On December 13, 2015, terrorists targeted religious minority Shiite Muslims with a bomb, which has killed and wounded scores of people at the Landa Bazar in the Tal Adda area of Parachinar, in Kurram Agency, Pakistan. The Parachinar market bomb blasting was believed to be a remote controlled and detonated bomb, so that the terrorist could escape. The police and ambulances were on the scene, trying to cordon off and control the area, and a bomb squad was investigating the bombing.
In a video posted online after the terrorist attack, smoke and flames could be seen coming out of a white vehicle, which looked some type of van or bus. Another video showed the chaos of the aftermath of the attack.
Video posted online showed flames and smoke coming out of a vehicle (Source: FB/Parachinar.Greenlands)
Pakistan television showed debris, clothing, and wounded throughout the market after the bombing, with the surviving market goers fleeing the area. The bodies of those killed and injured were taken to Agency Headquarters Hospital, according to reports.
Terrorist attack on Shiite Muslims at Landa Bazar in the Tal Adda area of Parachinar, in Kurram Agency, Pakistan (Source: Twitter)
The market is predominantly Shiite, and so the victims are overwhelming Shiite Muslims. At 1 PM local time, Waqt News and The Nation News reported that there were 23 dead and 60 injured. That death toll was expected to rise, as at least 10 of the injured were critically injured.
Terrorist attack on Shiite Muslims at Landa Bazar in the Tal Adda area of Parachinar, in Kurram Agency, Pakistan (Source: Twitter)
On Twitter, people in the area shared their knowledge of the attack.
One stated: “There was no security in market of #Parachinar at the time of blast. Political Administration need to change! ” Another referred to the terrorist attack as “Car Bomb explosion Hits #Shiite majority area #Parachinar #Pakistan.
23 martyred. Over 50 wounded. #ShiaGenocide. ”
While at the moment of this posting, no specific terrorist group has claimed this attack, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges the Pakistan people and people of the world to remember this is the price of the world’s continuing silence and weakness in challenging the ideologies of extremism that believe such attacks on religious minority Shiites are sickeningly “justified.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges the Pakistan people and people of all faiths and identity groups to recognize that such religious persecution of minorities and associated violence of terrorist affects all people. It is also another reminder of how such extremist terrorists, who claim to be acting on their view of “Islam,” attack and murder other Muslims, and we have seen again and again, in Pakistan and around the world.
The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Department is investigating an arson attack, believed to be a terrorist fire bomb, which was set off on Friday December 11, 2015 at noon local time at the Islamic Society of Coachella Valley mosque, in California. The fire bomb damaged the front of the mosque’s lobby. No one was injured.
On December 12, 2015, KESQ News reported on that “Riverside County Sheriff’s Department says a person of interest” was being held in association with the attack on the mosque. The sheriff’s department called the fire bomb an intentional act, and was being investigated as a hate crime.
KESQ News reported: “Riverside County Jail Records show 23-year-old Carl James Dial Jr., was booked into the Indio jail at 1.46 a.m for several felony charges including arson and a hate crime. Dial is listed as a white male, from Palm Desert.”
On December 12, the New York Times reported: “Congregants at the Islamic Society of Coachella Valley had started arriving for 1 p.m. prayers when they heard a ‘loud boom’ shortly after noon, Reymundo Nour, the mosque’s acting imam, said. Soon, the front of the mosque erupted into flames. More than a dozen firefighters arrived within minutes and contained the fire to the lobby, although there was smoke damage throughout the building, officials said. No one was injured.” Details are limited on this incident. Other reports suggested there was a significant number of Yemeni-American worshipers going to the mosque.
Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz released the following statements:
After the attack: “I am deeply concerned about the Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley Mosque going up in flames. I call for a thorough investigation to this arson as a possible hate crime and to bring the perpetrators to justice. I will continue to closely monitor the fire, the possible criminal investigation, and the safety of the members of the mosque. Our faith in humanity will not be intimidated and we stand together against any form violence towards the innocent.”
During the investigation: “One suspect is in custody. The investigation is ongoing. I have been on the phone with federal and local law enforcement agencies and faith leaders to ensure peace and security for the innocent. I’m very thankful for the rapid and professional manner the ATF, FBI, Sherrif’s Department, and Cal Fire have responded and investigated the arson attack as a possible hate crime.”
AP reported that: “John Dial told NBC News he saw his son carrying a backpack on Friday and he assumed he was going to class at a local college. He said his son struggled socially. ‘He was caught up in social media. Social media has produced people like my son, without person-to-person contact,’ the father said. ‘I believe he was lacking in social skills.’ ”
Another relative of the man arrested for the terrorist attack stated on Facebook: “I am not trying to defend him…I know his actions were reprehensible .But he, in no way, ever mentioned or even gave off the impression that he would do something like this. He was disturbed and depressed. There are no words to describe how sorry we are that this happened.” “He is ill. He needs help. And I’m not saying this because “hes white”. Im saying this because I’ve seen it. He desperately needs mental help.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands in support of our universal human rights for all, and we stand in defiance against those, including terrorist and hate groups, which seek to attack such universal human rights, dignity, and security for all.
While we must challenge and defy extremist groups, we must also not let them hold our identity groups hostage with their hate and violence.
In America:
— Number of White Americans: 196,817,552
How many white supremacist terrorists do we actually face?
A very small percentage of this.
The importance is that majority which respects human rights, security, and dignity must be willing to challenge the small minority of extremists.
— Number of Muslim Americans: 2,770,000
How many extremists terrorists claiming to represent a type of “radical Islam” do we actually face?
Again, a very small percentage of this.
The importance is that majority which respects human rights, security, and dignity must be willing to challenge the small minority of extremists.
While these are 2010 demographic figures, the precise demographic number is not the point.
Furthermore, I use these two identity groups as examples. One can pick any identity groups and come to the same results.
The point remains that we succeed in challenging anti-human rights extremism, when the majority asserts their will and undertakes the responsibility to identity and stop the actions of that percentage of extremists who seek to spread hatred and violence.
