Pamela Geller, American Thinker: The ABA’s Jihad

It's coming, fast and furious. The latest submission to Islamic supremacism and Islamic law (sharia)? The American Bar Association. Check out my article in today's American Thinker:

The ABA’s Jihad  Pamela Geller, American Thinker

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The American Bar Association (ABA) has decided to undertake the fight for Sharia law. The ABA’s Executive Counsel “has organized a Task Force to review the legislation of 14 states — Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming – in which anti-Sharia legislation has been introduced.”

The goal of the ABA’s Task Force is to fight against these legislative initiatives by free people, and to develop “an informal set of ‘talking points’ that local opponents of these initiatives could use to make their case in each of these states.”

Here’s the relevant extract from the ABA’s International Policies 2010: Download ABA_SIL_Official Policy Development and Positions_09-1

Oklahoma referendum related Rule of Law initiatives.

The Section’s Executive Counsel has organized a Task Force to review the legislation of 14 states — Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming – in which anti-Sharia legislation has been introduced.  The goal of the Task Force is to have a Report and Recommendation against such legislation as well as an informal set of "talking points" that local opponents of these initiatives could use to make their case in each of these states.  We received a lot of interest from members and have forwarded your interest.  At this point, the task force is in the planning and organizing stage. We will keep you updated as to the progress and we may call upon some of you who expressed their interest in this matter to volunteer.

In reality, Islamic law is the most radical and intolerant system of governance on the face of the earth. It denies the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and legal equality for women and non-Muslims. That’s why so many states are trying to ban it. And that’s why the ABA should be on their side. The Oklahoma ban was brilliant but poorly worded (which is why a liberal judge found it so easy to overrule the will of the people) and had 70% of voters approving of it — it is clear that American people understand the Islamic threat to our constitutional republic.

Instead, our cultural warlords in the mainstream media, academia and entertainment strictly enforce the blasphemy laws of Islam, which command that one must not insult or slander Islam. In Muslim countries, blasphemy is punishable by death; in the West, it is your character that is assassinated. Our last line of defense was always the rule of law. So it is particularly jarring and deeply disturbing to come upon this latest initiative from the ABA, the last line of defense against sharia creep.

There's much more. Go.

UPDATE: Stealth sharia (hat tip freedom loving American)

One of the most important ways in which Muslims now express their identity is in the courtroom, and since the 1970s there has been a steady growth in U.S. cases involving Muslims and Islamic law. This is partly due to immigration from countries that apply the shariah, and also because second generation Muslims and converts are now more confidently asserting their legal rights. As the Muslim population increases, it is becoming increasingly important for lawyers and the judiciary alike to try to understand the mysteries of the Islamic faith and address legal issues that specifically arise out of Islamic culture and beliefs.

While some religions allow its followers to easily segregate their “worldly” life from “spiritual/religious” life, Islam has failed to follow suit. A Muslim’s day-to-day life is intricately intertwined with his or her religious beliefs and teachings. A separation of the two is not only difficult but virtually impossible. Islamic states have addressed this issue by implementing a body of law derived from the Qu’ran and Hadith’s, ¹ which is known more commonly as the shariah. The literal translation of shariah means way or path. Shariah is the legal framework that regulates and provides guidance to a Muslim on how to conduct his or her private and personal affairs. However, shariah is not simply limited to the regulation and guidance of an individual’s personal affairs; it is in fact much more expansive and regulates businesses, governments, and states.

 UPDATE: Here is the ABA statement and my response: (also source emails)

the ABA issued the following statement in response to my article:

American Bar Association on 23/02/2011 10:52:44

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 22, 2011–The American Bar Association has taken no action in support of, or in opposition to, judges considering Islamic law or Sharia.

The American Bar Association has nearly 400,000 members, many of whom volunteer with any of the ABA’s 2,200 entities.  One of those 2,200 entities is the Section on International Law, which has elected to assemble a taskforce of several individuals to examine this issue.

These individuals are examining whether the proposed changes to the law impact important constitutional questions.  They are also considering implications for international commerce.

The actions of a few interested members within one section are not and cannot be interpreted to be those of the entire American Bar Association. Claims to the contrary are erroneous.

