Siraj Wahhaj: "My Son Can Be a Little Extreme"

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


This article first appeared in New English Review. Much of the information (not all) is contained in previous posts in Fousesquawk regarding this issue.




Even CNN's politically correct talk show host, Brooke Baldwin, was dumbstruck by that statement after she ran a video clip Thursday in which Imam Siraj Wahhaj spoke to the press about the arrest of his son, Siraj Wahhaj, Jr. in the New Mexico desert.

Yep. Keeping kids in starvation conditions in a filthy compound in the middle of the desert while training them to fire weapons in preparation for school shootings can be "a little extreme".

The elder Wahhaj also claims that it was he who tipped off the police to the New Mexico location when he learned that his son had absconded with his own three-year-old son in Georgia.

What CNN and other mainstream outlets are failing to report is the full background on Wahhaj Sr, a man with a long history of radical speech and associations behind him. About the farthest the media will go in describing Wahhaj's radical background is to advise the public that he appeared as a defense witness in the trial of the so-called "Blind Sheikh", Omar Abdel Rahman in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case. They generally leave out the fact that Wahhaj was an unindicted co-conspirator  in the case. (He has never been charged.)

As the media loves to point out, Wahhaj was the first Muslim to give an opening prayer in the House of Representatives, which doesn't say much for the House. It is true that Wahhaj has convinced many non-Muslims that he is a peaceful moderate. When appearing before non-Muslim audiences (and the press), he comes across as a kindly, soft-spoken, grandfatherly type. When speaking before his own congregation and Muslim groups, however, it all changes. His language becomes full of hate, especially for America, which he has called "a filthy garbage can". He has also told his followers that Islam will take over America and made references to arming people with Uzis and 9 mm's. Both statements are now quite ironic given the filthy conditions in the New Mexico compound and the fact that weapons were also discovered including an AR-15.

Wahhaj's incendiary rhetoric has not turned off groups like CAIR, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic Society of North America, or the Islamic Circle of North America, who use him as one of their favorite speakers. In 2013, CAIR  Southern California leader Hussam Ayloush spoke in Riverside, and I asked him why CAIR would invite Wahhaj as a speaker given the statements described above. Ayloush replied that Wahhaj was "one of the most prominent and respected religious leaders in America", and I was a bigot for asking.

Linda Sarsour is another admirer of Wahhaj, whom she describes as her mentor and who taught her to "speak truth to power".

Also ironic is the fact that when Wahhaj came to  speak at a charity dinner in Yorba Linda, California in 2011 along with another radical imam, Amir Abdel Malik Ali, sponsored by the Islamic Center of North America (ICNA), a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned group, a protest ensued prior to the scheduled beginning of the event. I was present and spoke at the protest as did several local public officials including Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA). Unfortunately, some people showed up with their own agenda and engaged the attendees with chants as they arrived, an act we did not approve of. In the lead up to the event, local residents met with ICNA representative Shakeel Syed (now of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California) and requested that they find other speakers than Ali and Wahhaj given their radical nature. Syed's angry response was to point his finger at the lady who made the request and say that they would bring whatever speakers they chose.

Unfortunately, you will hear none of the above facts on CNN or other mainstream outlets other than perhaps, Fox. It is another sterling example of the media deliberately omitting pertinent facts.

Whether the elder Wahhaj has any involvement in his son's activities or not, it is fair to ask how much of his teachings sank into his son. I hope that the authorities will at least explore any possible involvement on the part of the imam. To not do so would be gross negligence on their part.

A Salute to College Republicans

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse,blogspot.com


Full disclosure: I write this as an independent voter who routinely votes for Republicans simply because they more represent my conservative point of view. I have never joined any particular party.

But the case of the Stanford student, Hamzeh Daoud, who made written threats of physical violence against "Zionists" on the Stanford campus, has once again pointed out the fact that many College Republican (CR) chapters, especially in California, are taking the lead in standing up, not only for conservative values and free speech issues, but also standing up to campus anti-semitism.

During the years I was teaching part-time at UC Irvine (1998-2016) and getting involved in anti-semitism issues, the CR chapter was fairly dormant. That has changed in recent years as they have become more assertive in standing up for free speech issues and defending Jewish students under assault by the pro-Palestinian brown shirts. Probably the most significant figure has been Ariana Rowlands, a past president of the UCI CR and a recent graduate.

In May 2016, it was College Republicans, who by chance, witnessed an SJP disruption of a pro-Israel event on the UCI campus and videotaped it. They also stood up for free speech in inviting conservative pundit Milos Yiannopoulos to speak, which led to protests and an attempt by the UCI administration to discipline them. The CR stood their ground and forced the administrators to back down. More recently, the CR hosted a group of Israeli reservist soldiers to speak at their weekly meeting in May 2018, an event, which was predictably disrupted by outside agitators invited by who knows who. (Actually, I  have a good idea.)

Also at UC Berkeley. the CR chapter has stood for free speech. Their 2017 invitation to Yiannopoulos to speak led to an actual riot by Antifa type thugs, who by their actions forced a cancellation of the event.

Now comes the ugly incident at Stanford, where Daoud posted social media messages promising to (physically) fight "Zionists" on campus. It was the CR chapter at Stanford who put themselves out front by calling for the administration to take action. (To this date, we don't know what that action is.) Not surprisingly, the campus newspaper, The Stanford Daily, shamelessly stood up for Daoud and his anti-Israel cause, filling the pages of their publication with denunciations of Israel and the CR. Daoud has now resigned his position as a dorm resident assistant, but we do not know what if any punitive action will follow from Stanford. That is covered by state privacy laws.

Of course, one cannot speak for every CR chapter in the nation. Clearly, some are more active than others. All I can say is that it is heartening to see certain chapters actually stand up for their values in the face of the politically-correct climate on most every campus. If this is the future of the Republican party, I cannot wait to see them replace many of the current crop in Congress. We need to support them.