8/16/2017 Looking Into The Heart Of The American Muslim Alliance : Iowa State Rep Ako Abdul-Samad Revives Terror Tied Radical Muslim Organization This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/7580 Looking Into The Heart Of The American Muslim Alliance Iowa State Rep Ako Abdul-Samad Revives Terror Tied Radical Muslim Organization August 16, 2017 Dr. Stephen M. Kirby The American Muslim Alliance (AMA) was founded as a non-profit organization in California in 1994 (EIN 94-3208595); Agha Khalid Saeed was its founder and the first chairman. The AMA was headquartered in Fremont, CA from 1994 until at least 2015. Over the years the AMA had fluctuating financial support. According to available IRS Form 990's, no contributions were reported in 2003 and 2004. The highpoint in annual contributions was 2007, with $135,451.00. Annual contributions diminished after that, with total contributions for 2010 being only $3,232.00. There were apparently no Form 990's filed after 2010. As of August 14, 2017, the AMA showed being "FTB Suspended,"[1] meaning that the AMA had failed to meet tax requirements and the AMA's "powers, rights and privileges, which include the right to use the entity's name in California" had been suspended by the California State Franchise Tax Board.[2] At some point the AMA had obtained an address in Washington DC. And in 2017 the AMA also obtained an address in Iowa. Iowa State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad has been affiliated with the AMA for almost ten years;[3] at some point in 2017 he reportedly became the new chairman of the AMA.[4] On June 1, 2017, Abdul-Samad filed Articles of Incorporation for an organization named American Muslim Alliance of Iowa, Inc. (Iowa Business Number 548134).[5] The Articles of Incorporation state that "The number of directors now constituting the board of directors of the corporation is four (4), and the names and addresses of those persons are as follow:" But there is only one name listed: Ako Abdul-Samad. And the document is signed by Abdul-Samad as both "Incorporator" and AMA Iowa "Chair."[6] Toward the end of June 2017, Abdul-Samad announced that "effective immediately," he was moving the AMA's "headquarters from Washington D.C. to Des Moines."[7] However, as of August 14, 2017, the recently revised AMA website showed an official address in Newark, CA,[8] while the AMA Facebook page showed a Washington DC address.[9] AMA Chairman Abdul-Samad said that the AMA needed a "new face."[10] So what did the AMA's "old face" look like? Early Activities AMA Second Annual Conference - 1997 This conference took place in October 1997, and during the conference the AMA distributed anti- Semitic and Holocaust revisionist material.[11] Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) - 1997 http://www.militantislammonitor.org/pf.php?id=7580 1/14 8/16/2017 Looking Into The Heart Of The American Muslim Alliance : Iowa State Rep Ako Abdul-Samad Revives Terror Tied Radical Muslim Organization Starting in 1987 the IAP served as the "primary voice" of Hamas within the United States.[12] AMA Chairman Agha Saeed spoke at the IAP's December 1997 Conference. One of the panels on which he spoke was titled "Zionism: A Racist and Colonialist Ideology"; on this panel he was joined by Sami al-Arian.[13] Another speaker was Ahmed al-Kufahi. In his presentation he said: "In Islam, if your enemy occupies a small piece of your land, then you have to declare jihad against the enemy. Jihad becomes a must and a religious obligation on all Muslims to go and fight the enemy…Palestine is occupied by the enemy."[14] Saeed was also a guest speaker at the 1996 and 1999 IAP conferences.[15] Palestine: 50 Years of Occupation - 1998 On May 24, 1998 at Brooklyn College, a conference took place in the Whiteman Auditorium titled Palestine: 50 Years of Occupation. The conference was organized by the Islamic American Alliance for Palestine (IAAP) and the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP); it was co-sponsored by the AMA, the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and other Muslim organizations.[16] Outside the auditorium vendors were handing out Hamas and Holy Land Foundation-related materials; inside the auditorium the audience of about 500 was being reminded of the Jews' "infidelity," "stealth" and "deceit," and that Jews were descendants of the apes.[17] United for al-Quds - 1999 On May 29, 1999, the AMA was a co-sponsor of a conference in Santa Clara, CA titled United for al- Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem); other sponsors included the HLF and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). One of the speakers was AMA Chairman Agha Saeed, who spoke on the topic "Al Quds in the American Muslim Agenda." Other speaker topics included "Al-Quds: Occupation and Resistance," and "Jerusalem: First and Last Scene of Faith's Struggle."