Inside, Outside, Upside Down

A new Assistant United States Attorney was sworn in Monday for the Eastern District of Michigan, Abed Hammoud, formerly of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, where he led mortgage fraud prosecutions.

And I may add, currently of the ADC (Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee).

And AAPAC (Arab American Political Action Committee).

And the CAAO (Congress of Arab American Organizations).

Glenn Beck’s blackboard could come in real handy right now.

Okay, maybe my flow charts aren’t tight enough for Glenn. But I still find it most disturbing that the same Department of Justice that’s supposed to be handling terrorism prosecutions in this area has just welcomed to its team a man actively involved in three organizations that are on record for supporting Hezbollah and Hamas.

Item: Following the 2006 Israeli incursion into Lebanon, Hammoud was right out front in protest rallies in downtown Dearborn organized by the CAAO, of which he was then chairman.

An article from Dearborn’s pro-Hezbollah newspaper, the Arab-American News, triumphantly reported on the protests (“Michigan: 10000 March to Protest Israeli Attacks”):

As the crowd continued down the road, thundering cries of “Israel out of Lebanon!” “Down, down Israel!” and “Death to Israel!” rang out. As the rally continued its move down Schaefer, more and more people came running. They were joining in from back alley-ways, jumping out of cars and sprinting down sidewalks to take part in the rally.

“Other than our own leaders, Israel pulls us together like no one else can,” said Abed Hammoud as he helped lead the rally down the road. Hammoud is chairman of the Congress of Arab American Organizations (CAAO).

Hatred for Israel pulls us together, that is. Hatred for Israel and devotion to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah can be very powerful motivators around here. At the time, NPR was reporting on the CAAO rallies:

At one recent demonstration organized by the Congress of Arab-Americans, about 1,000 people attended. College-age men asked, in call and response fashion, "Who is your army?" Protestors responded: "Hezbollah." "Who is your leader?" they were asked. "Nasrallah," the chanters responded. Many carried placards of the Hezbollah leader.
A few days earlier at an even larger demonstration, more than 15,000 turned out, about half of Dearborn's Arab community. . . . "Oh, Jews, remember Khaibar," the marchers chant. "The army of the Prophet will return."

Hammoud came here from southern Lebanon some time around 1990. He told NPR that his “hometown is just a few miles from the Israeli border. His day job is assistant county prosecutor, but his passion is advocating on behalf of the Congress of Arab-American organizations.”

They say it’s healthy to have a hobby. But does Hammoud’s passion for advocacy require shouting allegiance to Hezbollah, and death to Israel?

Hammoud told NPR

he regards Israeli airstrikes as “war crimes and atrocities” — attacks he does not hesitate to compare with Nazi Germany.

“The Nazis used to kill, especially Jewish people, using the ovens and the concentration camps,’ he says. “The Israelis use F-16s and burning bombs and smart bombs. I'm sorry. A death of a child is a death of a child.”

I’d be sorry too if I tried out an argument like that. Reflexively playing the Nazi card is a trick favored by the ADC.

Hammoud has shared leadership duties at AAPAC and CAAO with Osama Siblani, who publishes the Arab-American News, the current issue of which is calling for a “Third Intifadah” against Israel. Siblani is an outspoken supporter of Hezbollah and Hamas, whom he considers “freedom fighters.” Hezbollah has such deep support in Dearborn that the local feds have had to spend a lot of time, or anyway, used to spend a lot of time, trying to keep track of all the money launderers, cigarette smugglers, mortgage fraudsters, and tax cheats wiring proceeds to fund Nasrallah’s rocket arsenal. In 2006 Siblani as good as dared federal investigators to try and do anything about it.

“If the FBI wants to come after those who support the resistance done by Hezbollah, then they better bring a fleet of buses,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of the local Arab-American News and an outspoken activist. “I for one would be willing to go to jail.”

You can talk big like that when you know the FBI has been warned to leave you alone.