But we need to be consistent on this. Consistency in challenging anti-human rights extremists, especially those that promote violence, is necessary for all groups.
When we decide it is too much work, that is when terrorists succeed.
Their “secret plans” are never as secret as they think.
We see something. We need to be willing to challenge those who promote violence against our fellow human beings.
We need to be consistently and annoyingly Responsible for Equality And Liberty.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges politicians and political groups to refrain from their plethora of political comments about the ongoing terrorist investigation of the San Bernardino attack.
In San Bernardino, California, five days ago, over 30 Americans were gunned down in broad daylight, and their Christmas party was rigged with bombs to blow up, which was intended to kill many, many more people. There has been a lot of talk about many issues, but certainly not enough about the Americans who were killed and the many more who are still injured right now. Some people who were shot remained hospitalized Monday. They represented African-American, Asian American, Hispanic American, white Americans, young, old, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters. They are snapshot of our American family of diversity in every way.
American Victims of San Bernardino December 2 Terrorist Attack by ISIS Supporters
Like so many other attempted and completed terrorist attacks, the only reason the blood bath was not significantly worse, was because the terrorists’ bombs didn’t work. We need sober and responsible minds to grasp the significance of this. In the meantime, this is an ongoing federal terrorist investigation being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If there is anyone who should be speaking out from our government on this terrorist attack, it should be the designated agent of the FBI. Period.
Not every politician of every party, every governor, mayor, and political activist group. Not every political pundit. We have had numerous political people speaking precipitously on this, both during the actual attack, immediately afterwards, and while the investigation is ongoing. Candidly, a lot of political people from every political group have made a lot of foolish comments that at some point they are going to regret, and which certainly have been unnecessary.
As we are just finishing burying the American dead, now is not the time to “politicize” an ongoing terrorist investigation. The political parties could be doing something constructive. They could be planning events to help the victims. They could be having marches and events positive to demonstrate that we will not be terrorized by ISIS in America or anywhere else. But now is not the time for this ridiculous and shameful political in-fighting among Americans. It is disgraceful and shameful, and dishonors the great United States of America.
Our politicians and political pundits need to shut up for a bit, while the facts on the case are actually learned. We also would urge President Obama to use his office to provide statements, when he actually has something to say, as it is important for the public to have confidence in the federal government terrorist investigation. A terrorist investigation is not a bully pulpit for political talk and pressure. It is wrong and inappropriate, especially on Sunday, as Americans were grieving their lost loved ones. The struggle against terrorists has no place as a mud-throwing political debate, when we have dead fellow American citizens who have just been buried.
Because it is the nature of people to want to “do something,” in response to the outrage, many people have issued their opinions. We still have a free country, and we all have the right to our opinions, even the misguided, uninformed, and incorrect opinions.
But let us please remember, we still have an ongoing terrorist investigation going on. We are learning new information, and significant new information every day.
If we really want “do something,” there are things we can do. There are fundraising charities for the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. There is research and education we can do about those involved in the attacks. There is information on different terrorist threats that we face from totally different extremists and anti-human rights groups to also be concerned about. There are those who are speaking to reject the extremist and anti-human rights ideology of the ISIS terrorist group. There is plenty of constructive things to do and talk about.
But we need to not lose sight that it was ISIS supporting terrorists who gunned down over 30 Americans on December 2. Not the Democrats, not the Republicans, not the political pundits, and not lobbying groups. The anti-human rights enemies who killed and wounded our fellow Americans were the ISIS supporting terrorists. Let’s not forget that THEY are the enemy – not each other.
R.E.A.L. will not comment and dignify such the inappropriate and shameful political comments made during this terrorist attack and while our fellow Americans were grieving their buried loved ones, by acknowledging such political comments, during this time and during this initial terrorist investigation. R.E.A.L. will make only one statement regarding such totally inappropriate political commentary:
Shame on you — all of you.
We too have opinions, but we would rather focus on the facts, on the investigation, and our necessary imperative to support human rights.
Most of all, we urge the real leaders of America within the human rights and the justice communities, to use their influence to promote the causes of human rights, justice, and dignity in their own ways, so that we hear of no more victims from the supporters of this anti-human rights terrorist group.
R.E.A.L. will continue our focus in defiance of the anti-human rights ISIS terrorist group, the ongoing investigation, and the shared cause of our universal human rights, which such enemies of human rights as ISIS seeks to disrupt and destroy.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has begun to get names of the victims of the December 2, 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. This posting will be updated as new information on victims is released.
American Victims Killed in San Bernardino Terrorist Attack – December 2, 2015
Tin Nguyen
Tin Nguyen
Tin Nguyen – a 31 year old Vietnamese-born woman from Santa Ana who was a food inspector. She stopped by the Christmas party. She was planning to be married in 2017.
Larry Daniel Kaufman
Larry Daniel Kaufman
Larry Daniel Kaufman – a 42 year old man who ran the center’s coffee shop and trained the developmentally disabled clients who worked with him, and who proudly wore rainbow earrings for gay pride.
Nicholas Thalasinos
Nicholas Thalasinos
Nicholas Thalasinos – a 52 year old man restaurant inspector, who was a Messianic Jew. He was a scholar and religious. He was defiant to extremist views, including ISIS. He received a death threat the day before he was murdered, and reported had a heated debate with Syed Farook two weeks before the attack, as reported in another posting.
Juan Espinoza
Juan Espinoza
Juan Espinoza – a 50 year old man from Highland, who worked as an inspector for the county health department. Juan Espinoza is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. Another report describes Juan C. Espinoza as the director of Riverside County Transportation & Land Management Agency.
Shannon Johnson
Shannon Johnson – a 45 year old man from Los Angeles, he worked as an environmental health specialist with San Bernardino County’s public health department for nearly 11 years, according to his LinkedIn page. Johnson said he was in charge of food safety, recreational health and housing.