[18] Steven Emerson later wrote that the purpose of this conference was "to promote the Islamic State of Palestine in place of the current State of Israel. One speaker, Hatem Bazian, argued, ‘in the Hadith, the Day of Judgement will never happen until you fight the Jews…until the trees and the stones will say, oh Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me. Come and kill him!"[19] Hillary Clinton's Senate Campaign A goal of the AMA was to get Muslim-Americans more involved in American politics. But there was a problem in 2000 when they became involved in Hillary Clinton's New York Senate campaign. This is from an October 2000 New York Times article: "Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday that she would return $50,000 in political contributions received at a fundraising event sponsored by a Muslim organization based in California. Mrs. Clinton said she was offended by remarks attributed to members of the organization, the American Muslim Alliance. The group's president [Agha Saeed] has been quoted as defending a United Nations resolution that he said allowed for the use of armed force by Palestinians against Israel, while other members have been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks…"The statements that are attributed to the organization and some of its members are offensive and outrageous," she said." [20] Former New York Mayor Ed Koch had this to say about the matter: http://www.militantislammonitor.org/pf.php?id=7580 2/14 8/16/2017 Looking Into The Heart Of The American Muslim Alliance : Iowa State Rep Ako Abdul-Samad Revives Terror Tied Radical Muslim Organization "This was a vicious, dirty trick," said Koch, referring to Muslim groups opposed to Israel. "Their intent was to smear her and convey that instead of being pro-Israeli, she is pro-Arafat. They are trying to destroy her. It is an obvious dirty trick, and it should get the back of our hand."[21] It would take a lot of "offensive and outrageous" remarks for a politician in the year 2000 to return $50,000 in campaign contributions. I mentioned previously that the AMA's website had been recently revised. The previous website had been taken down sometime around August 5, 2017; the revised site was in place as of August 14, 2017, but the prominent pictures of the individuals we will be examining below had been removed. The reality is that the AMA's connection to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks is not at all unusual. The AMA has even supported terrorists who hated Jews and the United States and wanted to destroy Israel. The evidence of this has been removed from the AMA website; fortunately I made numerous screenshots of the AMA website on June 25, 2017, and we will use those screen shots. Mohamed T. Mehdi (M.T. Mehdi) On the previous AMA website was this picture of Mohamed T. Mehdi standing with Malcolm X.[22] Mehdi was influential in Malcolm X being allowed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca after converting to Islam in 1964. But Mehdi was an interesting figure for other reasons. He actually said that Sirhan Sirhan was justified in his 1968 killing of Robert Kennedy: "Apologists for Sirhan quickly sprang up. For example, Mohamed T. Mehdi, secretary-general of the Action Committee on American-Arab Relations, published "Kennedy and Sirhan: Why." According to Mehdi, Sirhan's act had a rational rationale: "The one and only reasonable explanation for Sirhan's decision is to bring the tragedy of Palestine to the attention of the American people so that the people of the United States would not continue the strange policy of helping Zionist Jews of Europe and elsewhere go to the home of Christian and Moslem people of Palestine." Mehdi concluded that Sirhan had acted in justifiable self-defense: ‘[W]hen Robert F. Kennedy supports Israel against the Arabs, he is assuming the role of an Israeli high ranking official…. Sirhan was defending himself against those 50 Phantom jets Kennedy was sending to Israel.'"[23] Mehdi later said that both Kennedy and Sirhan were "victims of Zionism,"[24] and that Sirhan was a "political prisoner" who should be released.[25] In 1975 Mehdi had this interesting comment about the PLO killing of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich: "‘We have condemned the PLO terrorism at Munich and we have condemned the causes.' He said the Israeli athletes had displaced Palestinians at the games. ‘Israel can never ever have peace if they continue to steal land,' Mehdi said."[26] In March 1993 Mehdi was the spokesman for Omar Abdel Rahman, [27] and Mehdi was later referred to as Abdel Rahman's "adviser." [28] Abdel Rahman was also known as the Blind Sheik.