Hammoud has also used his position as a prosecutor a time or two to try to put the kibosh on speech he didn’t like. That could be a handy skill right now when government efforts to “right-size” the First Amendment are all the rage in Michigan. In 2006 Hammoud was displeased about what he called a “smear” by an anonymous poster on the Russ Gibb online forum, Russ Gibb at Random, alleging that the president of the Life for Relief and Development charity, Khaleel Jassemm, was an AAPAC member. The Life for Relief organization had recently been raided by the FBI for suspected financial support to Hamas.

In his post, Hammoud denied that Jassemm was ever a member of AAPAC. I guess that’s true. (But, in fairness to the original poster, who was first in the members list at CAAO? Life for Relief). (And, while we're at it, who is 16th on the list but the MAS Political Action Committee, a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood.) Hammoud concluded his angry post with this creepy threat:

“I do however like to remind everyone that we all live under the law and that writing and posting falshoods (sic) can be punished. We also know that the great technology that allows people to smear others while they hide under screen names allows us to find out who they are if there is a need for a legal action. Thank you.” (Italics in original).

Kind of heavy-handed for an anonymous post on a blog mostly of local interest, wouldn’t you say? Now who on Earth ever heard of a county prosecutor trying to use his office to punish someone for saying something he doesn’t like?

And while we're on the subject of Kym Worthy, Hammoud’s boss as the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office since 2004, did you know she also had close ties with the ADC even before she sent Terry Jones to jail for the crime of visiting Dearborn?

Could use that chalkboard right about now.

Hammoud also once lent his professional support to an ill-advised Michigan House effort, Resolution 214, to censure Detroit News editor and columnist Nolan Finley for describing Palestinians as lusting for Jewish blood. The Resolution was a screed directly aimed at enforcing an Islamic speech code in Detroit’s mainstream press. (Sample language: “Whereas, A state that prides itself on the diversity of its people should speak out against statements that foster hatred and intolerance;”).

Dearborn’s State Representative Gino Polidori, who signed on as co-sponsor to this resolution at the same time he was paying his jizya tax, explained himself to a concerned constituent this way:

This resolution is an expression of our support for free speech yet against discriminating opinions. While we must respect Mr. Finley's right to free speech, we must also recognize that we endure this same right.

That’s pretty clear. The legislature is for free speech, just against opinions they don’t share. Is there any wonder these rubes can't balance a budget? Between these guys and Jack O’Reilly, it’s a good bet Michigan license plates won’t soon be bearing the motto: “The First Amendment State.”

And as for Hammoud’s free speech, he’s certainly entitled to his opinions, no question. Nor has he been stingy with them before this. And as far as his landing that new federal job goes, it’s strictly verboten for DOJ officials to consider the political points of view of career attorneys in hiring and firing decisions. Who can forget how that was stressed to us all those years when Democrats like Pat Leahy and Carl Levin were getting so emotional about it (they called it, “politicizing the Justice Department”). It was a moral infraction slightly below serial oil-drilling. At least right up until Eric Holder was appointed Attorney General.

So it isn’t that I think Mr. Hammoud should have been denied employment with DOJ just he holds strong political opinions that disagree with mine.

But Hammoud’s heavy involvement with Hezbollah-supporting organizations is more than just a political viewpoint. It’s the basis for a conflict of interest in a federal district where the majority of terror-related prosecutions are against criminals engaged in lucrative crimes, while fully committed to sharing their ill-gotten proceeds with Hezbollah.

And we shouldn’t forget how Hammoud told NPR that, while being an assistant prosecutor was his day job, “his passion is advocating on behalf of the Congress of Arab-American organizations.” And remember how Hammoud’s CAAO organized 1000 protestors in Dearborn, who were asked, “Who is your army?” to which protestors responded: "Hezbollah."? Why weren't red flags popping up during this guy's security clearance review?

Hezbollah’s status as a terrorist organization is more than one party’s political opinion. That’s the judgment of the State Department and official U.S. policy. It’s the job of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute terrorists and supporters of terrorism, including those who materially support Hezbollah and Hamas.

Are we to believe that that kind of passion vanishes the moment you get sworn in as a new Assistant United States Attorney?
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Three Guys Named Hammoud

Something stinks.

