008, Ahmed Bedier announced on his radio show that he was leaving his position as the Executive Director of CAIR-Tampa and was creating a new group. This came shortly before the federal retrial against the Hamas charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), for which the Justice Department had named CAIR a co-conspirator.
CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations was founded, in June 1994, as being a part of Mousa Abu Marzook’s American Palestine Committee. Marzook at the time was the global head of Hamas, and the purpose of the committee was to raise funds for Hamas from U.S. shores. As this information was being made public, it was the perfect occasion for Bedier to leave CAIR. Read more ...
On March 10, 2009, members of a newly formed group called United Voices for America (UVA) traveled to Tallahassee for what was being called Muslim Day at the Capitol. The publicly stated goal of the organization was to lobby the Florida legislature on legitimate issues that affect all Floridians. However, when one looks at who is behind UVA, one can see that the group’s name and its mission were little more than a sinister ruse to gain a foothold within the government. Indeed, the group is nothing but another CAIR.
On May 23, 2008, Ahmed Bedier announced on his radio show that he was leaving his position as the Executive Director of CAIR-Tampa and was creating a new group. This was less than two weeks prior to released reports stating that the U.S. Justice Department had named CAIR as a co-conspirator for an upcoming Texas Hamas financing trial.
CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations was founded, in June 1994, as being a part of Mousa Abu Marzook’s American Palestine Committee. Marzook at the time was the global head of Hamas, and the purpose of the committee was to raise funds for Hamas from U.S. shores. As this information was finally going to be made public, it was the perfect occasion for Bedier to leave CAIR. Read more ...
Busloads of new civic activists are due to hit the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee this Tuesday, ostensibly to engage in the state political process for the first time. But some lawmakers are suspicious because of the man leading the effort.
Ahmed Bedier used to run the Tampa chapter for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), where he was among its most visible spokesmen. That all ended mysteriously last spring, with CAIR saying it wanted to "go into a new direction" – indicating Bedier had been fired – and with Bedier saying he chose to leave to launch "a new peace-making initiative."
One of them must be wrong. Regardless, Bedier did launch a new venture, called United Voices for America. Its call to increase "the participation of ethnic and religious minorities in the political process" is laudable. But at least one lawmaker, State Rep. Adam Hasner (R-Delray Beach) reportedly alerted a group of Jewish lobbyists seeking "an information campaign in opposition."
In correspondence with a Miami Herald reporter, Hasner cited CAIR's ties to Hamas as part of his concern. Bedier dismissed that as "ridiculous" and "nonsense," unrelated to his effort. Read more ...
(Tallahassee, FL) On March 9th and 10th, Ahmed Bedier, the former representative for the Hamas-affiliated Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and “unofficial spokesman” for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist Sami Al-Arian, will be holding an event in Tallahassee, Florida, under the banner of his newly formed group, United Voices for America (UVA). The UVA was created, according to Bedier, to lobby the Florida legislature and to “empower” Muslims “to change Florida.” Americans Against Hate thinks there is an alternative sinister agenda.
Americans Against Hate (AAH), a civil rights and terrorism watchdog group, believes that Bedier is a threat to America and Israel and will use his new organization to do harm to American freedoms and to create division between the Florida legislature and the Jewish state.
AAH Chairman Joe Kaufman stated, “For over seven years, Ahmed Bedier has been involved with groups and individuals tied to and in support of anti-Israel terrorist groups, such as Hamas, PIJ and Hezbollah. The change Bedier is looking for is a threat to America and Israel. We call on all of Florida’s lawmakers to ignore the innocuous sounding name and nature of the UVA and to distance themselves from Bedier.”
AAH is asking those disturbed by Ahmed Bedier’s activities to respectfully contact Florida legislators to voice their concerns.
Ahmed Bedier leads a dual life. As President of the Tampa/Hillsborough County Human Rights Council (THHRC), he enjoys the fortune of being mistaken by government officials and media personalities for a civil rights leader. The rest of the time, Bedier portrays his real self, an Islamist whose existence is devoted to hatred of Israel. Now, he has started a new group to fool the masses, United Voices for America (UVA). How long will those in positions of influence continue to fail to recognize the other side of Ahmed Bedier?
On February 6, 2008, a song invaded the Tampa, Florida, airwaves about “Palestine.” According to the vocalist, it was sung “in honor of our shahids” – shahid, meaning a holy martyr or an individual seeking death (suicide) in the cause of Allah, a term most widely used in association with terrorists. What followed the tune was an anti-Israel hatefest, the same hatefest that is heard week after week on WMNF-FM’s True Talk, a Muslim talk show hosted by Bedier and his cohort, Samar Jarrah.
