 A trustee of an Islamic think tank in Northern Virginia that is long suspected of financing terrorists is expected to become the new head of the Muslim Brotherhood's chapter in Jordan. Ishaq Farhan is expected to be named interim head of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), which is the Muslim Brotherhood's Jordanian political wing, the Jordan Times reported. The move follows the resignation of IAF directors after a leadership dispute. Farhan also is a longtime trustee of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). He is listed on the organization's IRS Form 990s from at least 2005, through 2007, which is the most recent year available. The 990 is an annual report required of non-profits in the United States detailing their income, expenses and other operating details. Farhan previously served as the IAF's secretary general, and as an IAF member in the Jordanian Parliament. The IAF has a close relationship with Hamas, which was created by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987. Read more ...Source: IPT News
 Why is our Secretary of State scheduled to speak at a conference given by a group whose leading lights are closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood?According to the website of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to give the keynote address at the organization’s 10th annual conference on May 5th. Also scheduled to attend the conference as a panelist and//or moderator is Dr. Kemal Al-Helbawy, a leader in the global Muslim Brotherhood who has defended the terrorist targeting of Israeli children and who in 1996 was denied entrance into the U.S.  CSID was founded in 1998 largely by the efforts of Georgetown University academic Dr. Esposito who, during the 1990s, had served in the State Department as a “foreign affairs analyst.” Many members of the early CSID board were associated with the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), the American Muslim Council, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). For example, past CSID board members included Jamal Barzinji and Taha Al-Alwani, both important Brotherhood leaders who are closely associated with the now defunct SAAR Foundation, still under investigation by the U.S. government. Both Barzinji and Al-Alwani helped to establish many of the most important U.S. Brotherhood organizations. The current CSID Vice-Chair, Antony Sullivan, has many ties to U.S. Brotherhood groups including the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), the United Association for Studies and Research (USAR), and the Circle of Tradition and Progress (COTP), a group whose other founding members included Youssef Qaradawi, the most important leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood. From its inception, CSID has argued that the U.S. government should support Islamist movements in foreign countries and has received financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy and the United States Institute of Peace. Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report Source: Read more ...
 George Mason University (GMU) announced yesterday the receipt of a $1.5 million gift from IIIT to establish an endowed Chair in Islamic Studies at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at GMU. According to a GMU press release, "the gift will allow Mason to build on the rich Islamic culture present in its diverse student body, faculty and surrounding communities and develop a full, multidisciplinary program that encompasses research, teaching and outreach." Professor Jack Censer, dean of CHSS, thanked IIIT for the gift and said that the gift will "facilitate more teaching and scholarship in an area that the university has already identified as a spire of excellence." Professor Maria Dakake of the selection committee for the Chair expressed gratitude to IIIT for the gift and said that "it is coming at an important time in the life of our program." Dr. Jamal Barzinji, Vice President of IIIT, signed the agreement on behalf of IIIT on September 18, 2008 at the headquarters of IIIT in Herndon, Virginia. AT the signing Dr. Barzinji said that "the study of Islam within the context of global human civilization is essential to an understanding of the critical issues of our time; and IIIT is proud to help Mason lead the way in studying Islam as a living phenomenon contributing to the advancement of ideas and ideals of our times." Read more ...Source: Militant Islam Monitor
 The news of convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative Sami Al-Arian's release from jail was greeted by a flood of congratulatory statements from the usual suspects and leading lights of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States. After more than 5 years behind bars, the former University of South Florida professor is still not free, subject to home detention and GPS monitoring, allowed to leave a northern Virginia apartment only for attending court proceedings and for medical reasons. Al-Arian is still facing a possible criminal trial for contempt of court charges for refusing to testify in a grand jury proceeding investigating the terror ties of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a think tank linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. The judge in the case has postponed the trial, originally set for August 2008, pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court whether to review an appeal by Al-Arian from an unfavorable decision by the 11 th Circuit Court of Appeals ordering him to testify before the grand jury. The ruling could come as early as October. Read more ...Source: IPT NewsSami al-Arian
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 By Ken Timmerman A longtime adviser and close confidant of President Bush funneled millions of dollars in U.S. government grants to radical Islamist organizations, many of whose leaders have been convicted or indicted in terrorism cases in the United States, respected terrorism expert Steven Emerson told Congress last week. “When Ms. [Karen] Hughes was appointed as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, she set the tone to continue a disastrous policy of outreach with Islamist partners,” Emerson told the House International Relations Committee. Among the recipients of the State Department grants actively championed by Hughes was Ahmed Younes, formerly an official with the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a group that has “publicly challenged the designation of Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations” and whose leaders “have made extreme statements defending terrorist organizations,” Emerson said. Another beneficiary of Hughes’ outreach program to American Muslims was Aly Abuzaakouk, the executive director of the American Muslim Council (AMC) and a former director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIHT). Read more ...Source: NewsMaxKaren Hughes
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
