Solution to terror? ‘Shut down mosques’

Recently my organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), released an 18-point platform for defending freedom. It called for "surveillance of mosques and regular inspections of
mosques in the U.S. and other non-Muslim nations to look for
pro-violence materials. Any mosque advocating jihad or any aspects of
Sharia that conflict with Constitutional freedoms and protections should
be closed."

We followed that up with a call to close three U.S. mosques with ties to jihad terrorists: the Islamic
Society of Boston, the Dar al-Hijrah Mosque of Fairfax County, Va., and
the Noor Center of Columbus, Ohio. Now WND has run an article about this, with a poll attached about whether or not you think jihad terror-inciting mosques should be closed: vote here. The results as of this morning are below. As you can see, the voting is overwhelmingly in favor of closing these jihad mosques. Will politicians and law enforcement officials heed the voice of the people?

Solution to terror? 'Shut down mosques' by Drew Zahn, WND, April 29, 2013

A
“human rights” organization is calling on government authorities to
shut down three U.S. mosques it claims are not merely religious centers,
but political entities and “breeding grounds for jihad terror.”

The American Freedom Defense Initiative, or AFDI, explains its demands are part of an 18-point plan to protect the nation from Islamic terror in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.

AFDI Executive Director Pamela Geller said in a statement, “In accord
with those calls for responsible law enforcement regarding subversive
activities in U.S. mosques, we are asking that government and law
enforcement officials launch immediate investigations into the Islamic
Society of Boston, the Dar al-Hijrah Mosque of Fairfax County, Va., and
the Noor Center of Columbus, Ohio.”

“Any mosque advocating jihad or any aspects of Shariah that conflict
with constitutional freedoms and protections should be closed,” AFDI
insists.

AFDI argues shutting down the mosques wouldn’t be a violation of the
Constitution’s First Amendment protecting freedom of religion, because
Islam is not merely a religion, but a “political system.”

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“AFDI calls for the U.S. and other non-Muslim governments to
recognize officially that Islam is a political movement and so not
solely religious in the strict sense of the U.S. Constitution,” the
organization states on its website. “Islam in its mainstream theological
formulations and its dominant form throughout its history – not
‘extremist Islam’ or ‘hijacked Islam’ or ‘Islamism,’ but Islam in the
Qur’an and Sunnah as understood by Islamic jurists and theologians – can
and should be regarded as an authoritarian and supremacist political
system as well as a religion, and thus Muslim groups should be subject
to all the scrutiny and legal requirements of political organizations,
without being able to shield their political activities behind the
protection of religious freedom.”

AFDI, therefore, is calling for “immediate investigation into foreign
mosque funding in the West and for new legislation making foreign
funding of mosques in non-Muslim nations illegal,” as well as for
“surveillance of mosques and regular inspections of mosques in the U.S.
and other non-Muslim nations to look for pro-violence materials.”

AFDI explained in a statement why it specifically called for closure of the three mosques in Massachusetts, Virginia and Ohio.

The Islamic Society of Boston, AFDI claims,

• Was founded by Abdulrahman Alamoudi, now in prison for financing al-Qaida;
• Was attended by Aafia Siddiqui, now serving an 86-year-sentence for plotting a jihad attack in New York City;
• Was attended by Tarek Mehanna, now serving 17 years in prison for conspiring to aid al-Qaida;
• Was attended by Ahmad Abousamra, who has fled to Syria and is wanted by the FBI;
• Was attended by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the accused Boston Marathon bombers.

The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Fairfax County, Va., AFDI asserts,

• Was established with funds from a Muslim Brotherhood group;
• Was led by Mohammed al-Hanooti, the mosque’s imam from 1995-1999,
  who was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade
  Center bombing;
• Was led by Anwar al-Awlaki, the mosque’s imam from 2001-2002, who
  the U.S. government says was involved in al-Qaida terrorist operations
  and has had extensive contact with three 9/11 hijackers, the Fort Hood
  jihad murderer and the Christmas underwear bomber;
• Included Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a camp counselor at the mosque now in prison for plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush;
• Was attended by Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood jihad mass murderer.

The Noor Mosque in Columbus, Ohio, AFDI asserts,

• Is led by Dr. Hany Saqr, previously an imam for another mosque,
  which at that time was the base of operations for al-Qaida, including
  convicted jihadists Iyman Faris, Nuradin Abdi and Christopher Paul;
• Has been directly linked to the Somali Muslims who have gone from the U.S. back to Somali for jihad terror training;
• Has had members who threatened the life of Rifqa Bary, a teenage girl who left Islam for Christianity.

“These mosques are not unique,” Geller claims. “There are many others
like them. But they are the tip of the spear. It is time that our
officials demand that they obey American laws or be held accountable for
not doing so.”

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AFDI asserts itself as a “human rights” organization because of its
stance against the encroaching tyranny of Islam’s Shariah legal system,
claiming it defends the freedom of speech from Islamic “blasphemy” laws,
the freedom of conscience from the Islamic death penalty for apostasy
and the the equality of rights of all people before the law – as opposed
to Shariah’s “institutionalized discrimination against women and
non-Muslims.”

Should U.S. mosques be shut down to reduce acts of terror?

• Yes, enough is enough. Shut them all down before more people are killed by mosque-inspired terror (32%, 486 Votes)
• Yes, and also temporarily stop immigration of Muslims to this country (32%, 483 Votes)
• Yes, if Christian churches were promoting this, the government wouldn't have any problem shutting them down (8%, 128 Votes)
• Yes, but only if legal due process proves they are actively promoting terrorist acts (8%, 118 Votes)
• Yes, by their nature – preaching against Jews and America – they are increasing radicalization of U.S.-based Muslims (7%, 112 Votes)
• Yes, every time a terrorist incident is attempted, the perpetrator is tracked back to a subversive mosque (5%, 75 Votes)
• No, but every surveillance technology conceivable should be used, since many are proven hotbeds of terrorist activity (2%, 31 Votes)
• No, not unless it's been proven that they are actively promoting terror (2%, 24 Votes)
• No, that would be an evil, un-American violation of our core principles of religious freedom (less than 1%, 15 Votes)
• Yes, but because of America's strong constitutional freedom of religion, it would have to be an extreme case (less than 1%, 15 Votes)
• Other (less than 1%, 10 Votes)
• No, if they're meeting in one place, they're easier to track (less than 1%, 6 Votes)
• No, you can't punish an entire religion for the misdeeds of a few who abuse it (less than 1%, 5 Votes)
• No, and the question is offensive (less than 1%, 3 Votes)
• No, not unless we shut down Christian churches as well (less than 1%, 2 Votes)