In the aftermath of the largest loss of Jewish life in one day since the Holocaust, Islamists across the United States are offering both tacit and open approval of the attack perpetrated by Hamas.
In Virginia, the Iranian regime-linked Manassas Mosque, explicitly declared its support for the Hamas terrorist organization in a recent newsletter. The newsletter declared:
Ammar Shahin, imam of the Islamic Center of Davis, posted pictures of Hamas’s attack on the day of October 7th, later urging “support for the “support Gaza against the Allies” and claiming that “victory is near.”
Yasir Qadhi, imam at the East Plano Islamic Center declared that, not being employed at a university or other institution, he has “the luxury of bluntly saying I am not going to condemn the fight of an oppressed people.” He advises Muslims that, if they’re in a difficult position, they are allowed to “condemn the killing of innocent people” so long as they recognize the question “do you condemn Hamas” is a “set-up.”
At the same event, Imam Suleiman Hani echoed Qadhi’s point, stating that the “premise is problematic” when asking if Hamas should be condemned. Hani went on to claim, speciously, that Hamas has previously offered peace agreements to Israel, in the face of supposed Zionist intransigence.
Hassan Shibly added he had “no obligation to condemn Hamas.” Shibly has separately posted on social media that he “stands with freedoms [sic] fighters,” and that “Those who fight armed invaders are engaging in righteous Jihad are are true mujahideen.”
Elizabeth Sohail, the Program Development officer at Baitulmaal, has denounced vigils for Israeli victims of the October 7th massacre as “propaganda.” Baitulmaal is a Texas charity that openly funds Hamas proxies in Gaza. It is run by Mazen Mokhtar, a former fundraiser for the Taliban and other jihadist groups.
Nihad Awad, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) tweeted in Arabic on October 7, calling for all Arab peoples to reject normalizing relations with Israel. In 1994, Awad publicly stated, “I am in support of the Hamas movement.” The Hamas Charter calls for obliterating Israel and says, “There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.” On October 10, Awad called NewsNation host Dan Abrams an “Apartheid propagandist” for criticizing MSNBC for refusing to name Hamas atrocities for what they are, the actions of terrorists. Hamas is a U.S. designated foreign terror organization.
American Muslims for Palestine released a statement on October 7, saying, “American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) are gravely concerned about the unfolding crisis in Gaza, precipitated by increased Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.”
“Palestinians have been murdered by the thousands & we say nothing,” tweeted AMP’s Executive Director, Osama Abulrshaid, on October 8, adding, “And suddenly Joe Biden pops up & starts teaching us about morality & humanity. Well, screw your morality!” AMP’s lobbying arm, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, condemned the Biden administration’s response, calling it a “disconnect between rhetoric and reality.” Last year, a federal judge determined that a years’ long lawsuit — that alleges AMP is linked to Hamas — could proceed.
Ayah Ziyadeh, AMP’s advocacy director, pointedly refused to condemn Hamas in an interview with CBS News Miami, referring to Hamas’s actions as a “response” and not an “attack.” For the West to expect the designated terrorist organization Hamas to remain a “victim”, she argued, is “unjust in itself.”
Since the October 7th attacks, AMP officials have led a forceful campaign to justify Palestinian “resistance.” Webinars organized by AMP and other Islamist groups, have featured Nihad Awad, head of the Islamist-founded Council on American-Islamic Relations, who denounced President Biden as a “Zionist” who spews “Israeli propaganda”; as well as references by Muslim American Society’s Ibrahim Zeini to Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” who are beginning to “shift” the Palestinian cause to “victory.”
AMP’s Director of Outreach & Community Organizing, Taher Herzallah, has been particularly vociferous since October 7th, referring to “Jews and Christian Zionists,” as “enemy number one” (although later adding that anti-Zionist Jews can be partners).