Aurora Godoy – a 26 year old from San Jacinto. She was a wife and mother of an infant son. Her aunt, Rebecca Godoy made a statement on Facebook: “Yesterday in the shootings in San Bernardino many families were affected. Ours was one of them. We will keep her flame alive so that her young son does not forget his special mother.” Those who cared about Aurora Godoy and her family created a GoFundMe web page to get community financial help for the family to help cover their funeral costs, and assist them in the aftermath of this tragedy.
Isaac Amanios
Isaac Amanios – a 60 year old man from Fontana, was a health inspector for San Bernardino County. He leaves behind his wife, Hiwet Gebreslassie, and three adult children. He was the cousin of Nat Berhe, a Fontana native who’s a safety for the New York Giants.
Harry Bowman
Harry Bowman
Harry Bowman – a 46 year old man from Upland, who had just started on his job as a statistical analyst with San Bernardino County’s environmental health services on September 19, 2015. He had two teenage daughters. He was a native of York, Pennsylvania. He had just received a Christmas present from his mother, which sat on the doorstep. He never made it home.
Yvette Velasco
Yvette Velasco
Yvette Velasco – a 27 year old woman from Fontana, who was a an environmental health specialist for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. Her family released a statement: “Yvette was an intelligent, motivated, and beautiful young woman, who was full of life and loved by all who knew her. We are devastated about what happened, and are still processing this nightmare. We ask that you please respect our family’s privacy in order to grieve our loss. Yvette is survived by her parents, Robert and Marie Velasco, and her three sisters, Adriana, Erica, and Genevieve. Please pray for our family and the other families who have lost a loved one as a result of this terrible tragedy.”
Sierra Clayborn
Sierra Clayborn
Sierra Clayborn – a 27 year old woman from Moreno Valley, who worked as an environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County. She was a graduate of University of California, Riverside. Like many others around the world, Sierra Clayborn added the French flag to her Facebook profile soon after the terrorist attack in Paris on November 13. How could she know that she too would be a victim just barely over two weeks later?
Sierra Clayborn Defiantly Stood for Human Rights and Dignity of Paris Terrorist Victims
Robert Adams
Robert Adams
Robert Adams – a 40 year old man from Yucaipa, leaves behind his wife, Summer, and his daughter, Savannah. Robert Adams was an environmental health specialist for the San Bernardino County Health Department. Friends and supporters of Robert Adams created a GoFundMe web page to raise funds to help his family.
Damian Meins
Damien Meins
Damian Meins – a 58 year old man of San Pedro, who had only been working for San Bernardino County for a short time. He previously worked for a physical education teacher at St. Catherine’s School in Riverside. Damian Meins was also an Extended Care Coordinator at St. Catherine of Alexandria School in Riverside, where he also helped kids create Christmas art projects and religious murals. Damian Meins received a Community Recognition Award for his work in Riverside, which was based on “compassion, courage, forgiveness, generosity, humility, inclusiveness, integrity, kindness, respect and service.”
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel – a 37 year old man from Lake Arrowhead, who worked as the supervising environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County. He leaves behind a wife and six children. His friends created a YouCaring crowdfunding page in order to help his family, where you can also see his entire family. “So many prayers needed,” Wetzel’s wife wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon. They were an active part of the Church of the Woods in Lake Arrowhead.
One of the victims of the San Bernardino, California terrorist attack had received a threatening message the day before the December 2, 2015 attack. The day before the terrorist attack, according to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer, victim Nicholas Thalasinos reportedly “had posted about a threat he had received that included the words ‘you will die and never see Israel.’ ” Nicholas Thalasinos was a Messianic Jew.
Nicholas Thalasinos, Messianic Jew, was killed in San Bernardino terrorist attack – he received a threat the day before “you will die and never see Israel” – he objected to ISIS extremist views (Source: Facebook)
In addition, TIME Magazine reports that Kuuleme Stephens said “he happened to call 52-year-old Nicholas Thalasinos while he was at work and having a discussion with Syed Farook.” TIME Magazine reports that “they had a heated conversation about Islam two weeks before the attack.” TIME Magazine’s interview also added comments from Kuuleme Stephens that “[s]he added that Farook said Americans don’t understand Islam.”
Nicholas Thalasinos’ wife, Jennifer Thalasinos, lives in another part of the country and was contacted by the New York Times. According to the New York Times, “[i]n a phone interview, Jennifer Thalasinos said that her husband of nine years had been friendly with Mr. Farook, and that they were part of the same ‘little group’ of employees. ‘He had worked with him,’ Ms. Thalasinos said of her husband. ‘He had talked about him. Nothing negative.'” The New York Times added “‘My husband was very outspoken about ISIS and all of these radicalized Muslims,’ she said, adding, ‘If he would’ve thought that somebody in his office was like that, he would’ve said something.'”
Los Angeles News KTLA Channel 5 reported that Syed Farook “apparently was radicalized and in touch with people being investigated by the FBI for international terrorism, law enforcement officials said Thursday.” CNN reported that “Farook himself had talked by phone and on social media with more than one person being investigated for terrorism, law enforcement officials said. The communications were ‘soft connections’ in that they weren’t frequent, one law enforcement official said. It had been a few months since Farook’s last back-and-forth with these people, who officials said were not considered high priority.”
Los Angeles CBS reported that Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were reportedly viewing ISIS propaganda, stating that “[a] source also told CBS News that the pair were looking at ISIS propaganda online.” CNN reported that the San Bernarino police chief addressed “the discovery of hundreds of rounds of ammunition in their rented black SUV as well as in their apartment. Authorities also found 12 pipe bombs there, as well as hundreds of tools that could be used to construct IEDs or pipe bombs,’ the chief said.”
Per the Clarion-Ledger, the San Bernardino police chief reported that “a search of the couple’s home turned up 2,000 9mm rounds, more than 2500 .223-caliber rounds and “several hundred” 22 long rifle rounds, as well as 12 pipe bombs and tools for making more explosive devices. He said the pair had rented their black SUV getaway car several days earlier and were supposed to return it on the day of the assault.”