On Friday Dearborn Police, at the request of the FBI, arrested Ali Hammoud, president of Bintjbeil Cultural Center in Dearborn, in connection with a cigarette-smuggling conspiracy in support of Hezbollah. (“Arab leader from Dearborn released from police custody”).

According to the FBI, Hammoud was arrested by mistake because he “fit a description on an arrest warrant. A man named Ali Hammoud was indicted in 2003 in a conspiracy involving the sale of illegal cigarettes to support Hezbollah.”

So after talking to the banquet hall  Hammoud, the FBI let him go. According to Hammoud’s lawyer, Majed Moughni, "It's mind-boggling; it's uncalled for. To do this to one of the most respected members of the community, it's a slap in the face."

Well, it’s not mind-boggling, but a word on that later.   And even a lawyer ought to grasp that mistakes are usually “uncalled for.”  After Hammoud was released Moughni took a more moderate tone, admitting that the FBI “blundered."

But this is Dearborn. Law enforcement blunders are opportunities for the area’s Islamists to make mischief, usually by demanding  tighter shackles on terror-related investigations in the future. And at this stage it’s puzzling indeed how the FBI could have confused Bintjbeil Cultural Center’s president with an individual who fled to Lebanon several years ago, unless there is a factual link between the conspiracy and the banquet center.  But without knowing the facts behind the arrest warrant, I’m not going to speculate on that.

This early on a weekend, the response from the usual Islamist complainers has been low key, but I expect that to change. Arab-American News publisher Osama Siblani has already stuck his beak in.

"We will not rest until we find out what happened, and we want to make sure it will never happen again," Siblani said. "This is a respected community leader. I never doubted his innocence." (“Wrong man arrested: Head of Arab-American center in Dearborn released”).

If Siblani means that Hammoud is innocent of supporting Hezbollah, that’s especially rich, coming from arch-Hezbollah supporter Siblani. This is how Siblani sounded in 2006, when he was defending the open support by thousands of Dearborn’s Arabs for Hezbollah leader Sheik Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah:

"If the FBI wants to come after those who support the resistance done by Hezbollah, then they better bring a fleet of buses," said Osama Siblani, publisher of the local Arab-American News and an outspoken activist. "I for one would be willing to go to jail."  (“They're 100% American, and pro-Hezbollah”).

After an invitation like that. Siblani has no business griping if the FBI actually follows up in some small way.   And, no, so far the big-talking Siblani hasn’t gone to jail.

But speaking of blunders, do you know who else was helping Siblani sing the praises of Hezbollah back then? That would be yet another Hammoud (relationship to Hammouds I and II unknown to me), namely Abed Hammoud, the former Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor and, in 2006, leader of the extremist Congress of Arab American Organizations who led the rally of 15,000 “100% American” Dearbornites chanting “Nasrallah is our leader!” So where’s the blunder? Abed Hammoud was recently sworn in as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. (“Inside, Outside, Upside Down”).

Bintjbeil’s Hammoud may well be innocent of the other suspect’s cigarette-smuggling conspiracy, but his banquet center is well-known in Dearborn as a meeting place for Hezbollah supporters, known to local law enforcement as the Hezbollah Social Club. The cultural center is named for the village of Bint Jbail in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, from which thousands of Shi’ite Muslims emigrated to Dearborn. “They're 100% American, and pro-Hezbollah”).  Last year Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah leader Nasrallah exchanged evil hopes for Israel there, and A-jad made a speech: "The whole world knows that the Zionists are going to disappear," he said to thunderous applause before a frenzied crowd in Bint Jbeil.”  According to Debbie Schlussel, an event she attended at the Cultural Center in 2006 featured speeches from many speakers offering in common “multiple statements about the Jews, cheers for the total destruction of and end to Israel, and support for Hezbollah, the Mujahideen, and the Martyrs.” (“What I Saw in Dearbornistan”).

And, as we’ve discussed here for some time, Dearborn is a big source of illegal contributions to Hezbollah. (“Dearborn, Michigan: Where Hezbollah Gets Its Laundry Done”).

