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A Victory in Opposition to Muslim Day at the Florida State Capitol
March 11th was Muslim Day at Florida’s State Capitol in Tallahassee. Rain prevented a planned news conference and rallies by opponents from taking place outside, but some important developments occurred inside.
Muslim Day at the Florida State Capitol was sponsored by a group called United Voices for America (UVA). The founder and director of UVA is Ahmed Bedier. There is certainly nothing wrong with anyone petitioning their elected officials. The issue raised by the Florida Security Council (FSC), ACT! For America, Former Muslims United (FMU) and Americans against Hate (AAH) was the need for legislators to know who they were meeting with and understand the UVA’s agenda.
“The purpose of Muslim Day at the Capitol”, said Tom Trento founder of the FSC “was to deceive lawmakers into believing UVA is a benign civil rights organization, representing disenfranchised minorities and immigrants on such issues as healthcare and education. Since the Council of American Islamic relations (CAIR) was founded by HAMAS (Muslim Brotherhood of Palestine), and UVA was founded by a CAIR operative, this makes UVA the grandchild of a terrorist organization whose only reason for being is to wage a global Jihad against non-Muslims and former Muslims.”
On the prior day, a three hour information briefing was held in the IMAX Theater not far from the State Capitol building complex. A group of experts presented information on the background and alliances of the UVA founded by Mr. Bedier. Members of the Florida legislature, legislative staff, the media and the public were invited. ACT! For America chapter leaders, Tea Party Businessmen and 9/12 group activists were among those who attended the briefing.
Dr. Rich Swier of the FSC moderated the briefings. Dr. Swier is a retired US Army Lt. Col., who helped develop Counter-Terrorism policy for the Army during the Reagan Administration. Joe Kaufmann, who has investigated the CAIR Muslim Brotherhood connections since 2003 and who has successfully combated CAIR lawsuits in Texas, laid out the connections between CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood and Ahmed Bedier, the UVA event organizer. Kaufman highlighted Bedier’s past associations with self confessed funder and national leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Sami al Arian. David Gaubatz, co-author of Muslim Mafia, described how the Muslim Brotherhood groups are financed, and how they infiltrate and influence Government. He indicated that the CAIR lawsuit against both him and his son had ironically confirmed the authenticity of more than 60,000 incriminating documents, 60 of which are included in Gaubatz’s book. Author and lecturer Nonie Darwish Executive Director and Jerry Gordon Director of FMU discussed the mission, values and goals of FMU. Darwish gave specific examples of apostate victims in her native Egypt and presented the results of Freedom Pledges sent to almost four dozen Florida Muslim leaders requesting that they abjure death threats against former Muslims. They didn’t respond. Sharheryar Gill, Associate counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a non-profit organization working for the defense of religious liberties, addressed threats to former Muslims in his native Pakistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world. A young American former Muslim discussed her successful defense by the ACLJ in a case involving a fraudulent marriage arranged by her Pakistani-born father. Rabbi Jonathan Hausman of Boston discussed the folly and dangers of interfaith outreach efforts with the Muslim community.
Following, the panels David Beamer, father of 9/11 Flight 93 hero Todd Beamer, spoke eloquently and articulately of the courage shown by his son and fellow passengers. As he noted, this was the first victory in the war against Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately, all of the heroes on Flight 93 died valiantly in diverting the aircraft to crash in a field in southwestern, Pennsylvania. Beamer was followed by Israeli-American Tuly Wultz, a former IDF Special Forces officer whose teen age son, Daniel, was fatally injured in 2006 in a suicide bombing attack during a family vacation in Israel. Daniel Wultz lived for 27 days. Tuly was severely injured as well. Tuly told of the hatred of his son and Jews expressed by the Palestinian suicide bomber’s mother who considered her son a hero. Randy McDaniels, ACT! For America Jacksonville chapter leader, introduced the two final speakers, Michael Jackson, representing the Tea Party Businessmen’s Group and Jesse Johnson of the 9/12 organization.
Despite the rain, teams of activists fanned out to visit and ask Florida legislators to question Bedier and Muslim representatives about why they didn’t sign the FMU Freedom Pledge to abjure threats to the lives of former Muslims mandated under Sharia law.
There was a significant victory in this effort organized by the FSC. The Attorney General’s Office cancelled an appointment with Bedier and his UVA entourage. In its place a briefing was held on the issues raised in the IMAX theater session. Among those attending the meeting with the representatives of the Attorney General were Dr. Rich Swier, Joe Kaufman, David Gaubatz, Rabbi Jon Hausman and Jerry Gordon.
The UVA held a private invitation only session from which more than 35 opposition activists were excluded. There were two attacks on FrontPageMagazine jounalist Joe Kaufman and video producer J. Mark Campbell who were accosted by Dr. Bassem Alhalabi, a professor at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Kaufman had previously written, “Prior to arriving at FAU, Alhalabi provided the school with a reference from PIJ leader and future convicted terrorist Sami Amin Al-Arian. Alhalabi had been a Research Assistant for Al-Arian at the University of South Florida (USF) from 1989 to 1990.”
Despite these confrontations, it appeared that the activists organized by the FSC achieved a victory in Tallahassee. As Rabbi Hausman said, “this was a lesson in how to conduct an effective counterinsurgency education campaign.”