How dishonest and disingenuous. This is spin and damage control. 

The Middle East law committee launched a lobbying campaign, which the international law chair endorsed. It was a political act, not a neutral study. The "how we make policy" policy I posted below clearly indicated that policies promulgated by "small" committees through expedited executive procedures are clearly ABA policy. They are on the spot: Either their policy mechanism on Middle East law has been taken over by Middle East based lawyer(s) with Islamic supremacist sympathies, or it hasn't, and the Middle East law committee does represent institutional positions.

Further, is there any group or task force assigned to helping those who oppose Sharia to craft legislation to ban it? No. There is only an initiative to oppose those fighting the Sharia.

Here is the correspondence concerning the anti-sharia action plan. It went out to all the members of Members of the Middle East Committee:

Objet : Middle East Committee Update
 
Dear Members of the Middle East Committee,
 
With so much going on in the Middle East, it has been impossible to organize a February call.  However, we have been working on a number of projects off-line and want to give you an update on those.

The website project and survey.

We want to thank all of our members who took the time to fill-out the website survey and especially Justin Connor for creating the survey.  Through the survey results, we have made a few useful observations about the members of the Committee and your preferred method of obtaining information.  We are still working with the results to determine the best use of our resources, including the Committee webpage.  To that end, Justin has drafted a memo that synthesizes the survey results, that I have attached to this message.  Your observations and thoughts concerning the results are welcome.

We understand the need to add content to the website and intend to reach out to Committee Members in the near future to add content too.  In addition, we are working with the Section staff to determine if there is a way to post the email chains that were circulating on the listserve during the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions — sort of a “real time” web log from our Committee Members.  If anyone wants to volunteer to work out the logistics of that process and work with the ABA staff to post it on the website, please email me.

Oklahoma referendum related Rule of Law initiatives.

The Section’s Executive Counsel has organized a Task Force to review the legislation of 14 states — Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming – in which anti-Sharia legislation has been introduced.  The goal of the Task Force is to have a Report and Recommendation against such legislation as well as an informal set of "talking points" that local opponents of these initiatives could use to make their case in each of these states.  We received a lot of interest from members and have forwarded your interest.  At this point, the task force is in the planning and organizing stage. We will keep you updated as to the progress and we may call upon some of you who expressed their interest in this matter to volunteer.
 
Review of the article on Sharia.
We want to thank all of you who volunteered to review on the article concerning Islamic criminal law, as per our request.  We forwarded the article to the most qualified reviewers who were the first to respond.  A special thanks to Muddassir Siddiqui and Hisham Kassim for their needed and helpful comments.  The article will be published in the next edition of the International Law News.
 
Coming up in the near future.

[…]

 
We want to thank you all for your participation in the Committee.
 
Kind regards,

Madeleine Giansanti Cag, co-chair
Yasmine Lahlou, co-chair

I am particularly irked by the non-democratic way in which the decision to “oppose” state anti-Shariah legislation was reached within the ABA, as is obvious from the context of the message. ABA policy is controlled by a tiny minority of its membership, and almost always is developed “top-down.” This initiative seems to have been pushed forward through what the ABA calls a “blanket approval” or even more rapid “technical comment” procedure (see attached policymaking document for context), and appears to go beyond issuing mere statements to actively organizing lobbying to influence state legislation, which is generally forbidden for tax-exempt organizations under the IRC.

Here are the Middle East Committee officers, from the ABA website:

Co-Chair:  Madeleine Giansanti Cag, Yasmine Lahlou  Vice-Chair: Hdeel Abdelhady, Omar Hafez Ayad, Carole Basri, Anahita Ferasat, James David Filpi, Joe E Karam, Bassel Charles Korkor, Carrie Newton Lyons

This above message was sent around and endorsed by Salli Swartz, Paris-based chair of the ABA International Law Section (ABA_SIL). The committee has 400+ members. 

The ABA SIL “executive counsel” referred to in the email is a typo referring to the SIL Executive Council, a 40-member body that is well up the ABA food chain.