The New York Times reports that “[i]nside the the small townhouse where the couple returned after the shooting, investigators found what they termed a fairly large “dedicated work space” and several tools that appeared to have been used to create pipe bombs, according to law enforcement officials. Along with the dozen devices that were in the home, the authorities found smokeless powder, the officials said. That substance is most often found in bullets but can also be used to set off pipe bombs. The Boston Marathon bombers used that type of substance to ignite their devices.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands in unified support for the Universal Human Rights of all of our fellow human beings of every identity group, with respect for their human rights, dignity, and security. We will also defy those extremists ideologies that seek the destruction of such rights, dignity, and security, especially those who use cold-blooded tactics of murder and mayhem to enforce their political will. We will always recognize such acts of violence as nothing other than Terrorism.
Update – December 7, 2015: DAWN news reports that terrorist Tashfeen Malik was also linked to Al-Huda, stating: “The woman who, with her husband, shot dead 14 people in California last week attended one of the most high-profile religious teaching centres for women in Pakistan, a teacher at the Al-Huda institute told AFP Monday. Tashfeen Malik, 29, studied at the Al-Huda Institute in Multan, which admits middle-class women and also has offices in the US, the UAE, India and the UK, the teacher at the teaching centre who gave her name only as Muqadas said.”
Regarding the December 2, 2015 the San Bernardino, California attacks, the primary suspects were named as Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, who were killed in a shootout hours after an attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, which led to 14 killed and 17 wounded. Syed Farook’s brother-in-law, Farhan Khan spoke at a press conference held by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) late Friday night, where he stated “I just cannot express how sad I am for what happened today.” NBC News interviewed San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, and reported that he said “a motive in the shooting has not been determined.” Syed Farook has been reported as a U.S. citizen, and reports have stated his parents were immigrants from Pakistan.
On a follow-up report, the UK Telegraph news media reports on that “[i]n 2006, Rafia Farook, who records indicate is Farook’s mother, filed in a Riverside court for divorce from her husband, also named Syed Farook.”
Al Huda Logo on Facebook, liked by relative of terror suspect (Source: Facebook)
On Facebook, a Rafia Farook was listed (now offline) who was related to, had the same friends and relatives, and attended the same local mosque as San Bernardino reported terror gunman Syed Farook. Rafia Farook’s Facebook friends also included Syed Farook’s brother-in-law Farhan Khan, who spoke at the CAIR December 2 late night press conference after the San Bernardino attack. Their Facebook sites and most of their friends have been taken offline. However, before that happened, we learned that this same Rafia Farook liked the “Dr. Farhat Hashmi” Facebook site which promoted her teachings of the Al Huda Institute.
This is significant because of the frequently controversial positions of Dr. Farhat Hasmi and her Al Huda International Welfare Foundation (“Al Huda”), which have been the source of news reports by the National Public Radio, Pakistan news media, and Canadian news media.
On April 7, 2010, the National Public Radio (NPR)’s Asma Khalid provided a news report on Dr. Farhat Hashmi and her religious schools of Al Huda International Welfare Foundation (“Al Huda”) in Pakistan, entitled “Religious Schools Court Wealthy Women In Pakistan.” In the report, Asma Khalid wrote that “[i]n Pakistan, wealthy women have been returning to Islam and finding comfort in Al Huda, a new network of religious schools. The students insist the faith they are studying is peaceful and tolerant. But critics hear echoes of Taliban ideology in what the schools preach.”
Faiza Mushtaq was interviewed by Asma Khalid for her review of the “Al Huda” phenomenon, which she was writing about for a paper at Northwestern University stating: “These women come to Al Huda, spend a year or two years getting a diploma. And then these women go back to their hometowns or to their own neighborhoods, use the same sort of education materials, the course plans, Farhat Hashmi’s lecture tapes, and start offering a diploma course of their own.”
Asma Khalid reported that there were 200 branches of the “Al Huda” school, and stated at one such school “Here, like all of the Al Huda branches, the focus is the Quran. Students learn line-by-line translations and analysis. They learn about the importance of mercy and forgiveness -nothing political and nothing violent. It’s a stark contrast from the extremist rhetoric taught in some schools.” Asma Khalid continued that the Al Huda movement was a social movement ” a movement in the sense that it goes beyond individual transformation, ultimately has a vision of what it wants a Pakistani society to look like.”
Asma Khalid stated that “That scares some people in Pakistan, like Nadeem Paracha. He’s a columnist for the popular English-language newspaper Dawn. He says Farhat Hashmi may use gentle words but deep down, she’s an extremist. Her orthodoxy echoes the Taliban’s vision for Pakistan.”
Al Huda leader Dr. Farhat Hashmi provides her own web site of lectures and commentary. Dr. Farhat Hashmi was listed by the The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center of Jordan as one of the “World’s 500 most Influential Muslims in 2012.”
In the NPR report by Asma Khalid, Dawn Newspaper columnist Mr. Nadeem Parcha told Ms. Khalid that regarding the Al Huda movement that “I don’t care about if they call themselves soft Muslims or whatever. They are playing an equally destructive role. If the Taliban are playing a destructive role in a political manner, then these preachers are playing a very destructive role in a culturally and social manner.” NPR’s Asma Khalid concluded that Dr. Farhat Hashmi “insists that she preaches tolerance, not tyranny. But not everyone believes her. Hashmi’s classes exist in a climate of religious anxiety here in Pakistan. It’s a place where suicide bombers are ripping through markets in the name of Islam. And it’s a place where born-again, bourgeois Muslims are muddling the very idea of what it means to be a modern woman.”
Wikipedia reports that Dr. Farhat Hashmi “was formerly a lecturer and assistant professor at the Faculty of Usul-al-Din at International Islamic University, Islamabad.” In the report, it also quotes a report from the Pakistan Daily Times which stated “During a sermon when asked by a woman what a wife should do if her husband was unwilling to help her destitute parents, Hashmi promptly quoted An-Nisa, 34 (Chapter Al Nisa, verse 34) of the Quran, arguing that the wife should comply with her husband’s wishes, ‘no matter what, as he was her divinely appointed imam.'”