In spite of attorney Majed Moughni’s outburst, there’s nothing “mind-boggling” about Bintjbeil’s Hammoud being suspected by the FBI of being mixed up in a conspiracy to support Hezbollah.

And what Siblani and the rest are concerned about isn’t Hammoud’s “innocence” or his standing in the community. They’re much more upset that the Detroit FBI is actually targeting Hezbollah in Dearborn.

And that’s what they’ll be trying to stop.

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Assistant Prosecutor Threatens Action Against Critics on Web Forum

Assistant Wayne County prosecutor, and failed Dearborn mayoral candidate Abed Hammoud, issued an implied threat of criminal investigation on Friday against posters on a popular Dearborn web forum, “Russ Gibb at Random.”

In his post, Hammoud expressed frustration that the political organization of which he is past president, the Arab American Public Affairs Council, (AAPAC), has been widely criticized by Dearborn residents as suspicious for terrorist sympathies. For the record, candidate for governor Dick deVos recently gave the go-by to an AAPAC meet-and-greet dinner because its current president, The Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani, gave a rip-roaring hip-hooray to Hezbollah in the wake of the recent conflict between Israel and the terrorist militia still occupying southern Lebanon.

Hammoud was angry about what he called the “smear” by an anonymous poster on the Russ Gibb forum stating that the president of the Life for Relief and Development charity, Khaleel Jassemm, was an AAPAC member. The Life for Relief organization was recently raided by the FBI.

It was unclear who Hammoud felt was being “smeared” by the statement about Jassemm's alleged membership, whether it was Jassemm, Life Relief, AAPAC, or terrorism in general, but Hammoud denied that Jassemm was ever an AAPAC member. In any event, Hammoud, in his September 29th posting on Russ Gibb at Random went on to express his low opinion of posters who chose to remain anonymous, (I wonder why?) before finishing up with this threat:

“I do however like to remind everyone that we all live under the law and that writing and posting falshoods (sic) can be punished. We also know that the great technology that allows people to smear others while they hide under screen names allows us to find out who they are if there is a need for a legal action. Thank you.”

Hammoud did not specify who “we” are, but since he is an assistant Wayne County prosecutor, he has access to law enforcement resources the average Dearborn resident does not, so it's a fair inference that he is talking about using those government resources to hunt down and punish people saying things he doesn’t like. If he didn’t mean that, then he was certainly reckless to leave the possibility open.

Bear in mind that Hammoud is part of an extremely vocal community of Arabs, including AAPAC, the ADC, and the Arab-American News, who are stridently demanding that federal law enforcement obtain prior concurrence on all investigations, arrests, or raids on suspected terrorists connected in any way with the Muslim community, including the recent raid on the Life Relief charity. It is not clear that when Hammoud made his threat on Russ Gibb at Random whether or not he planned to clear any of his own threatened investigation efforts ahead of time with the target community--concerned Dearborn citizens expressing themselves on an opinion forum.

So don’t you just love it that the only lawman left in southeast Michigan who's unapologetic about using police powers aims to use them to punish free expression, rather than terrorism?

9/11's Worst Victims: Muslims Who Don't Get Enough Love

Detroit News writer Gregg Krupa took some time off from reporting last week to practice his shorthand while under dictation from the usual talky activists, and the results of his notes were mistakenly printed as a news story on the front page of last Friday’s Detroit News.

This kind of thing is precisely the reason we at Dearborn Underground are here.

Responding to stories like these can be tough, since they tend to be grocery-lists of unsupported charges, with no logic to make it easy to determine which is the most important to contradict. Falsehoods swarm off the page like the mosquitos that attacked Bogart and Hepburn on the African Queen, until they just had to escape the area or be driven mad. I just can’t fathom a reporter asking professional Islamist advocates what their grievances are, and then simply printing them, unchallenged, as if they were demonstrated facts. Krupa’s article is meant to make nonMuslims feel guilty for having such a low opinion of our Islamic neighbors. It turns out that after America witnessed Muslim murderers attacking New York on 9/11, plunging the country into—so far---five years of war on Islamic terrorism—with no end in sight, and throughout which our Islamist enemies—in the name of Islam and the most prominent leaders of which are invariably egged on by Islamic “spiritual advisors”-- have engaged in beheadings, kidnappings, suicide bombings, forced conversions, threats of annihilation, and an endless litany of lies—anyway, it turns out that after all this, American feelings towards Muslims have inexplicably turned negative. It can only be explained by Islamophobia.