 A Northern Virginia think-tank is suspected of being a pivotal cog in the Muslim Brotherhood's high command in America, newly released federal law enforcement records indicate. The Investigative Project on Terrorism obtained 596 pages of records from a closed FBI investigation through a Freedom of Information Act request. Dozens of the pages released are redacted. But other sections show that International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) board members Jamal Barzinji and Yaqub Mirza are listed among "members and leaders of the IKHWAN." Barzinji was identified as the secretary general for the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) at that time. The Ikhwan is an Arabic reference to the Muslim Brotherhood. (Click here to read the IPT's profile of the Brotherhood.) The FBI records date back to 1987-88. But today, similar suspicions seem to be at the heart of the pending criminal contempt trial of convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist Sami Al-Arian. In recent court filings, defense attorney and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley released a series of emails he received from federal prosecutor Gordon Kromberg about the investigation. The emails show Kromberg's interest in - and Al-Arian's refusal to discuss in detail - the Muslim Brotherhood ties of the IIIT. Al-Arian is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 13 on two counts of criminal contempt. He has refused to testify before a federal grand jury, despite a grant of immunity and repeated court orders. Al-Arian maintains his 2006 plea agreement for conspiring to provide goods and services to PIJ was made with an understanding he would not be called on by the government. Read more ...Source: IPT NewsSami al-Arian
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 ALEXANDRIA,Va. – A federal judge has agreed to release Sami Al-Arian on bond while he awaits his August trial date for criminal contempt. But it remains uncertain whether the convicted terrorist will be released from custody. Al-Arian has been ordered deported as part of his 2006 guilty plea for conspiring to provide goods and services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A 90-day removal period began June 27, argued federal prosecutor Gordon Kromberg, meaning Al-Arian cannot be released before the end of September. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema acknowledged that she may not have the power to force the government to release Al-Arian pending his August 13 trial. She emphasized that his plea agreement included a pledge from the government to expedite his removal from the United States after completing his criminal sentence. However, the judge acknowledged having no authority over the immigration process. Pre-Trial Services staff did not recommend Al-Arian's release after a review of the case, Brinkema said. She assumed that was because Al Arian pled guilty to a "serious offense." Al-Arian faces two counts of criminal contempt for his refusal to testify before federal grand juries investigating terror financing by a northern Virginia think tank, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), with which he had worked closely. Prosecutors granted him immunity in exchange for his truthful testimony and his defiance triggered two civil contempt orders. Read more ...Source: IPT News
 ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A trial date has been set for August 13th in the case of Sami Al-Arian, who is charged with criminal contempt in a two count indictment for refusing to testify before grand juries investigating Islamic charities with suspected ties to terrorism. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said she expected a "straightforward" trial that would last one day, but Al-Arian's attorney, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, indicated that he would continue to challenge the indictment and suggested the trial may be more complicated. The indictment charges Al-Arian with refusing to testify when called before federal grand juries Oct. 16, 2007 and March 20, 2008 despite a grant of immunity from the prosecution. After the arraignment Turley spelled out his planned defense on his blog, writing: In court, I informed Judge Brinkema that we believed that the indictment was invalid on its face. Among other problems, Dr. Al-Arian did not refuse to cooperate. Dr. Al-Arian had given two detailed affidavits that established that he had no knowledge of any crime by IIIT or its officers. He further offered repeatedly to take a polygraph examination to prove that he had given a truthful account and was not withholding information. Read more ... Source: IPT News
 By Patrick Poole In yet another startling case of incompetence, the State Department is sponsoring international delegations for an Islamic group being investigated for terrorist support.State Department diplomats are taking full advantage of their new rules prohibiting the use of "jihad," "jihadist," and "mujahedeen" to describe Islamic extremists and terrorists, which they apparently have taken to mean that there are no jihadists in light of the exchange programs they have recently sponsored for the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT) — an organization currently under active federal grand jury investigation for terrorist support activities. The IIIT exchange programs have been conducted under the State Department's International Visitor's Program. According to reports published on IIIT's website, the State Department sponsored a March 7 visit to IIIT by a group of Chinese scholars and, more recently, an April 17-18 session with a large delegation of Islamic scholars from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. The State Department has sponsored these IIIT activities at the very same time that a federal grand jury continues to look into IIIT's multiple ties to terrorism as part of the Department of Justice's ongoing Operation Green Quest investigation. A March 24 article in the New York Sun, "A Court Sheds New Light on Terror Probe," identifies IIIT as the "group at the center of the probe." Read more ...Source: Pajamas MediaState Department
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
 Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative Sami Al-Arian ended his hunger strike, which he began, allegedly, in protest of the Eastern District of Virginia's insistence that he testify before a grand jury investigating the terrorist connections of a Northern Virginia think tank, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). Al-Arian is currently in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, awaiting deportation to an as of yet undetermined country. His lawyer, however, expects that Al-Arian may still be indicted for criminal contempt for his refusal to testify before the grand jury despite a grant of immunity. Before Al-Arian was arrested, he was a computer science professor at the University of South Florida (USF). The current Secretary General of the PIJ, Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, was a lecturer at the same university, brought there by Al-Arian to work for Al-Arian's think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE). Shallah taught Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at USF, through a cooperative agreement between USF and WISE. Read more ...Source: IPT News
By Steven Emerson In a ruling issued Friday, the 11 th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative Sami Al-Arian can't duck a grand jury subpoena in Virginia based upon a phantom claim that his 2006 guilty plea ruled out any future cooperation with law enforcement. Al-Arian was serving out the remainder of a 57-month sentence for conspiring to provide goods and services to the PIJ when a federal grand jury in Northern Virginia subpoenaed him to testify about the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). The IIIT is a think tank under investigation since at least 2002 for suspected terror financing. It was among the largest patrons of Al-Arian's own think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), which was based in Tampa during the early 1990s and housed no less than four members of the PIJ's governing board. Read more ...Source: IPT News
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