Bedier has been involved with radical Islam since at least 2002, when he was the Outreach Director for the Islamic Society of Pinellas County (ISPC), a mosque whose website features material calling for violence against Jews. After the stint with ISPC, much of Bedier’s life has centered around organizations and individuals connected to and in support of anti-Israel terrorist groups overseas, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Hezbollah. Read more ...
Ahmed Bedier, the former Executive Director of the Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa), is now the President of the Tampa/Hillsborough County Human Rights Council (THHRC), a group that the local Tampa government has involvement with. Given Bedier’s lengthy extremist past, isn’t this a conflict of interest for the city?
Bedier first arrived on the scene with CAIR, a group with deep ties to Hamas, in February of 2003. February 2003 was also the month that federal authorities took Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative and co-founder of CAIR’s parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), Sami Al-Arian, into custody. It seems that this was no mere coincidence, for all throughout Al-Arian’s ordeal, Bedier was his unofficial spokesperson in the media. Anytime anything regarding Al-Arian came up, it was Bedier who was there to discuss the matter. Al-Arian was part of Tampa, and CAIR had its guy in Tampa to defend him.
Bedier was with CAIR for over five years, ending his association last May. During that time, CAIR was named in two federal trials brought by the U.S. Justice Department, one as a co-conspirator and the other as a supporter of terrorists. As well, in that time, three of CAIR’s former representatives were convicted of terror-related crimes. One, Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for plotting to go overseas to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani group responsible for the recent attacks on Mumbai, India. Read more ...
Within the last year and a half, the staff of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has dwindled tremendously. The latest casualty is that of CAIR-Miami’s Communications Director and Hamas-defender, Omer Subhani. The causes for the drop-off, including that of scandal, vary as much as the excuses given.
On November 4th, in an article concerning Omer Subhani’s refusal to acknowledge Hamas, Hezbollah and the PLO as terrorist organizations, this author reported that Subhani had recently removed references to CAIR from his blog. It was a matter of interest, as he was one of the top staffers out of CAIR-Florida’s main office.
In response to the article, Subhani had the following to say: “[M]y references to CAIR on this blog were taken down because I no longer work for CAIR. I have gone back to school full time since August.” While he may well be telling the truth, Subhani has followed a current trend, whereby CAIR leaders have abruptly left the organization.
Ahmed Bedier, also a CAIR-Florida alum – he was CAIR-Florida’s Communications Director and CAIR-Tampa’s Executive Director – announced his retirement from the group in May of 2008. According to Bedier, who is infamous for having said that, prior to 1995, there was “nothing immoral” about associating with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), he left CAIR to work on a “new project.” According to CAIR, he was forced out. Read more ...
On June 13th, Egyptian national and former University of South Florida graduate student Ahmed Mohamed agreed to plead guilty to terrorism charges and is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Mohamed, along with fellow student Youssef Megahed, was stopped by police in South Carolina last August. Police found in their possession explosives and a laptop which hosted an instructional video for terrorists. An analysis of the laptop shows that the 12-minute video, which showed how to use remote control toys to detonate explosives, had been uploaded to YouTube in July 2007 and viewed hundreds of times.
Then CAIR-Tampa spokesman Ahmed Bedier defended Mohamed and Megahed. Read more ...
Bedier looks on approvingly as Jassim Aldeen of the USF MSA (a Muslim Brotherhood group) speaks about the Mohamed/Megahed case -- Aldeen played the race card too.
Ahmed Mohamed is the Florida former student who has agreed to plead guilty to aiding jihad terrorists: "Mohamed To Admit Terrorism Support," by Elaine Silvestrini for The Tampa Tribune, June 14:
TAMPA - A former University of South Florida student has agreed to plead guilty to a charge he provided support to terrorists when he posted an Internet video showing how to detonate a bomb with a remote-controlled toy, according to a plea agreement entered in the case Friday.
From the beginning of this case, when Mohamed and his driving buddy Youseff Megahed were arrested in Goose Creek, South Carolina, with what was alleged to be explosive material in the trunk of their car, Ahmed Bedier, then of CAIR, was right on the case. Bedier is the character who has passed up opportunities to condemn stoning and who has said that there was "nothing immoral" about being part of Palestinian Islamic Jihad until it was designated a terrorist group. In "2 Florida students charged in explosives scare face $800,000 bond," by Noah Haglund, Dave Munday, and Andy Paras in the Charleston Post and Courier, August 5, 2007, Bedier was acting as the spokesman for both men, and downplaying the charges. Read more ...
Samar Jarrah: “It’s fascinating that some people who are supposedly terrorism experts and are advising this country are spending time to write about you moving up and changing your career. I mean, it’s not like belittling you in any way, but I thought they would have much more important things to do.”