Local activist Abed Hammoud is truly puzzled by widespread mistrust of Muslims. Hammoud bragged in the Arab American News recently about his support for the “resistance in Southern Lebanon,” a/k/a Hezbollah, a/k/a the same guys who murdered our Marines in 1983, and are dedicated to the genocide of our ally, Israel. But now Hammoud feels just a little bit hurt, and can’t figure out why Americans look at him and say “'You know, that is a nice guy, but I am surprised that he can support terrorism.'" Yeah, isn’t that weird? I mean, what’s the big deal? Then there’s Ronald Stockton, a professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, quoted by Kruppa saying that if Muslims "don't constantly go around and say they love America and hate Osama bin laden, then people are suspecting them." Believe me, the American standard has never been anything like that high. At this point most Americans would be thrilled with any expression from the Muslim community of opposition to bin Laden and the rest of these savages, an expression that wasn’t promptly neutered in the very next clause by the disclaimer, “but.”

And this account of a rally, reported by NPR during the recent war in Lebanon, doesn’t exactly build trust on my side of town, either:

"Daily protests occur in Dearborn. At one recent demonstration, organized by the Congress of Arab-Americans, about 1,000 people attended. College-age men asked, in call and response fashion, "Who is your army?" Protestors responded: "Hezbollah." "Who is your leader?" they were asked. "Nasrallah," the chanters responded. Many carried placards of the Hezbollah leader. A few days earlier at an even larger demonstration, more than 15,000 turned out, about half of Dearborn's Arab community."

So Stockton can’t figure out why Americans keep asking, “’Why aren't the Muslims denouncing these things?’” Here’s a suggestion: because the Muslims are too busy supporting these things? 15,000 of my fellow townsmen chanting that Nasrallah is their leader gives an old Jew-lover like me misgivings. Then you can try comparing the description of the Nasrallahfest rally with what Tarek Baydoun, president of the student government at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, says about how Muslim leaders are finally grabbing media exposure in order to “reiterate that Muslims and Arabs in America and around the world don't support terrorism.” I’ll admit that on a rare occasion I do hear the reiterations that Muslims don’t support terrorism. But I just don’t quite believe them since, all things considered, they are simply unbelievable.

To listen to the guys helping Krupa write his article, the daily lives of Muslims in Dearborn are an endless round of persecution, harassment, abuse, and that greatest of American atrocities, not being “tolerated.” The article's mentions of harassment, as is too typical, lack detail and always happens to some unidentified third parties, like cabbies who get yelled at by fares , or young Muslim men who get hassled at the airport. (As if there is any class of persons who don’t get hassled at airports, or for that matter a class of cabbies who don’t get abused by fares!).

And the term “toleration” is being used, or misused, in the very special way it is by the gay-rights activisits, so it doesn’t mean “tolerance” at all—that is, putting up with something we don’t like for the sake of peace and social harmony—instead, it means, absolute and unquestioning acceptance.

The choicest complaint of the piece comes from Imam Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini, who says the area’s Muslims are worried when they hear “calls for the wholesale deportation of Muslims when surveys suggest that more than 50 percent of them were born in the United States.” Al-Qazwini doesn’t say where these poor folks are hearing these “calls,” or who's making them, which would be helpful things to know for someone like me, who hasn’t heard, even once, any calls for wholesale deportation: not by the President, nor Congress, nor the ICE, nor the Justice Department, nor the State Department or any other government source actually affecting deportation policy.

But it certainly sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be awful indeed if the President were traveling around giving talks calling for the illegal mass deportation of American citizens of Arabic descent. That's if he were, which he's not, and if the suggestion weren't pure fantasy, which it is. I don't know enough to say Al-Qazwini just made the whole thing up, but he seems to know a lot of Muslims who are worried about these "calls for the wholesale deportation of Muslims.” One has to wonder from whom these poor worried folks keep hearing it. I do know Al-Qazwini's wild charge about calls for deportation didn’t seem to phase Krupa, though, who gives no indication he followed up, just being careful he spelled “deportation” right. Would it be too far-fetched to conlcude that whatever Al-Qazwini tells Krupa goes directly into the paper as if it’s true?