Four months after the NPR report on Al Huda, on August 19, 2010, Muslim Link Paper wrote a rebuttal to the NPR article, stating : “Area Muslim women responded to recent allegations that a famous female Islamic lecturer was promoting extremism, calling the media reports baseless. Dr. Farhat Hashmi’s Al-Huda International Welfare Foundation, an Islamic, educational institute that gives to the needy and also provides Islamic learning to women of all ages around the world through online lectures, was accused of promoting an ‘orthodoxy’ that ‘echoes the Taliban’s vision for Pakistan’ in an April 5, 2010 National Public Radio (NPR) segment. ‘I don’t see how those allegations could fit’, said Samiyah Mustafa from Rockville, 18, in an interview with the Muslim Link. She took an Al-Huda International Foundation course in January 2009 and finished it one month ago… The ‘sorority of Al-Huda’, as one sister in Saudi Arabia puts it, were dismayed to hear the institute being accused of breeding terrorism. ”
The Muslim Link article also drew some angry responses from commenters who stated they were Muslim women, who disagreed with and objected to Dr. Farhat Hashmi’s Al Huda campaign.
Tehmina Murtaza commented: “Farhat Hashmi has turned religion into a business. Women need to get educated and contribute towards science and math and business etc and not just dedicate their lives to propagating the ulhuda\’s version of religion. It is possible to be both a good Muslim and contribute to society. ”
Seema Kurd commented: “She should put more emphasis on teaching men how to respect women. This way misery in many muslim countries for women will end. Many muslim countries treat women like trash. There are forced marriages, honor killings, female children are being killed before they are born. Why can’t Ms, Hashmi see that. Thousands and thousands of women are being slaughtered every day in so call muslim countries. She should promote education for women and help poor women by giving them sholarships. A burka, veil, hijab, or abaya does not protect women. We should strongly teach young boys to respect females from an early age, so they should not look at other women as sex objects. I totally dislike her teachings. We all should be taught arabic in schools so we are able to read and understand Quran. No one can tell fellow muslims what the Quran says, s/he should be able to read and understand it. We women should not regards men as Gods. In Islam men and women are equal, and they should work together to bring up a family and respect each others friends, relatives, and parents.” (Quoted without editorial changes.)
In 2003, the Pakistan Daily Times also reported a letter from a Yasser Latif Hamdani who was concerned about broadcasts of Dr. Farhat Hashmi’s lectures in India: “To the horror of every right thinking Pakistani, ARY has started broadcasting the self-styled Islamic scholar Dr Farhat Hashmi’s lectures. Not only is she misleading the young women of Pakistan by preaching a puritan and narrow interpretation of Islam, her lectures are now being aired directly into India where Pakistan is already seen as a close-minded extremist nation. Dr Farhat Hashmi’s interpretation of Islam is very retrogressive, which is in stark contrast to the dynamic nature of the Islamic faith. For example, the topic of discussion at one of her recent lectures aired by ARY was ‘The status of laughing in Islam’. She all but declared laughing to be completely haraam and a major sin. According to her, the time spent laughing and being happy, would be better spent remembering Allah. Is Islam really as stifling as Dr Hashmi makes it out to be? Dr Farhat Hashmi and others like her represent a disturbing trend and may have an adverse impact on the women’s movement in Pakistan. Women in Pakistan have always stood up for their rights despite all odds, and fought off the bigotry of fanatical religious leaders. Now they are being betrayed by one of their own kind, who has capitulated and joined the ranks of those who wish to uphold the conservative and stifling set-up of a patriarchal society.”
The Pakistan Friday Times has provided a report by the Director at the South Asia Free Media Association, Khaled Ahmed, titled “A decade of millennial change,” where he expressed concern about growing extremism in Pakistan. Khaled Ahmed wrote: “The tragedy of 9/11 was reinterpreted and even rich women of Pakistan following the Al Huda movement of Farhat Hashmi heard from her that Osama was a ‘soldier of Islam’ and took it to heart. There was some English-Urdu divide but no one was willing to own the part Pakistan had played in providing Al Qaeda its launching pad of global terrorism in Pakistan.”
Khaled Ahmed has also made this same claim in the Pakistan Tribune: “India’s Zakir Naik and Pakistan’s lady proselytiser Farhat Hashmi, have called Osama bin Laden a soldier of Islam.” (I have found no confirmation for such a statement written in English from Farhat Hashmi.)
Khaled Ahmed, wrote in an article for the Pakistan Tribune, the “Daughters of Al Huda,” that “[w]e are wrong to look for terrorist tracts in the madrassa. The suicide bomber is not made through syllabi but through isolation from society. When we wish to produce a normal citizen we begin by socialising the child. Anyone withdrawing from society by rejecting its norms is ripe for the plucking by the terrorists. The residential madrassa does that. In Islamabad, a number of female ‘dars’ groups are busy doing that in varying degrees.” “Al Huda ladies wear hijab and abaya and are found in the big cities. They are usually well-heeled, using the group-isolating dars activity to reinvent personal identity through ‘discovery’ of Islam. Al Huda was founded in 1994 by Farhat Hashmi and husband Idrees Zubair, both PhDs from Scotland’s famous centre of Islamic learning, the University of Glasgow. Farhat, from Sargodha, where her parents were both members of Islami Jamiat Tulaba, is steeped in the ‘dars’ of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Maulana Maududi’s thought.”
Khaled Ahmed referenced a book by Ms. Sadaf Ahmad, an assistant professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore, entitled, Transforming Faith: The story of Al Huda and Islamic Revivalism among Urban Pakistani Women (Syracuse University Press 2009), which studies the Al-Huda movement. The book describes its focus as “In Transforming Faith, Sadaf Ahmad deftly explores how Al-Huda is fostering a new generation of educated, urban, middle-class women to become veiled conservatives. She offers an engrossing and sensitive account of how the school’s aggressive recruiting methods through informal religious study groups and a one-year degree program combined with the school’s techniques of persuasive teaching methods have turned Al-Huda into a social movement.”