Mohammed Ali Elahi serves as imam for the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. In an interview with CBS News, Detroit, Elahi spoke alongside Rabbi Asher. Asher unequivocally condemned the killing of civilians on both sides and condemned Hamas. Elahi responded saying, “War is the not answer. Extremism is not the answer. Unfortunately, Netanyahu — based on the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz — he is the one responsible for these clashes,” adding, “We believe the path to peace is justice.” Elahi served in the Iranian regime’s Navy in the 1980s and reportedly came to the U.S. in 1991 to inspect Tehran’s Hezbollah network.
Suhaib Webb, an American imam, runs an online school that has the goal of producing “passionate invigorated Muslims.” On October 9, Webb responded to the Hamas attack on Israel, saying, “It is fundamentally flawed to accuse people who are seeking their humanity and dignity and respect of being inhumane.” Post 9/11, Webb reportedly attempted to post bond for Hussein Al-Attas who drove the “20th hijacker” to flight school. Webb has said, “I understand you might have some animosity to them (Jews) but try to make some dawa [outreach], you never know what might happen.”
On October 9, the Islamic Society of Baltimore posted a video to its YouTube channel stating, “‘Do not forget us,’ said Palestine. ‘Dear Palestine, we never will,’ replied the Ummah.” In 2004, the mosque’s then cleric, Mohammed El-Sheikh, “justified Palestinian suicide bombings.”
Khaled Beydoun, a professor at Wayne State School of Law, blamed the existence of Hamas and ISIS on Israeli and American actions, tweeting, “There would be no Hamas without the occupation. There would be no ISIS without the illegal war in Iraq. Vile actors are born from even more vile acts and the contexts they sow.” He describes himself on his website as “a leading thinker on national security.”
Ismail Menk, “Mufti Menk,” a self-described “leading global Islamic scholar” tweeted a call to “Allah” to “Grant [the Palestinians] the victory they deserve.” In the past, Menk has advocated for an Islamic theocracy and called for stoning women who fornicate.
Omar Suleiman, Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute, tweeted on October 13, “Be courteous, but be courageous. Be smart but be willing to make the sacrifices necessary for your principles. Our people in #Palestine have suffered for too long, they need us now more than ever to not be silenced.” In his Friday khutbah (sermon), Suleiman said, “Who cares if we face consequences for trying to be their voice outside of the trench,” later adding, “Palestine is not a losing battle. Palestine will win inshallah…Al Aqsa will be liberated…They will win…when Allah wants it to happen…Are our favorite politicians going to turn their backs on us? Are you maybe going to get a letter from your administration at a university? Are you going to get slapped on the wrist? Will you have certain consequences that will be faced? Is your social media going to be taken down? Maybe. Who cares.” In 2014, Suleiman posted on Facebook saying, “The Zionists are the enemies of God, His Messengers, sincere followers of all religions, and humanity as a whole.”
On October 7, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) wrote on Facebook, “By actively, and often violently, preventing their pursuit of a self-defined identity, national autonomy, and global recognition, Israeli occupation and the world’s continued silence has offered Hamas and other groups the political vacuum needed to propel themselves into positions of leadership and justify their violent attacks.” MPAC has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and a “history of sanitizing jihad and portraying terrorists as noble.”
On October 17, the Bridgeview Mosque Foundation and the Iman Foundation hosted Tarek Khalil, an education coordinator for the aforementioned AMP, to give a history of Gaza. “Okay, I’m going to give you two sides, and you tell me which side has a better claim to self-defense,” Khalil told viewers, continuing, “Colonizer, occupier, dispossessor, oppressor on one side. Colonized, occupied, dispossessed, oppressed on the other…What they’re defending is an oppressor’s claim of self-defense…[Biden] is justifying the brutal slaughter of an entire people.”
The FBI reportedly investigated the mosque in 2003 for “terror-related money laundering,” and a couple years later the mosque had their bank accounts closed for funding a group tied to Osama bin Laden. The U.S. government listed Jamal Said, the mosque’s current imam, as an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation, an organization found guilty of funneling millions to Hamas.
Houda Atassi, founder of International Humanitarian Relief (IHR), a charity with a branch in Illinois, posted, on October 8th, clips seemingly of Hamas’s October 7th terrorist attack, and declared: “We pray for their victory.”