Michigan's BRIDGES To Somewhere--We Just Don't Quite Know Where

Once again our local BRIDGES regime is contributing to the weakening of security.

According to Detroit News Islamic Affairs Correspondent Gregg Krupa,

Arab-American and Muslim leaders complained to federal law enforcement officials Thursday that members of their community are being detained without cause amid a crackdown on immigration violations that began late last month.During the monthly meeting of Building Respect in Diverse Groups to Enhance Sensitivity (BRIDGES), which was formed by community leaders and law enforcement in 2003 to build cooperation and air grievances, the leaders said people who normally remain free on bond, or because of court-issued stays, have been detained in county jails. Others were arrested with no apparent cause, they said. ("Arab leaders say people wrongfully held").

It's now being reported that, thanks to the influence of Imad Hamad and other BRIDGES enforcers, immigration officials have actually lowered the number of illegal aliens being deported from the Arab community--and ICE officials are proud of it:

Officials of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said a smaller percentage of men of Arab descent and Muslims are being deported than in past years.

"Members of the Arab community represent a very small percentage of our detained population, currently only 5 percent," said Khaalid Walls, a public affairs officer for ICE in Detroit. "In 2007, only 6 percent of our removals were from the Arab community and now in 2008 that percentage is 2 percent."

There. Who says affirmative action doesn't work?

Not that BRIDGES leaders are satisfied, as they're continuing to complain that too many illegal aliens are being detained, as they say, for no reason. Which sort of bypasses the glaring point that illegal immigrants being detained for being here illegally is, ipso facto, a reason for detaining someone.

I don't know how Krupa's article ever passed anyone's smell test. This pathetic example of government abuse was as good as it got:

"My stepdad landed from Lebanon today and they took him from the airport to a hospital room, and they are holding him and not letting us see him," said Mohamed Elkadri of Canton. His stepfather, Mahmoud Hammoud of Dearborn was held Thursday at Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne. "He needs his medication."

I'll admit Oakwood doesn't have the best reputation. But I hardly see how being transported directly from the airport to the hospital is proof of government neglect of a detainee's health.

Naturally, and of no surprise, Krupa's article contains not a single word why Elkadri's stepfather might have been detained at the airport after arriving from Lebanon. (No visa, maybe? Unlawful documents? Or just lurking ICE officials who spotted him and said, "Hey, Roy, look at that sick guy coming off Air Arabia Flight 910 from Beirut. He look Arab to you? Let's get him!")

No matter. He's here now, so the ICE quota system gives him a 98% chance of being able to remain here as long as he wants.

All-American Snow Job

Dearborn’s Muslim “civil rights” agencies, already a chunky cauldron of alphabet soup, have to make room for four more letters with the debut of the Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL). (“Diverse group of supporters turns out for new Arab civil rights organization’s debut”). Clearly, CAIR, ADC, AAPAC, CAAO, and ACCESS were leaving too much slack. And, like Israelites assembling at the call of the shofar, the usual mob of politicos, law enforcement toadies, and grandstanding opportunists came a-runnin’ to the braying of the phrase “civil rights.”

The ACRL’s mission, boiled down, will be “combating defamatory material on the Internet and other forms of media.”

One of its initiatives discussed in depth was fighting individuals who spread false and misleading information about members of the Arab American community on the Internet. Often those targeted by hate bloggers can be at risk for not getting jobs because of inaccurate reports on the internet. The ACRL will help individuals get their names cleared. “The old ways of just writing a letter and making phone calls is simply not enough. We have to do better, we have to be smarter, we have to move faster, we have to back our position with strong legal advocacy,” ACRL founder, president, and civil rights Attorney Nabih Ayad said.

Stated another way, what ACRL intends to target is free speech, especially the free speech of bloggers. They’ll be joining CAIR, the ADC, and other groups in silencing outspoken bloggers, like Bare Naked Islam, and getting them thrown offline. The “Islam is peace” smoke-and-mirrors campaign can’t compete with an active alternative media armed with facts.

Ayad and his Canton law firm are handling the ACRL’s lawfare goals. We see Ayad’s name around here often. He sued the NSA in 2006 because the Terrorist Surveillance Program was interfering with his phone calls to “individuals abroad whom the United States government believes to be terrorist suspects or to be associated with terrorist organizations.” Debbie Schlussel has reported that Ayad has ties with Hezbollah, and, as was reported in the Detroit Free Press one of his former clients, “Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, was sentenced in June 2005 to 4 1/2 years in prison for raising money for Hezbollah inside his Dearborn home.”

The very idea of ACRL having an initiative for “fighting individuals” proves how badly shredded is the once-inspiring banner of civil rights. In the old days the phrase was synonymous with defending the liberties of individuals against unjust institutions using the law to destroy individual rights. Think of Governors Faubus and Wallace, think of the University of Mississippi against James Meredith, the City of Montgomery, Alabama against Rosa Parks, think of the Jim Crow laws, think of Separate but Equal, literacy tests and poll taxes. The phrase “civil rights” has suffered a terrible deflation since then. Now city and state officials jostle each other at the Fairlane Club to prove their support for a group transparently committed to squelching bad facts about area Muslim activists. These days “civil rights” is barely more than a euphemism for “shut up.”

According to ACRL, “those targeted by hate bloggers can be at risk for not getting jobs because of inaccurate reports on the internet. The ACRL will help individuals get their names cleared.”

Typical of reporting like this, no actual example is provided of any job-seeking victim of “false and misleading information.”   We can only hope that our blog, or similar ones, might have played any part in keeping a Muslim Brotherhood member or a Hezbollah supporter out of a sensitive position by posting details of his actual affiliations and public statements. But that’s not spreading false information. And when you see the phrase “misleading information” in this context, you can bet it means, “accurate information that we were really trying to keep under wraps.”

What we see now is consistent with a pattern we noted several years ago. In October 2006, we commented on the way then Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Abed Hammoud, miffed by a blog comment he didn’t think was fair about the Arab American Public Affairs Council (AAPAC), threatened to deploy police powers against the perpetrator:

“I do however like to remind everyone that we all live under the law and that writing and posting falshoods (sic) can be punished. We also know that the great technology that allows people to smear others while they hide under screen names allows us to find out who they are if there is a need for a legal action. Thank you.” (“Assistant Prosecutor Threatens Action Against Critics on Web Forum”).

Several months before that, CAIR had to eat dirt in its defamation lawsuit against the blog site Anti-CAIR. Among Anti-CAIR’s statements by that CAIR decided not to litigate as falsehoods were these: “CAIR is not in the United States to promote the civil rights of Muslims. CAIR is here to make radical Islam the dominant religion in the United States and convert our country into an Islamic theocracy along the lines of Iran.”

Defamation suits are helpless against truth, which is why CAIR dropped it as a tactic afterits failed lawsuit against Anti-CAIR. And I’m extremely skeptical that ACRL will go that route, either.  Ayad’s battle cry at Fairlane House, “[w]e have to do better, we have to be smarter, we have to move faster, we have to back our position with strong legal advocacy,” never mentions “backing their position” with either the truth or the facts.  The recent national attacks against Lowe’s over their decision to stop advertising on “All American Muslim” weren’t based on facts, and both Dawud Walid and the ADC defamed both Lowe’s and the Florida Family Association as “anti-Muslim bigots.” And CAIR, in their own account of the hit they did on the Bare Naked Islam blog, made no pretense they were defending against any false information posted on BNI; instead, CAIR used reader comments to cast a false light on BNI as urging “threats of violence targeting mosques.”

As every conscientious counterjihad blogger knows, posting articles critical of creeping Islamism and its enablers is all it takes to be painted as a “hate blogger.” This is exactly how ACRL is tarring us at its inception.

Expect a lot more of the same in the New Year.