Khaled Ahmed reported from this book that “Al Huda ladies began to alarm with their rejection of society. Some orthodox Muslims began to ask questions. The author found Al Huda graduates to be ‘very intolerant and judgmental toward people who were different from them’ (p 193). Mr. Ahmed also reported “The Canadians are probably worried because Farhat thinks Osama bin Laden is an Islamic warrior.” In his review of Ms. Sadaf Ahmad’s book on Al Huda, he stated that the “author opines: ‘They react strongly to her statements, such as her claim that the 80,000 Pakistanis who died in the 2005 earthquake did so because they were involved in immoral activities and had left the path of Islam, and fear that her brand of extremist Islam will further marginalise their Muslim communities within the country’ (p 196).”
In 2005, the Pakistan Daily Times also reported: “Farhat Hashmi, the controversial Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist, says those who died in the October 8 Pakistan earthquake were punished by God for their ‘immoral activities’.”
Farhat Hashmi began her Western operations in 2004, with a sponsorship in Canada, out of Toronto. In 2005, the Pakistan Daily Times reported that: “A Pakistani who sees Dr Hashmi’s arrival in Canada as ‘bad news’ for the community, told Daily Times that she has been in the country now for close to a year and in 2004, she and her husband ran Quran ‘courses’ in a mosque run by the Islamic Circle of North America (ISNA), a nationwide conservative group with close ties to the Jamaat-i-Islami in Pakistan and similar ideologically motivated groups elsewhere.”
In June 2006, after twelve Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were arrested in a significant terrorist bomb plot in Canada, the Pakistan Daily Times reported with concern about the growth of Dr. Farhat Hashmi’s schools in the West, in this case in Canada. The Pakistan Daily Times stated: “Pakistan needs to worry too because of the image its Islamists are giving it. Pakistan’s ‘rich man’s preacher” Farhat Hashmi, after making a lot of money off the penitent upper crust, has landed in Canada and bought property for her big Islamic institution. The school is the latest extension of Al-Huda International which Dr Hashmi founded in Pakistan in 1994 after graduating with a PhD in Islamic studies from the University of Glasgow. The school now counts more than 10,000 graduates and she has offered lectures to women in Dubai and London. She has moved to Toronto with her husband and family ‘in response to demand from young women in the city to gain a deeper understanding of Islam’. For a nominal fee of $60 a month, students attend classes four days a week for five hours a day. The moderate Muslims of Canada call her Wahhabi because of her unbending doctrines. ‘Hardline’ political Islam has been leveraged in Canada with Saudi-Wahhabi funds. A 2004 study found that millions of dollars were funnelled to extremist Islamic institutions. It said Saudi Arabia spent hundreds of millions of dollars to fund 210 Islamic centres and 1,359 mosques around the world, including in Canada. It cited an official Saudi report in 2002 that stated ‘King Fahd donated $5 million for the cost of an Islamic Centre in Toronto, Canada, in addition to $1.5 million annually to run the facility.’ The Saudi factor has since faded away but the ‘zone of contact’ of Pakistanis with their Arab brethren remains the mosque, facilitated by the English language, not available as effectively in the Arab world where a large number of expatriate Pakistanis live.”
In 2006, the Pakistan Daily Times also reported that “Farhat Hashmi, founder of the ultra-conservative Al-Huda centres, who moved to Canada nearly two years ago with her family has been told by Canadian immigration officials to leave the country but so far has failed to do so.” The Pakistan Daily Times reported that “Hashmi is operating classes attended by upscale, generally idle and mostly affluent Pakistani women and impressionable teenagers. Her reactionary teachings, which many see as bordering on retrogressive interpretations of Islam, have set a challenge to liberal sections in the Muslim Canadian community in Toronto, which is already trying to cope with increasing difficulties triggered by the recent arrest of 17 youngsters, almost all Pakistanis, on terrorism charges.”
No additional information has been available on her immigration issues with Canada, although it appears she is still living in Canada. She was to work for Islamic Society of North America Canada (ISNA Canada), but reportedly ISNA could not afford her salary.
A report in January 2011 by the Toronto Star stated that an audit of ISNA Canada identified mismanagement of $600,000 in donations, and indicated that funds designated for the poor were not reaching them. The Toronto Star reported: “Devout Muslims donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to one of Canada’s largest Islamic organizations on the promise that the cash would be used to help the poor. But only one in four dollars donated to a special pool of money at the Islamic Society of North America Canada (ISNA Canada) actually reached the needy.” The Toronto Star reported: “The organization had a world-renowned Islamic scholar on its payroll, despite her not actually working for ISNA, in a bid to help her immigrate to Canada, the audit revealed. Farhat Hashmi had been invited to come from Pakistan to deliver lectures several times throughout the mid-2000s. ‘This is a serious violation of the (Canadian Revenue Agency) rules and immigration rules to hire someone just in the books to help get through immigration,’ the auditor’s report said.”
But there has been no impact on Al Huda’s operations or growth in Canada, Pakistan, or the west.
The Pakistan Daily Times has remained concerned about the influence of Al Huda, however, and reported that: the “wave of fundamentalist thinking among largely middle class Canadian Muslims has received a fillip from Al-Huda founder Dr Farhat Hashmi who recently immigrated to Toronto. According to Farzana Hassan, a Toronto-based freelance writer, ‘As if the conservative push to uphold faith-based arbitration in Ontario was not enough of a blow to progress in Canada, another version of Muslim fundamentalism has recently begun to consolidate its foothold on Canadian soil, particularly in the greater Toronto area. Although Dr Farhat Hashmi is a well-known theologian with a doctorate from the University of Glasgow, she epitomises hard-core, doctrinaire orthodoxy – a worldview which appears to be gaining strength as a result of ambitious funding from certain quasi-governmental organisations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.'”