From: "Salli Swartz" –

This is terrific
Do you mind if I circulate the survey results to a larger audience including staff?
THANKS
Salli
 
Salli Anne Swartz
 
Chair International Section American Bar Association
 
Giraud Naud Amiot & Swartz
Avocats à la Cour
Paris France

It's time the ABA created a task force to help those of us who are fighting the introduction of Islamic law in America.

Here is the policy document I referred to above: Download ABA_SIL_Official Policy Development and Positions_09-1

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FREEDOM LOVING AMERICAN

13 years ago

“One of the most important ways in which Muslims now express their identity is in the courtroom, and since the 1970s there has been a steady growth in U.S. cases involving Muslims and Islamic law.”
http://www.americanbar.org/content/newsletter/publications/law_trends_news_practice_area_e_newsletter_home/estate_qadri_2.html
———————
isn’t that just wonderful America? Muslims expressing their identity in the courtroom…PUKE!

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sean

13 years ago

It could be that senior levels of the ABA have been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, or are being ‘influenced’ by the OIC’s petrodollars.

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Robin Shadowes

13 years ago

It’s sick they fight FOR sharia law and not AGAINST it. 🙁

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Mac-101

13 years ago

These Shyster LAUYERS are sick and TRAITORIST! They can read, they no what Sharia Law is. Hopefully the country can arise from the approachin colapse and they WILL be dealt with! G-d willin.

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Madeleine

13 years ago

Look at what happened with the New Black Panther party.
The DOJ was about to prosecute these guys for voter
intimidation with plenty of evidence (cracker, you are
about to be ruled by a black man!)
But Eric Holder and Obama said that No voter intimidation case is
going to be prosecuted where the defendant is black and the victim is white.

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Joe Six-Pack

13 years ago

Judge Charles in New Jersey must be proud.
The war is comming here. Once Islamic law starts up here, it can only be a matter of time before the violence and shooting starts. (It has already, just on a small scale)
I have never studied a conflict that had so many good reasons to wage war, both for and against. Islamic law is a major part of that conflict.

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Davod

13 years ago

“he goal of the Task Force is to have a Report and Recommendation against such legislation as well as an informal set of “talking points” that local opponents of these initiatives could use to make their case in each of these states.”
Report AND RECOMMENDATION against such legislation!

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Mitch

13 years ago

“…it is becoming increasingly important for lawyers and the judiciary alike to try to understand the mysteries of the Islamic faith and address legal issues that specifically arise out of Islamic culture and beliefs.”???
No – I say that it is becoming increasingly important for Muslims to understand that they are living in a country where we have freedom of speech and no religion can be protected from insult, and one where women are not treated like cattle.
When it comes time for our legal system to adjust to immigrants, it’s time for the immigrants to leave.

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Hainer

13 years ago

The ABA has no business interfering with the legislation of any state intended to preserve their law and culture.
The ABA has no business supporting a system that would bring unwanted change in the lives of the citizens of the sovereign states.
The ABA may have business with those who want Sharia law.

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Warren

13 years ago

Sorry to disagree with you Pamala, but the ABA is not the last line of defense against sharia creep. Our guns are. There is no way in hell that I will ever obey sharia law.

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Rocky Lore

13 years ago

I would like to see Democrats who defend Sharia Law live in a country that practices Sharia Law. They would be the first to wet their pants.

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two and a half YEARS

13 years ago

yall realize that link to the ABA is a 2008 citation

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avraidire

13 years ago

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/proposed-charter-of-muslim-understanding/
Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding
The Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding is an initiative intended to offer peaceful and moderate Muslims the opportunity to stand up and be counted as believers in those values that bind people together rather than separate them.
The threat posed by Islamic terrorism is one common to most, if not all,European countries.Islamic fundamentalists have however made great gains in the propaganda war by convincing many non-Muslims that they are the true representatives of Islam, whereas they are not.
The vast majority of Muslims that non-Muslims meet in every-daylife are decent, respectable, law-abiding and hardworking. Western governments and societies have to offer them their support while standing firm against the extremists.A great step forward in this process is Sam Solomon’s Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding.
The Charter allows Muslims from all strands of belief to make it plain that they reject those extremist interpretations of their religious texts that promote or excuse violence and bring Islam into conflict with the modern world. It affirms that they want to enjoy the freedoms of the West and live as law-abiding andpeace-loving people.
I very much hope that those groups claiming to represent Muslims will decide to sign and embrace it.
****************PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY*********************
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/proposed-charter-of-muslim-understanding/

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Bill

13 years ago

The legal profession could use a real injection morality; however, with so many petro-dollars floating around, I find that possibility more and more remote.

