Hamas Supporter in U.S. is Human Rights Commissioner for Jacksonville, Florida?!

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How is it possible that one of the chief supporters of Hamas in the U.S., a group that is a designated “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” is now the “Human Rights Commissioner” for Jacksonville, Florida? That is the question Randy McDaniels, the President of ACT! for America in Jacksonville is trying to get answered.

Yesterday morning, Mr. McDaniels held a Press Conference in front of Jacksonville City Hall announcing the release of the first of two videos detailing the facts surrounding Parvez Ahmed and his ties to Hamas front organization CAIR – facts that seem to be going unheard by local government officials, Jacksonville’s media outlets, and by some in the local community. McDaniels states the second video will be released early next week.

The video includes pieces of a talk given by University of North Florida (Coggin School of Business) Professor Parvez Ahmed on October 9, 2010 at the Fleming Island Library in Clay County, Florida. Ahmed has been an outspoken supporter of Shariah Compliant Finance (SCF) – financial processes and mechanisms compliant with Islamic Law. The October event was hosted by Dr. Harry Parrott Jr., the President of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State. During the talk, Dr. Parrott decidedly tried to shield the Hamas leader from difficult questions from the audience. Also noteworthy is that on December 4, 2010, Dr. Parrott wrote an opinion piece in the Florida Times-Union stated that “bigotry…pervades (the) views” of Mr. McDaniels and ACT! for America regarding this issue. In reality, Mr. McDaniels and ACT! for America seem to be putting out clear concise facts on this matter.

As a former Special Agent of the FBI and a subject matter expert on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Movement in the United States, I was asked to officially comment on the content of the video and on Parvez Ahmed, which I did. Those comments are also part of the video released yesterday. The video provides an unvarnished view of Ahmed, his ties to Hamas, and brings his deception into the light.

The facts surrounding this matter are crystal clear to those who take a moment to review them.

• The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest Hamas trial in U.S. History (U.S. v Holy Land Foundation (HLF) for Relief and Development) adjudicated in Dallas in November 2008. HLF was demonstrated to be a Muslim Brotherhood / Hamas organization in the U.S. and its leaders were members of Hamas.
• Hamas was formed out of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood
• The Muslim Brotherhood’s Creed is “Allah is our goal, the Messenger our guide, the Koran is our law, Jihad is our means, and martyrdom in the way of Allah is our inspiration.”
• Documents entered into evidence at the HLF trial and stipulated to by the defense counsel, clearly demonstrate that (1) CAIR was created by the International Muslim Brotherhood to be a front organization for Hamas, and (2) the two founders of CAIR, Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, are Hamas leaders in the U.S.
• CAIR serves as the Public Relations front for Hamas in the U.S.
• On their website, CAIR states that money donated to CAIR for Zakat goes to fund jihad.
• Parvez Ahmed was the National Chairman of the Board for CAIR from 2005-2008.
• In a court ruling recently unsealed in the Northern District of Texas, U.S. District Court Judge Solis stated, “The Government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA, and NAIT with HLF, the Islamic Association of Palestine (“IAP”) and with Hamas.”
• Parvez Ahmed is now the Human Rights Commissioner for Jacksonville, Florida.

I am aware that two former senior government officials, one of whom was the Director of a national intelligence agency, sent a formal letter to the Jacksonville City Council before the first vote on Parvez Ahmed detailing the aforementioned facts, yet the City Council still supported Mr. Ahmed as the city’s Human Rights Commissioner. I encourage all of the members of the Jacksonville City Council supporting Mr. Ahmed to consider the following: facilitating a known Muslim Brother/Hamas leader in furtherance of his stated goal to wage “a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within” (from the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategic document ‘An Explanatory Memorandum’) may constitute Material Support for Terrorism (see Supreme Court Ruling, June 21, 2010).

As leaders in the community, you are responsible to the citizens of Jacksonville to know the facts. When the facts differ from what comes out of the mouth of Parvez Ahmed, the problem is with Mr. Ahmed, not with Mr. McDaniels or ACT! for America.

Many of us are hopeful the citizens of Jacksonville will see the truth and hold their leaders accountable.

John Guandolo is a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a former active duty Infantry and Reconnaissance Officer in the United States Marine Corps, a combat veteran in Operations Desert Shield/Storm, and a former Special Agent with the FBI, who now advises government officials at the national and local levels on the threat from the Islamic Movement.