The Pakistan Daily Times report also quotes comments from Farzana Hassan, “[a]ccording to Ms Hassan, writing in the California-based outlet, Islam Today, Dr. Hashmi has come to wield “tremendous influence on the hearts, minds and souls of South Asian Muslim women, some of whom come from avowedly secular backgrounds.” The newest Canadian venture of Dr. Hashmi’s Al-Huda foundation involves the launch of a one-year diploma programme, aimed at producing female Muslim role models as ‘paragons of virtue and piety in every respect.’ Ms Hassan argues that this translates into ‘utter subservience, bigotry and ignorance,’ as those ‘trapped within such a programmed and brainwashed mentality refuse to recognise oppression to begin with, and if perchance they do, they justify it, citing examples of ‘inherent’ gender differences and ‘male superiority.'”
Raheel Raza, writing in American Thinker on November 8, 2008, stated that “In Mississauga, Ontario, a woman by the name of Farhat Hashmi runs an Islamic school for girls. Hashmi wears a full niqab (face covering) and encourages young girls to emulate her. She is known for promoting a very conservative Islamic ideology that is based on Wahhabism. She, like other Islamists is in favor of Sharia in Canada.”
Another Pakistan commenter criticizes the “anti-Shia poetry published by Dr Farhat Hashmi Salafi on her Facebook page has been written by notorious pro-Taliban hate cleric Taqi Usmani Deobandi in order to malign sacred Muharram rituals of Shia and Sunni Muslims.”
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As Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) noted at the beginning of this posting, the San Bernardino police are still investigating the cause of what appears to us to be a wanton terrorist attack on helpless and innocent people. As others have said, in the view of the human loss, any rationale for such a tragedy seems less consequential. However, as R.E.A.L. would do with any known and/or suspected extremist attack, we believe it is the obligation of those committed to standards of human equality, human rights, and human dignity to identify and challenge extremist views from any source: by gender, by race, by nationality, by identity group, by religion, when the safety and security of our human rights, and our most precious human right of life, is threatened.
We urge the supporters of Al Huda to accept the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) without qualification and exception, and to speak out on the attack in San Bernardino, and if they reject extremist views to make such rejection publicly very clear. There are clearly many concerns, much of which come from other Muslims, other Muslim women, people of Pakistani origin, and others, too many to simply ignore.
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorist plotter Glendon Scott Crawford of Galway, New York was convicted on August 21, 2015, for terrorist activity in a Ku Klux Klan plot to kill Muslim-Americans in the Albany, New York area. The KKK terrorist also plotted to attack the New York governor’s mansion. The anti-Muslim terrorist Glendon Scott Crawford sought to modify an industrial-grade radiation device intended to be used to kill Muslims in the Albany area. He was convicted of attempting to acquire and use a radiological dispersal device (count 1), conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction (count 2), and distributing information relating to weapons of mass destruction (count 3). The KKK terrorist Glendon Scott Crawford plotted to use “the device against Muslims, and he scouted mosques in Albany and Schenectady and an Islamic community center and school in Schenectady as possible targets. Crawford also suggested the Governor’s Mansion as a potential target.”
ALBANY, NY—A jury convicted Glendon Scott Crawford, 51, of Galway, New York, today after a 5-day trial on all charges relating to his efforts to acquire a weapon of mass destruction, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian of the Northern District of New York, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, and Special Agent in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division.
Crawford was convicted of attempting to acquire and use a radiological dispersal device (count 1), conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction (count 2), and distributing information relating to weapons of mass destruction (count 3). He faces at least 25 years of imprisonment on count 1, up to life on counts 1 and 2, and up to 20 years of imprisonment on count 3. He also faces a $2 million fine on count 1 and a fine of $250,000 on both counts 2 and 3.
Crawford is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15 at 9 a.m. by the Honorable Gary L. Sharpe, Chief United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York.
Crawford is the first person to be found guilty of attempting to acquire a radiological dispersal device, a statute Congress passed in 2004.
“Glendon Scott Crawford is a terrorist who would have used a weapon of mass destruction to kill innocent members of our Muslim community were it not for the good judgment of citizens who quickly alerted law enforcement to his diabolical plan and the outstanding work of the Albany FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. “This case illustrates how vigilance, the shared values of Americans of all faiths, and vigorous investigation can defeat dehumanizing bigotry and hatred.”
“Glendon Scott Crawford, a self-professed member of the Ku Klux Klan, was convicted of offenses relating to his deadly plan to use a radiological dispersal device to target unsuspecting Muslim Americans with lethal doses of radiation,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism, and we will continue to pursue justice against those who seek to perpetrate attacks on American soil.”
“Today’s verdict is a testament to the tremendous efforts of our Joint Terrorism Task Force in uncovering Crawford’s plot and the dedication of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in bringing justice to an individual who sought to inflict terror and harm on our innocent citizens,” said Special Agent in Charge Andrew W. Vale. “This verdict is a victory for us all, but we must continue to remain observant; it is only with the assistance of our community members and law enforcement partners that we can be successful in thwarting these violent plots.”
In April 2012, the FBI received information that Crawford, who was employed as an industrial mechanic with General Electric in Schenectady, New York, had approached local Jewish organizations seeking people who might help him acquire a radiation-emitting device to be used against people whom he perceived to be enemies of Israel. During a 14-month investigation, the Albany FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force learned that Crawford was attempting to solicit funds to purchase, and then weaponize, a commercially-available industrial-grade X-ray device so that it could be used to injure or kill others by exposing them to lethal doses of radiation.
During the investigation, Crawford, with help from accomplice Eric J. Feight, took steps to design, acquire the parts for, build and test a remote initiation device that could have activated the radiation machine, and acquired (from an undercover FBI Agent) the X-ray device that he planned to modify into a weapon of mass destruction. The X-ray device that he planned to use had been modified so that Crawford could not have used it to hurt anyone.