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NeonGalleon

13 years ago

NOW READ THIS AND TRY TO RESIST SPINNING THE TRUTH. IT DOES NO ONE ANY GOOD.
American Bar Association on 23/02/2011 10:52:44
The American Bar Association has taken no action in support of, or in opposition to, judges considering Islamic law or Sharia.
The American Bar Association has nearly 400,000 members, many of whom volunteer with any of the ABA’s 2,200 entities. One of those 2,200 entities is the Section on International Law, which has elected to assemble a taskforce of several individuals to examine this issue.
These individuals are examining whether the proposed changes to the law impact important constitutional questions. They are also considering implications for international commerce.
The actions of a few interested members within one section are not and cannot be interpreted to be those of the entire American Bar Association. Claims to the contrary are erroneous.

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Jim Baxter

13 years ago

“What is human?” GOD’s paradigm answer…
The President of the Becket Fund, recently stated, “…the American and Soviet systems…offered differing visions of freedom and human nature.” The missing element in every human ‘solution’ is an accurate definition of the creature. Back to basics.
In the Bible, God’s Word has accurately defined the human being as ‘the earth creature endowed with the ability to choose.’ His natural Rights, therefore, are merely an extension and application of natural human endowments, which all humans – everywhere in the world – possess.
Even as goldfish, canaries, and puppy dogs require an environment based on their natural features, so humans require external freedom to fulfill their natural internal abilities of decision, choice, selection, election, and consent. Uniquely, America was founded on this definitive paradigm in human nature. All nations should reject foundational human opinion that teaches otherwise.
Further, God’s gift of criteria for choosing between alternatives supplies us with superior standards for successful visionary choice-making. Humans cannot invent (or replace) criteria greater than self, ACLU to the contrary.
Defining ‘human’ accurately is the first step in establishing accurate and successful environments, institutions, and creative relationships for earth’s Choicemaker. Middle East governments, and all leaders, would do well to pay attention: nature and nature’s Creator speak with an authoritative voice. Psalms 25:12 119:30, 173 Joel 3:14 Selah
No one is smarter than their criteria.
Jim Baxter Sgt. USMC WWII & Korean War semper fidelis http://www.choicemaker.net/