Ahmed Bedier: “Yeah, I mean, well, if they think you’re a terrorist, then they want to watch your movement.” (WMNF, True Talk, May 23, 2008)
After five long years, Ahmed Bedier is now gone from the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); forced out, according to the group, so that it could move in another direction; stepped down, according to him, in start of a new project. Whatever the real reason may be, while Bedier may have left CAIR, he continues to foment radical Islam.
Since the beginning of 2003, Ahmed Bedier has served in an official capacity for CAIR, holding positions as Communications Director of CAIR-Florida and Executive Director of CAIR-Tampa. Read more ...
The Council on American-Islamic Relations appears to have parted ways with one of its highest profile executives, but no one is saying why.
Ahmed Bedier, executive director of CAIR's Tampa chapter, is no longer being identified as such in media reports. He has been quoted three times in the past week - two references call him a "civil rights activist" - while a third invokes his volunteer role as president of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Human Rights Council.
The council is an independent non-profit organization that works with the city of Tampa. According to a city web page, the council "brings together citizens of various backgrounds. They all have one thing in common: a desire to promote the human rights of all individuals, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948." Read more ...
The movie USA vs. Al-Arian, about the trial of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian, has been released to the public via the internet. Its producers refer to it as a "documentary." That is just as much of a fable as the way the terrorist's family has been portrayed in the film.
Sami Al-Arian was indicted in February of 2003, charged with leading an American cell for the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). During the mid-eighties to mid-nineties, Al-Arian had succeeded in building an entire infrastructure for PIJ within Southwest Florida. As well, he had been involved in the 1981 founding of the future propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and the 2000 establishment of a Tampa subsidiary to Al-Qaeda financier, the Al-Baraka Group.
Regardless of any of this, Al-Arian has his supporters. One of them is a Norwegian filmmaker named Line Halvorsen, who, according to her bio, took an interest in the Al-Arian case in 2004.
USA vs. Al-Arian premiered to a sold-out crowd, in Tampa, Florida, on May 16, 2007. The theatre canopy read in lights, "C.A.I.R. PRESENTS USA VS. AL-ARIAN." Indeed, CAIR has been a major part of the Al-Arian support network -- the group's Tampa chapter head, Ahmed Bedier, playing the role of Al-Arian's unofficial spokesman from the start. Read more ...
Naive Kids Update: it seems that the arresting officer in South Carolina, who found pipe bomb materials in the trunk of the car being driven by Ahmed Mohamed and Youseff Megahed, said, "Damn terrorist. I think they're part of the **** Taliban....Maybe they're gonna practice the suicide bombing here."
He also evidently noted their race as "Islamic," which should endear him to the politically correct crowd that continues to insist that opposition to the global jihad constitutes racism, but in this case it has gotten him in hot water, because -- as the newscaster says, in probably the first time this has been acknowledged in the mainstream media -- "of course we all know that's not a race, that's a religion." Read more ...
I usually don't use Google search engine due to the fact the Google does not display (blocks) many anti-Islamists websites. But I happened to use my friend's computer and the browser has a built-in Google search window. So, being a lazy bum that I am I used it. The search term was 'Moderate Muslims' and I was a little shocked when I got this:
This is a link advertising Ahmed Bedier, a "Moderate Muslim Leader" and an "Expert."
Well, he is an expert, all right. An expert on manipulating media and government Dhimmis. Ahmed Bedier works for CAIR, a HAMAS front. It is the same Bedier who said that there was nothing immoral in being associated with PIG (Palestinian Islamic Gihad) before 1995. (For the record, Palestinian Islamic Gihad started its murderous history way before 1995.) It is the same Bedier who defended Sami al-Arian, who is in prison for terrorism. It is the same Bedier who on Glenn Beck's CNN show attacked Dr. Tawfik Hamid for taking part in the Secular Islam Summit. It is the same Bedier who uses his radio show to give forum to Hizballah supporters. You can find many examples of Bedier's 'moderacy' at cairwatch.org/profiles_cw.php. My personal favorite is this one:
'Catholic priests pose more of a terrorism threat by having sex with young altar boys than those who flew planes into the World Trade Center.'
(Ahmed Bedier to Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite, during surprise CAIR meeting with Congresswoman, May 29, 2004).
Now, do Google employees who are responsible for this 'advertising' understand what a 'Moderate Muslim' is and that Bedier is anything, but moderate? Probably not. Do they care? Highly unlikely. So what we have here is just another example of pathetic Dhimmis helping to pave the way for the rise of radical Islam in the West. When will they wake up? Will they ever wake up? I'm not holding my breath.
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The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say.
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