Feight pleaded guilty on January 22, 2014 to providing material support to terrorists. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 17, 2015 by Chief Judge Sharpe, and faces up to 15 years of imprisonment.
Crawford, a self-professed member of the Ku Klux Klan, wanted to use the device against Muslims, and he scouted mosques in Albany and Schenectady and an Islamic community center and school in Schenectady as possible targets. Crawford also suggested the Governor’s Mansion as a potential target.
With undercover agents, Crawford discussed placing the radiological device within a van or truck, parking the vehicle near the entrance to the target location, and then remotely activating the device so that it would direct lethal doses of radiation at people coming in and out of the target location.
A central feature of Crawford’s completed X-ray device was that its targets would be exposed to dangerous and lethal doses of X-ray radiation without being aware of the exposure, the harmful effects of which would likely not be immediately apparent.
This case was investigated by the Albany FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes FBI Special Agents as well as members of the New York State Police, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Albany Police Department, Troy Police Department, and New York City Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen Green and Richard Belliss of the Northern District of New York, who represented the United States during the trial, and Counterterrorism Section Trial Attorney Joseph Kaster with support from the National Security Division and Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.
An Ohio man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he traveled to Syria and trained alongside terrorists, then returned to the U.S. with plans to attack a military base in Texas or a prison.
Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, a U.S. citizen originally from Somalia, wanted to “kill three or four American soldiers execution style,” according to the indictment. Attacking the prison was part of a backup plan if that didn’t work, the charges said.
The charges were expected after his arrest earlier this year, said his attorney, Sam Shamansky. He said it was too early to talk about the specific charges.
The indictment also says Mohamud’s brother, Abdifatah Aden, fought with Jabhat al-Nusrah, a State Department-designated terrorist group, until he was killed in battle in Syria in June 2014.
A federal grand jury has charged Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 23, of Columbus, Ohio, with one count of attempting to provide and providing material support to terrorists, one count of attempting to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and one count of making false statements to the FBI in an indictment returned in the Southern District of Ohio.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart of the Southern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Angela L. Byers of the FBI’s Cincinnati Division announced the indictment returned today.
According to court documents, Mohamud left the United States in April 2014 for the purpose of training and fighting with terrorists in Syria.
As a naturalized citizen of the United States, he obtained a U.S. passport and purchased a one-way ticket to Greece. He did not board his connecting flight to Athens, Greece, during his layover in Istanbul, Turkey, and instead completed pre-arranged plans to travel to Syria.
According to the indictment, Mohamud stated that, after arriving in Syria, he obtained training from a group in shooting weapons, breaking into houses, explosives and hand-to-hand combat. Mohamed also stated that, after completing this training, he was instructed by a cleric in the organization to return to the United States and commit an act of terrorism.
“According to the charges in the indictment, Mohamud allegedly traveled to Syria to train with and fight alongside terrorists” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “Identifying and neutralizing the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters who return to the United States is one of the National Security Division’s highest priorities. I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this ongoing investigation and today’s charges.”
“Mohamud sought and obtained terrorist training in Syria,” said U.S. Attorney Stewart. “Upon his return to the United States, he discussed carrying out acts in the United States.”
“The Joint Terrorism Task Force and our law enforcement partners work tirelessly to protect our community,” said Special Agent in Charge Byers. “Cases like this are tangible reminders of the threats we face each day.”
Providing material support to terrorists and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization—in this case, namely, Jabhat al-Nusrah—are each crimes punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Making false statements involving international terrorism carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.
Mohamud is scheduled to be transferred into federal custody based on today’s indictment. He was arrested and detained on state charges on Feb. 21, 2015.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin and U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the JTTF for its work on this investigation, and also thanked Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and his office for their ongoing efforts in this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Doug Squires, Dana Peters and Salvador Dominguez of the Southern District of Ohio, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Gibson with the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office, and Trial Attorney Bridget Behling of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
A video of Al Qaeda American terrorist Moner Mohammad Abusalha aka “Abu Huraya al-Amriki” shows him ripping and burning his passport, and stating “You think you’re safe where you are, in America or Britain… You think you are safe, you are not safe.” NBC reported that the terrorist stated in a video ranting in English against the West, warning that it is ‘going to the dirt’ and to prepare ‘to enter the hellfire of Allah.’ ‘We are coming for you,’ he tells the camera. ‘Mark my words.’ ”
A report on the case of American terrorist Moner Mohammad Abusalha aka “Abu Huraya al-Amriki” from Florida indicates that he was responsible for a suicide bombing against a Syrian government building. The terrorist was affiliated with Al-Qaeda backed group al-Nusrah Front.
NBC reported: “The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the suicide bombing and said they have identified the American. They declined to release his identity or hometown. Word of the American’s death in the suicide bombing first surfaced Tuesday in tweets from the al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-linked group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The tweets identified the bomber only by his Arabic nom de guerre, “Abu Hurayra al-Amriki,” (Abu Hurayra the American) and said he carried out one of four suicide bombings of Syrian government sites in Jabal al-Arbaa’in in Idlib Province — the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks and months. “Abu Hurayra Al-Amriki performed a martrydom operation in Idlib, Jabal Al-Arba’een. May Allah accept him,” it said. he tweet included an image of a young, bearded and smiling Caucasian man holding a cat, as well as images of the bombing it said he had carried out. (One U.S. official pointed out that “Abu Hurayra” translates from Arabic as “father of the kitten” or “of the kitten,” and was the name adopted by a cat-loving companion of Muhammad, the founder of Islam.) Another tweet, this one in Arabic, included a photo showing the same light-skinned man sitting on the ground wearing what appeared to be a suicide vest.” “The incident is believed to be the first suicide bombing by a U.S. citizen in the Syrian civil war. Three Americans were confirmed to have carried suicide attacks in Somalia on behalf of another al Qaeda linked group, al Shabab, between 2009 and 2011.” “Syrian rebel sources based in London tell NBC News that other jihadi tweets suggest the American was of Palestinian descent.”