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Uncle Vladdi

13 years ago

At BEST, They are trying to put them selves out of business!
Their business, as law-salesmen, only exists because citizens can complain about crimes!
When you try to make HATE a CRIME, you only make it “illegal” to HATE CRIMES (like islam)!
Sharia Crime (“Law”) only comes from the Qur’an, it’s a symptom, not a cause in itself.
Everything about sharia law is already a crime, because EVERYTHING ABOUT ISLAM IS ALREADY A CRIME!
What’s “holy” or religious about islam, anyway?!
Is it the “holy” human sacrifices (murders of all resisting non-members)?
😉
The “holy” raping?
The “holy” slavery?
The “holy” slave-raping?
The “holy” extortion racket?
The “holy” robbery of non-muslims?
The “holy” lying to everyone, all the time?!
(The ‘holy’ pedophilia?)!
Only Islam stones women to death. Only Islam, and Muslim perverts, torture little girls by practicing Female Genital Mutilation. Only Islam allows old pig pervert Muslim scumbags to kidnap little girls as young as six years old, then go through a sham marriage that the child doesn’t want, and then “legally” rape these children!
Islam is ONLY a crime syndicate, and the only “religious” part in it, is where they say:
“God told us to commit these crimes!”
So, if islam is a “religion” then it’s only “the religion of thieves” – it is the only religion that says it is entitled to take your stuff, and to use force to do so (and obviously, that includes taking your life)!
Right now, the American Constitution’s First Amendment only UN-Democratically PROTECTS all the unelected, self-proclaimed “religious” groups’ “rights” to freely speak & criminally threaten (terrorize) all non-members.
Even simply commenting in public about how very BAD islam really is, for all American politicians, is “Un-Constitutional” and so, “illegal” right now.
SO: Right now, America’s Foundational Dhimmi-Document, the Constitution, SUBMITS to the muslim’s Foundational Document, the Qur’an!
Everything about sharia law is already a crime.
Attempted crimes (and proclaiming that “crimes are good!”) are almost as bad as successful crimes, because they are still threats (attacks) against everyone else (they are still crimes)!
Advocating in public for the commission of crimes, and condoning ongoing crimes (sharia ‘law’) is itself a crime; if they proceed in this direction, the American Bar Association will be, in effect, openly proclaiming themselves to be criminals who encourage committing crimes!
So screw (and arrest, indict, try and convict) them all, for even trying it!
It’s obvious what the American Bar Association is up to, by their own confession:
“These individuals are examining whether the proposed changes to the law impact important constitutional questions. They are also considering implications for international commerce.”
This really only means that the corporate-owned sales-puppets (‘politicians’) and their pet media, have assessed the situation like this:
“If we criticize islam, and we call it like it is, then we won’t be able to sell our stuff to the muslim criminals for the oil any more.
So we’ll just pretend that, if we haven’t *personally* read the Qur’an, then it *isn’t* really only a permanent death-threat to everyone! Whee!”
As for these allegedly “important constitutional questions:” they hope that, because the First Amendment protects “religion” without providing a definition of same, that crime syndicates like islam, which self-proclaim them SELVES to be religions, will also continue to be protected from the American Government’s passing any laws against them.
So, we must all simply ask ourselves: “Do crimes which proclaim them selves to be somehow “religious” in nature, thereby get a free pass from our human laws against ALL crimes against humanity – or not?”

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Saul

13 years ago

At WORST, if and when the American Bar Association officially adopts this stance, they will have gone from merely being advocates for CRIMINALS, to openly being advocates for CRIMES!
They will be arguing for the criminals “rights” to commit their crimes in the first place!
This is similar to the UN’s current “anti-blasphemy” stance where (by pretending that ‘religion’ like ‘race,’ is an unalterable human condition) they advocate for the victims of these enforced superstitions’ “rights” to be victimized by these ongoing mental frauds!
😉

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Geezer

13 years ago

We all know that Obama and his ilk are supporting this. Now, how does the average citizen put a stop to this?
We’ve already seen that Obama totally ignores the Constitution, issues fiat orders to his czars in direct opposition to laws our Congress has passed and the judiciary has found legal and continues to defy all the precepts of our Republic form of government.
Is it time to remove Obama?

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[email protected]

13 years ago

it is WAY WAY WAY PAST TIME TO REMOVE OBAMA. IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE HOW SO MANY AMERICANS CAN BE SO STUPID AS TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SHARIA LAW. SHARIA LAW WILL KILL EVERYONE WHO IS NOT A MUSLIM. THE KORAN TEACHES THAT THIS IS ALLAH’S WILL AND COMMAND. THE KORAN TEACHES THAT IF THEY KILL US THEY WILL BE REWARDED IN HEAVEN. THE KORAN ALSO TEACHES THEM THAT THEY NEED TO LIE TO US TO FURTHER THE CAUSE OF ALLAH AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE MUSLMS ARE DOING IN AMERICA. LYING TO US BIG TIME.

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jo

13 years ago

Dear pamala I have been trying to e.mail you, I am from England I totally follow you and agree with you . I know the truth because I have spent so much time in lebannon. I am half jewish of which I am proud like my mother too before she died. My concerns are george golloway as he has been trying to get into Canada and he was banned. He is a danger to us as he supports caire and I cannot believe what i have heard, a scottish man turn’t Islam has said. He definately is out to insite extreemisum in the islamic groups. IF he loves Islam so much like he says, why dont he live in Saudia, and get out of our beautiful scottish isles. I feel disgusted that he can preach what he does about Islam. From Joanne Allan … ps excuse speeling mistakes, god bless you love fom me…. I’m Reading Wafa sultans book.

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