News from the Middle East Forum
May 04, 2018
PHILADELPHIA – May 4, 2018 – A Middle East Forum report, Islamists with Direct Ties to Terrorists Lobby Congress, written by Egyptian specialist Cynthia Farahat, has uncovered troubling connections between organizers and delegates of the annual Muslim Advocacy Day in the U.S. Capitol and prominent terror operatives. For the full report, click here; and for an exposé of the organizers linked to terror groups, click here.
Muslim Advocacy Day will be held this year on May 7-8. The Middle East Forum (MEF) will hold a panel discussion on Wednesday May 9, from 2:00-3:30 pm at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center – with four experts to discuss the report and the day’s extremist origins. They will explain how Islamist movements have falsely, but successfully presented themselves as the political representatives of America’s Muslims.
Some of the officials profiled by Farahat are found to have direct links to convicted terrorists. Others have invited prominent Islamist extremists into American mosques, providing them with venues to spread their message of hate, using social media to publicize and encourage their activities.
For example, Yahya Almontaser, is a representative of Egyptian Americans for Freedom and Justice (EAFAJ), a prominent Muslim Brotherhood-connected organization. Farahat found that Almontaser spent several years regularly corresponding with Mohamed Sayed Taha, who is currently imprisoned in Egypt following his conviction for involvement in an ISIS plot to bomb a Cairo police station.
Farahat notes: “Islamists with direct ties to terrorism are walking the halls of Congress. Treating Islamists as American Islam’s rightful leaders threatens America’s national security, legitimizes extremism, and discourages the voices of moderate American Muslims.”
At the event, MEF President Daniel Pipes, a veteran of five presidential administrations and historian, will moderate a panel of speakers:
- MEF Fellow Cynthia Farahat, an Egyptian dissident who has spent her life opposing radical Islam;
- MEF Fellow Tarek Fatah, a weekly columnist at the Toronto Sun and the author of two award-winning books, The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State and The Jew is Not My Enemy; and
- Sam Westrop, director of MEF’s Islamist Watch project.
Comments Fatah: “Islamists lobbying the Congress is deeply troubling considering the fact that most U.S. lawmakers are ill-equipped to see through the burka of deception Muslim Brotherhood legacy groups deploy to disguise their contempt for Western Civilization.” He adds: “As a pre-requisite to meeting any Islamist group, members of Congress should demand that groups such as CAIR denounce the doctrine of Armed Jihad; renounce polygamy, the burka, FGM and Sharia as medieval constructs that are an affront to the U.S. Constitution.”
MEF calls on Congressional offices to refuse all meetings with these Islamist organizations and operatives, pending a full investigation into their ties to extremism and terror.
MEF also urges members of the public to contact their member of Congress and urge that they refuse to meet with these Islamists. Find contact information for your representatives by clicking here.
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For immediate release
For more information, contact:
Gregg Roman, Director
Roman@MEForum.org
215-546-5406