The GMBDW has done a number of posts exposing the Muslim Brotherhood ties of US Homeland Security advisor Mohamed Elibiary and the allegation that he leaked sensitive law enforcement documents. It has come to our attention that in December 2004, Mr. Elibiary spoke at a tribute to Ayatollah Khomeini titled “A Tribute To The Great Islamic Visionary” sponsored by the Metroplex Organization of Muslims in North Texas in Irving, TX. When the event was criticized in an editorial carried by a local newspaper, Mr. Elibiary offered the following explanation claiming that he hadn’t realized that “the event honored Imam Khomeini”:
I have been asked whether, if I had realized before I spoke that the event honored Imam Khomeini, I would have left immediately. I don’t know. My activism, which is designed to bring Muslims into the mainstream, calls upon me not to cede any territory to radical views without presenting a moderating counterpoint. I have learned that, to his supporters, Imam Khomeini is not the hostage crisis, or the one who hated America as the “Great Satan,” but a liberator from the shah’s hated dictatorship. As Natan Sharansky correctly points out in his book The Case for Democracy, people flock to promises of freedom, because all human beings desire to be free. I have been asked what I would say to someone who believes that there is no good reason to attend a tribute to Imam Khomeini. If their concerns revolved around the American experience of him, I would say that I echo their feelings. But if anyone wishes to learn about their opponent, they must listen, or they’ll remain ignorant and make mistakes that cost them in their struggle to defend their values and views. Just because I listen to Osama bin Laden’s tapes and agree that the West routinely insults Muslim dignity, that doesn’t make me al-Qaeda. By listening I gain a better understanding of a philosophy I wish to counter. Just because I agree with Che Guevara that nonregulated capitalism is exploitive of the poorest in a society, that doesn’t make me a communist – just one who sees the benefit of Teddy Roosevelt’s crusade against business monopolies.
It is to at all clear to the GMBDW how Mr. Elibiary could have failed to recognize that the event was a tribute to Khomeini given the name of the event and the associated flyer. It is also not clear why Mr. Elibiary agreed to share a podium with Mohammad Asi given what his own characterization of Mr. Asi:
Imam Mohammad Asi, who also spoke at the MOMIN event, is more troubling than Khomeini, in my opinion, because his views are a direct threat, not just a historical one, to our American way of life. He does believe that America is the “Great Satan” and opposes the reformers in Iran who are calling for a dialogue between Islam and the West. He sees “Zionist Jews” as controlling the entire world (outside Iran, of course) and strongly ridicules full political participation by Western Muslims. I don’t know what to say about all this other than that it’s diametrically opposed to the views of the invited speakers – Imam Kavakci, Iyas Maleh and myself. Mohammad Asi’s beliefs run counter to the very existence of our organizations, decades of activism, everything we said and saw from the leadership at the MOMIN Center.
It should also be noted that following the editorial in the Dallas Morning News, Mr. Elibiary appeared to threaten its author as reported in the following exchange:
I had offered you a trade a little over 1-1/2 years ago to answer your biased questions about speaking at the Irving Shia Mosque if you’d answer mine. I answered all your questions and you independently corroborated my answers, but you sir didn’t show the same degree of honesty to answer mine. I, my wife and now my kids are examples of those home grown Muslims you’re so fearful of turning violent on you, and my message to you is just treat people fairly and we as a country will make it fine though these rough waters. Treat people as inferiors and you can expect someone to put a banana in your exhaust pipe or something.
Dr. Yusuf Kavakci, another speaker at the Khomeini tribute, is currently a board member at large of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) who has served as Imam of the DCM that was described in a 1999 article in a Counterterrorism Journal as:
… considered to be one of the most active centers of Hamas activity in the United States and hosts the leadership and members of both the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). Both organizations are the primary conduits for Hamas activity and fundraising in the United States. (See Note below)
As discussed in previous posts, Mr. Elibiary is also closely associated with the DCM.
(Note:The Journal of Counterterrorism & Security International 1999 Fall “The Kavakci Affair: Headscarves, Religious Rights, and Terrorist Front Groups”)