AGAIN!!

ANTI-SEMITISM AT BOSTON'S OLD SOUTH CHURCH

Open Antisemitism at Boston's Old South Church (LGF)

Here’s an account by Joel Pollak of a truly disgusting event at Boston’s Old South Church, featuring speakers from the Arab hate group Sabeel, Desmond Tutu, and Muslim Brotherhood front man Mahdi Bray (the one who claimed his cheers for Hamas and Hizballah at a rally in Washington were just “jokes”): The cult of Israel-hatred.

CAMERA Op-Ed in Globe: "Hate at the Altar" (CAMERA)

The Op-Ed by CAMERA's Christian Media Analyst Dexter Van Zile in today's Boston Globe should not be missed. The piece, entitled "Hate at the altar," discusses the decision by Boston's Old South Church to host the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center and its founder Naim Ateek.

Here's an excerpt:

With ... three images, Ateek has figuratively blamed Israel for the attempted murder of the infant Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus the prophet, and for blocking the resurrection of Christ the Savior.

In the context of Christian-Jewish relations, language like this - which has preceded and justified the killing of Jews for nearly two millennia - is the equivalent of a noose hanging from a tree in the Old South. Its use during a time of violence can only serve to justify continued violence against Israeli civilians.

Read the whole thing here.

BETTER THAN PLAYING GOLF WITH DEREK JETER

NETANYAHU: 1, BOSTON GLOBE: 0

Our Hopeful Step, Your Foolishly Unilateral Withdrawal (WSJ-BOTW)
Yesterday we noted [ED. SEE MY POST HERE] that the Boston Globe was blaming Israel--and in particular "Ariel Sharon's foolishly unilateral withdrawal" from Gaza in 2005--for Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza. Blogger Harry Forbes notes that in 2005, the Globe sang quite a different tune:

To argue, as Benjamin Netanyahu did in resigning from the Cabinet, that disengagement from Gaza would create "a giant base for terrorism" is to argue that there should never be a two-state solution to the conflict. Denying Palestinians a homeland has been counterproductive for both peoples. Denying them even the hope of a homeland would be a road map to war everlasting.

Another protest frequently voiced by the Israeli right is that the withdrawal, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, only rewards Palestinian militants for the second intifadah--five years of attacks and other violent resistance to Israeli control. But this stance is backward-looking and self-defeating. . . .

Begun as a unilateral move announced by Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the step has since attracted a level of coordination that is encouraging on its own terms. . . . The settlements have often been called facts on the ground. The withdrawal from
Gaza, if successful, will be another important fact.

Well, at least the Globe wasn't wrong about everything. There is no denying that the withdrawal from Gaza is an important fact.

ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON ON THE DEFENSIVE

Islamic Society of Boston Abandons Lawsuit Against The David Project (The David Project)
Islamic Society of Boston Drops Lawsuits Against David Project, Concerned Citizens, Boston Herald and Fox, Abandoning All Of Its Claims Without Receiving Any Payment. David Project to Continue Public Records Lawsuit To Force Disclosure of Evidence on Boston Redevelopment Authority-Islamic Society Land Deal

The David Project has announced that the Islamic Society of Boston ("ISB") and its officers have withdrawn all of their claims against all of the citizens who raised concerns about the ISB, its funding and its leadership, as well as all of their claims against the Boston Herald, Fox-TV and the various journalists whose investigative pieces about the ISB in 2003 and 2004 disclosed damaging information about the ISB and its controversial land deal with the Boston Redevelopment Authority ("BRA"). The ISB and its officers have abandoned all of their claims against all of the defendants they sued 2 years ago, without payment to the ISB or to them of any money whatsoever.

The ISB's decision to drop all of its claims against all of the 17 defendants it sued back in 2005 alleging "defamation" and accusing them of conspiring to violate its civil rights comes just months after the defendants--who included a Muslim cleric, a Christian political science professor and the Jewish daughter of Holocaust survivors, as well as Boston civic leader William Sapers and national terrorism expert Steven Emerson--had begun through their lawyers to conduct discovery into the ISB's financial records, its receipt of millions of dollars in funding from Saudi Arabian and other Middle Eastern sources, its contributions to certain organizations and the records of certain of its officers and directors. The ISB's abandonment of its lawsuits comes only weeks after two of its original Middle Eastern Trustees, Walid Fitaihi of Saudi Arabia and Ali Tobah of Egypt, suddenly resigned as Trustees just before they were required to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts court hearing the case.

The David Project, whose public records litigation against the BRA forced the public disclosure of evidence regarding the below-fair-market land deal between the BRA and the ISB and the role played in that deal of BRA Deputy Director Muhammed Ali Salaam, will proceed exactly as before with its litigation, seeking the remainder of the documents presently withheld by the BRA. That litigation, The David Project v. Boston Redevelopment Authority, is on file in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston.

"We were determined from the beginning to act the way citizens should, by asking questions about this matter and by refusing to be intimidated into staying silent," said David Project founder and President Charles Jacobs, "and we intend to continue as we have before. Indeed, the evidence that has emerged about the transaction, about the BRA's failure to do due diligence into those whom it chose to subsidize and about the funding and the leadership of the organization that received this public subsidy is of extremely deep concern. That evidence not only vindicates the reporting of the courageous journalists whose investigative work broke the story back in 2003 and 2004, but validates many times over the concerns expressed by the good and decent citizens—Muslims, Christians and Jews- who refused to stay silent."

"Those citizens were vilified by the ISB for having had the courage to speak out", said Jacobs. "The ISB's abandonment of its claims without payment of one dollar to them, coming as it does as the ISB was ordered to turn over evidence, speaks more eloquently than anything else could about the truth of what these citizens said, about the validity of their concerns, and about the lack of merit to the ISB’s allegations that they had been ‘defamed’ and had been financially ‘damaged’. Above all, the ISB’s ultimate abandonment of its lawsuits speaks eloquently about the importance of refusing to be bullied and intimidated into silence."

"This has never been about the right of all people to worship, and to construct houses of worship, which is an important right possessed equally by all people, warranting great respect,” said Jacobs. “What it has been about is specific evidence about specific leaders of a specific organization, and about evidence regarding the funding of that organization and those whom it, in turn, was funding. The threat of Islamic extremism in the United States and elsewhere is a real one. Many of the most courageous and forceful individuals speaking out about this threat are themselves Muslims, and they deserve the support of all of us. The victory we have achieved in this case is a victory for many, but perhaps especially for them, as it bolsters and encourages them, and sends a message on their behalf that intimidation will not work."

SEE ALSO: QUESTIONS FOR THE ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON

QUESTIONS FOR THE ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON

New questions for the ISB by Jeff Jacoby (Boston Globe)
THE DATE was Oct. 28, 2000. The place: Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. At a demonstration against US policy in the Middle East, Abdurahman Alamoudi took the microphone. "Anybody supports Hamas here?" he yelled to the cheering crowd. "Hear that, Bill Clinton? We are all supporters of Hamas. Allahu Akbar! . . . I am also a supporter of Hezbollah!"

At the time, Alamoudi was a Washington fixture . He had attended White House meetings with Bill and Hillary Clinton, organized the first congressional end-of-Ramadan dinner, and lectured abroad for the State Department. He had founded the Islamic Society of Boston in 1982, and in 1990 helped launch the American Muslim Council and became its chief fundraiser. Three days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he would join George W. Bush at a prayer service dedicated to the victims.

But as his open declaration of support for terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah suggested, Alamoudi was not exactly a poster child for tolerant civic-mindedness. In 1996, he told a Muslim convention in Chicago, "I think if we are outside this country, we can say, 'O, Allah, destroy America,"' and three months after his Lafayette Park appearance, he was in Beirut for a terrorist summit with representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda. In 2004, Alamoudi pleaded guilty to terrorism-related crimes, and admitted plotting with Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy to assassinate the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. According to the US Treasury Department, "Alamoudi had a close relationship with Al Qaeda," and raised $1 million for it in 2003. He is currently serving a 23-year sentence in federal prison.

So when the Boston Herald reported in October 2003 that the Islamic Society of Boston had "long-standing ties" to Alamoudi, the ISB understandably wanted to distance itself from him. The society's lawyer, Albert Farrah, acknowledged that Alamoudi had been a founder of the ISB, but insisted that "he has had no role in, or affiliation with, the ISB for approximately 20 years." A statement posted on the ISB website maintains that "Alamoudi left Boston in 1984 and has had no contact with the Islamic Society of Boston since that time."

The ISB has since launched a defamation lawsuit against the Herald and a dozen organizations and individuals that have expressed concerns about the its possible connections to Islamist radicals. In the course of litigation, it has continued to insist that it has seen neither hide nor hair of Alamoudi. Yousef Abou-Allaban, head of the ISB board of directors, declared in an affidavit that "since at least 1992, the date I first became involved with the ISB, Mr. Alamoudi has had no role or relationship with the ISB."

Another ISB attorney, Howard Cooper, told The Boston Globe in December 2005 that it was outrageous to link Alamoudi with his client. "This man has had absolutely no connection with the Islamic Society for 15 or 20 years, yet they try to tie the two together," he said. Cooper also says that only people with "an intolerant attitude toward Muslims" would be asking questions about Alamoudi's ties to the ISB.

Now comes apparent evidence of a November 2000 payment from the Islamic Society of Boston for a speaking engagement by Alamoudi. The cancelled check, made payable to Light Star Travel and signed by former ISB trustee Walid Fitaihi, includes a memo line reading "Travel for speaker Abdurahman Alamoudi -- 11/10/00 - 11/12/00." Light Star Travel is located in Falls Church, Va., where Alamoudi was a resident before going to prison. It is part of the "Safa Group" of Virginia-based businesses that federal agents suspect are involved in "providing material support to terrorists, money laundering, and tax evasion," according to an affidavit by Special Agent David Kane of the Homeland Security Department.

There may, of course, be an innocuous explanation for this payment. Or the Islamic Society of Boston may no longer stand by its claim to have had "absolutely no connection" with Alamoudi for many years. But when I asked ISB spokeswoman Jessica Masse about this and other questions that have surfaced in recent weeks, she replied to my surprise that such questions "do not reflect a position of unbiased fact finding," and would be answered only "by our lawyers in court."

As the ISB lawsuit against those who had the temerity to criticize or question it proceeds, the list of questions keeps growing. At a time when radical Islamists worldwide are calling for anti-American jihad, it is easy to understand why such questions are being asked. Far more troubling is why they aren't being answered.

BOSTON COLLEGE STUDENTS STAGE ANTI-ISRAEL "PLAY" AT ISRAELI CONSULATE

Boston Moonbat Students Stage Anti-Israel "Play" at Israeli Consulate (LGF)

Here are some people who, in the words of one commenter at YouTube, really suck; Boston College students staging an incredibly obnoxious, violently bigoted episode of "street theater" outside the Israeli consulate in Boston, to try to cash in once again on the reputation of terror supporter and International Solidarity Movement member Rachel Corrie.

If you want to know any more about this disgraceful event, the creeps have posted a long screed at the YouTube page where they uploaded it, apparently with pride.

It's always appropriate to remind people who may not know, or have forgotten, what Rachel Corrie really stood for—screaming in rage and burning a bad facsimile of the US flag in a demonstration for Palestinian children shortly before her death: