|
Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
|
June 12, 2017
|
|
Libyan
Security Committee Calls U.S. Muslim Leader a Terrorist
IPT News
June 12, 2017
|
|
|
Share:
|
Be the
first of your friends to like this.
Omeish and U.S. Sen. Tim
Kaine. Source: Facebook
|
A prominent Muslim American political activist is included on a list of 75 terrorists issued by a Libyan parliamentary
committee.
Esam Omeish is a former president of the Muslim American Society and remains a prominent figure
at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Va. He is among 75 people the
Libyan House of Representatives' Defense and National Security Committee
labeled Friday as enemies.
Libya's government remains fragmented, with the House of Representatives
based in a city called Tobruk. It is considered closely aligned with Egypt.
Omeish is the 29th name listed on the terror list and is
described as an "international member of the Muslim Brotherhood."
Another American, Aly Abuzaakouk, appears just after Omeish's, also
identified as an international Muslim Brotherhood member.
Omeish blasted the move in a statement on his Facebook page, saying
"my name had unjustly and falsely been placed on a so called list of
supporters of terrorism." He protested Saturday to Virginia U.S. Sen.
Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee, and plans to try
meeting more members of Congress today.
Omeish wants the committee's leader "legally prosecuted for fraud,
slander and defamation to obtain a judgement inhibiting their ability to
travel to America..." He also wants penalties for committee members
who approved the list, accusing them of "randomly charging American
citizens who have no offense or crime, or involvement with any of
the forms of terrorism, and who are major in the American landscape in
the fight against terrorism and working with all security and legal
agencies to preserve the country's security and the safety of the society
and communities with transparency and integrity which everyone near and far
knows."
Omeish formerly served as president of the Muslim American Society
(MAS), which insiders have acknowledged is the Muslim Brotherhood's overt arm in the United States. In
a December Facebook comment, Omeish wrote that Muslims "have not known of the
people of Islam .. those more just in understanding, wider in approach and
closer in application than the Muslim Brotherhood. We have not known of
humane brotherliness and its people, (and we are affiliated with all men
whom Allah has created a propensity for love, mercy, an upright
disposition, good morals and honorable character) better in ethics, of
gentler parts, deeper in adherence to duty, nobler in morals among all
their sons, and every one of their actions than the Muslim
Brotherhood."
Last year, he advocated that the U.S. support for a group known variably as the "Revolutionary Shura
Council," or the "Mujahideen Shura of Derna," despite ties
between its officials and al-Qaida. Egypt's air force
bombed the group last month in retaliation for terror attacks against
Coptic Christians in April.
Abuzaakouk also has deep Muslim Brotherhood connections. He has served
as executive director of the American Muslim Council (AMC), and
publications director for the International Institute of Islamic Thought
(IIIT). He became foreign
minister of the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Government of National
Salvation based in Tripoli after dictator Muammar Gaddafi fell. That group
opposes the internationally recognized government in Tobruk.
The AMC was founded in part by Mahmoud Abu Saud, who helped Hassan
al-Banna create the Brotherhood in Egypt, the Washington Post reported in 2004. FBI officials have long suspected that the IIIT housed leading Brotherhood
officials in the United States.
Despite his overt support for "the jihad way" and for the
Brotherhood, Omeish has been close to Kaine for at least a decade When
Kaine was Virginia's governor in 2007, Omeish was forced to resign from a state immigration panel after
Investigative Project on Terrorism video showed him praising Palestinians during a 2000
rally for knowing that "the jihad way is the way to liberate your
land."
At a separate event two months earlier, Omeish similarly praised Palestinians "for their bravery,
for their giving up their lives for the sake of Allah and for the sake of
Al-Aqsa [Jerusalem]. They have spearheaded the effort to bring victory upon
the believers in [Palestine]."
It was during a 2010 fundraiser for Omeish's state assembly campaign
that U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison – now the Democratic National Committee's vice
chair – complained that Israel unduly influence U.S. policy in
the Middle East. "A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7
million," Ellison said. "Does that make sense?"
Ellison added: "We can't allow another country to treat us
like we're their ATM. Right? And so we ought to stand up as Americans. Now
some of us have affinity for other places around the globe. Some of us are
new Americans and adopted America as our home. But whether you're born here
or whether you accepted America as your own voluntarily, this is our home.
Right? All of our home equally, and we can't allow it to be disrespected
because some, by a country that we're paying money to."
In this case, Kaine serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's
subcommittee for North Africa.
It is unclear what impact the Libyan House committee's terror list will
have, especially among U.S policy makers. There's no public information
indicating Omeish was directly involved in any terror support. But he has
openly advocated for "the jihad way" and lauds the Brotherhood, a
movement which articulated a goal of creating a global Islamic state and serves as an inspiration for Sunni jihadist groups including
al-Qaida, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Ja'amat Islamiya.
"The common link here is the extremist Muslim Brotherhood – all of
these organizations are descendants of the membership and ideology of the
Muslim Brothers," former National Security and Counter-terrorism
Coordinator Richard Clarke testified in 2004 before a U.S. Senate committee.
There are twin bills pending in Congress that would designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist
group. The United Arab Emirates has already done so.
Related Topics: , Esam
Omeish, Muslim
American Society, terrorist
designations, Libyan
House of Representatives, Tim
Kaine, Keith
Ellison, Revolutionary
Shura Council, Aly
Abuzaakouk, American
Muslim Council, IIIT
|
The IPT accepts no funding from
outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or
religious institutions. Your support of The Investigative Project on
Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All
donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate online. The
Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3
organization.
202-363-8602
- main
202-966-5191
- fax
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment