Nassau County DA Pulls Out of Islamic Center Event After Learning of Invite to Islamist Extremist

2
>>Follow Matzav On Whatsapp!<<

radical-imam-siraj-wahhajBy B. Cohen

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice has pulled out of a November 23 fundraising dinner at the Islamic Center of Long Island after learning that a radical Islamist, Imam Siraj Wahhaj of the Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA,) is also among the speakers at the event.

“When the DA accepted the invitation, this individual was not yet an invited participant,” Shams Tarek, the DA’s Director of Communications, told The Algemeiner in an email. “He was later added to the guest list, and as soon as we became aware of his involvement we immediately pulled out of the event. We condemn this individual’s actions and his words in the strongest possible terms and we are deeply disappointed in the Islamic Center’s decision to add him to the event.”

The Brooklyn-born Wahhaj joined the Nation of Islam sect in the late 1960s. During the late 197os, he studied at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The university’s most famous graduate was the late Al Qaeda chief, Osama Bin Laden, who studied there under Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, a leading Islamist theologian.

In 1993, when a terrorist group led by Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as the “Blind Sheikh,” bombed the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, Wahhaj appeared as a character witness for the defense at the subsequent trial. In his testimony, Wahhaj praised the sheikh as a “respected scholar,” and “bold, as a strong, preacher of Islam.”

Wahhaj’s name was included on a list of the 172 unindicted co-conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Soon after, Wahhaj commented during one of sermons, “I’m not frightened by no list, by no government!  I thank Allah.  I’m honored that they thought enough of me to put me on a list.”

Wahhaj supports the most ruthless practices of shari’ah law regarding capital punishment, including cutting off hands for the crime of theft and stoning for adultery, frequently referring to Islamic scripture for justification:

“If Allah says 100 strikes, 100 strikes it is. If Allah says cut off their hand, you cut off their hand. If Allah says stone them to death, through the Prophet Muhammad, then you stone them to death, because it’s the obedience of Allah and his messenger-nothing personal.”

Earlier this month, Paul Fields, a police captain in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was removed from his command after he refused to appear at a local mosque which he said promoted the teachings of “radical Islam.” Fields’ attorneys said that one reason for his objection was that the mosque had hosted a dinner for Imam Wahhaj.

The Algemeiner Journal

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


2 COMMENTS

  1. BLAKEMAN FOILs KATHLEEN RICE’S SCHEDULING INFORMATION
    As District Attorney desperately claims no knowledge that radical Imam was to appear with her at Islamic Center fundraiser, Blakeman demands opponent proves it!

    Bruce Blakeman, Republican-Conservative-Independence nominee for Congress in New York’s open Fourth District, continued his push to have District Attorney Kathleen Rice come clean about her invitation acceptance to appear with a radical imam, Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing at a fundraiser for the Islamic Center of Long Island with a radical

    The ’93 World Trade Center bombing had killed six and injured over 1,000.

    Blakeman announced that he had officially filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with the Office of the Nassau County District Attorney concerning the invitation Kathleen Rice accepted in her official capacity as District Attorney to keynote the Islamic Center of Long Island’s fundraiser where she would appear with the radical imam.

    “For Kathleen Rice to claim that she did not know that the imam was speaking goes against logic. Ms. Rice’s name appeared on an invitation that was mailed into the community and appeared on both social media and the homepage of the Islamic Center’s website,” said Bruce Blakeman.

    The FOIL request seeks any and all correspondence, e-mails and/or other information from the Office of the District Attorney pertaining to the invitation and acceptance to speak at the Islamic Center of Long Island at the event Imam Wahhaj is also keynoting. Rice was slated to appear with the radical imam in her official capacity as Nassau County District Attorney.

    Scheduling information and e-mails pertaining to scheduling are subject to New York State FOIL laws.

    Rice did not cancel her appearance at this event – where she was set to speak alongside Wahhaj – until The New York Observer broke the story on Friday, October 24. The event had been scheduled after the election of November 4.

    As of 4:30pm on Monday, October 27, 2014, the invitation listing Rice & Wahhaj as keynote speakers at the Islamic Center of Long Island’s upcoming fundraiser was still advertised on the Center’s website.

    Imam Wahhaj was named in court papers as an unindicted co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and has a long history of radical and anti-American rhetoric as detailed in the Observer story.

    Additionally, a number of members of Wahhaj’s mosque where indicted for the bombing – and the imam testified in support of each of them. Similarly, Wahhaj served as a character withness for imprisoned terrorist Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the notorious anti-American blind sheikh. Wahhaj called Sheikh Abdel-Rahman a “respected scholar.”

    Imam Wahhaj also has a poor opinion of the United States, once saying “America is the most wicked government on the face of the planet Earth” according to the Observer. Wahhaj has also made extremist statements while lecturing at the Islamic Association of Northern Texas. In Novemebr of 1991, Wahhaj advocated the establishment of an Islamic State in the United States, saying “[w]here ever you came from, you came to America. And you came for one reason – for one reason only – to establish Allah’s deen” according to The Investigative Project on Terrorism, a 501(c)(3) non-profit research group.

    Congressman Peter King has said about this situation that “It’s deeply troubling that Kathleen Rice decided to appear at an event next to a radical imam and unindicted co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. And if she or her staff didn’t know about Wahhaj, what does that say about their competency? Nassau families and our first responders deserve better.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here