ADL: Shahzad the latest American citizen from Pakistan arrested on terror-related charges

The ADL provides background information about recent activity involving Pakistani terror training and individuals allegedly involved in terror-related activities. 

 

 (excerpt) http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/times_square_bomb_attempt.htm
 

 

Following his arrest, Shahzad reportedly told investigators that he had previously received bomb-making training in Waziristan, an Al Qaeda and Taliban stronghold which serves as a center for launching attacks against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

 

Shahzad's family is from northwestern Pakistan, an Al Qaeda and Taliban stronghold, according to Pakistan's Interior Minister.  Shahzad returned to the U.S. from a five-month trip to Pakistan three months prior to the attempted bombing.   

 

Pakistani officials have detained one man in Karachi in connection with the case.  At least four others have reportedly been detained in Pakistan for questioning.  Among those detained in Pakistan are Tauhid Ahmed, who reportedly communicated with Shahzad via email, and Muhammad Rehan, who told investigators that he and Shahzad traveled to Peshawar, Pakistan, for three weeks in July 2009.  Rehan was arrested at a mosque reportedly linked to Pakistani-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed.

 

In videos circulated on the Internet, leaders of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing as revenge for the April killings of Al Qaeda's two top leaders in Iraq, as well as for U.S. interference in Muslim countries.  Federal officials, however, have not found any evidence to support the claims.

  

While no motive has been determined in the attempted bombing, Shahzad is the latest American citizen from Pakistan to be arrested on terror-related charges.

 

The following is a list of Pakistani Americans arrested, charged or convicted on terror-related offenses in recent years:

 

• Syed Hashmi, an American citizen from Pakistan, pleaded guilty on April 27, 2010 to providing Al Qaeda with military gear to use against American forces in Afghanistan.

• Raja Lahrasib Khan, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan, was arrested on March 26, 2010, for providing funds to an alleged terrorist leader in Pakistan and for planning to bomb a U.S. stadium.

• Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley pleaded guilty on March 18, 2010, to helping plan the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai with Pakistani-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and planning another terror plot against the offices of a Danish newspaper that printed controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

• Syed Haris Ahmed, naturalized American citizen born in Pakistan and raised in Georgia, and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi descent, were sentenced on December 14, 2009, to 17 and 13 years in prison, respectively, for shooting casing videos of U.S. landmarks for potential terrorist attacks in the Washington, D.C. area.  In July 2005, Ahmed traveled to Pakistan with the intention to study at a religious school, attend a terrorist training camp and join Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to the indictment.

• Hammad Riaz Samana, a legal U.S. resident from Pakistan, was sentenced to 70 months in prison on August 17, 2009, for plotting to attack Jewish institutions and other targets in the Los Angeles area, including synagogues, the Israeli Consulate, Los Angeles International Airport, U.S. military recruiting offices and military bases.

• Six U.S. citizens and a permanent resident were arrested on July 27, 2009 for engaging in weapons training and conspiring to carry out "violent jihad" overseas.  An eighth suspect, who has been identified as Jude Kenan Muhammad, is reportedly still at large and believed to be in Pakistan.  Muhammad, a 20-year old American citizen from Raleigh who reportedly holds Pakistani and American passports, was reportedly arrested in October 2008 for attempting to travel to restricted tribal areas in Pakistan, but was later released.  

• Javed Iqbal, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan, and American citizen Saleh Elahwal were sentenced in June 2009 to nearly six years in prison and 17 months in prison, respectively, for distributing broadcasts of Al Manar, Hezbollah's TV station, and providing material support to Hezbollah.

• Uzair Paracha, a U.S. permanent resident from Pakistan, was sentenced on July 20, 2006, to 30 years in prison for attempting to help an Al Qaeda operative enter the U.S. in order to carry out an attack on gas stations on behalf of the international terrorist network.

• A group of nine American citizens and one legal permanent resident, dubbed the "Virginia Jihad Network" by prosecutors, were convicted on terrorism charges related to the Pakistani-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) in Alexandria, Virginia, between 2003 and 2005.  The leader of the group Ali al-Timimi, an American-born Muslim cleric, urged the men to train at LET terrorist camps in preparation to fight against American-led forces in Afghanistan. The men trained with weapons in Virginia and seven of the defendants traveled to Pakistan to train with LET. 

• Pakistani-born American Mohammed Junaid Babar pleaded guilty in June 2004 to supplying money and materials, including night-vision goggles, sleeping bags and other items, to an Al Qaeda official setting up a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and plotting to assassinate Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf in 2002.

• Imran Mandhai, a U.S. permanent resident from Pakistan, Shueyb Mossa Jokhan, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Trinidad, plotted to bomb several targets in Southern Florida in 2002, including Jewish-owned businesses in Weston, the Israeli Consulate in Miami, Jewish community centers in Aventura and Broward County, electrical power stations in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, the National Guard Armory in Hollywood and Mount Rushmore.  The men planned to set off a series of explosives that would cause massive power blackouts in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, which they hoped would result in lootings and chaos in Southern Florida. 

Other Americans charged with terror-related offenses have traveled to Pakistan to attend terror training camps, including:

 

• Zarein Ahmedzay, an American citizen from Afghanistan, pleaded guilty on April 23, 2010, to planning to detonate homemade explosives on the New York City subway system.  In August 2008, Ahmedzay, Najibullah Zazi, a U.S. permanent resident from Afghanistan, and Adis Medunjanin, an American citizen from Bosnia, traveled to Pakistan, where they received "military-style" training from Al Qaeda, which, according to Attorney General Eric Holder, helped prepare them for "one of the most serious terrorist threats to our country since September 11, 2001."

• Five American students – Ramy Zamzam, Umer Farooq Chaudhry, Ahmed Minni, Aman Hassan Yemer, and Waqar Hussain Khan – were detained in Pakistan on December 9, 2009, for planning terrorist attacks in Pakistan and on Afghan and U.S. territory.  The students, who allegedly planned to cross into Afghanistan to fight against U.S. troops, traveled to the region to attend terrorist training camps operated by Pakistani-based terrorist groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

• American citizen Ahmad Abousamra and Tarek Mehanna, a Massachusetts man with dual American and Egyptian citizenship, were charged in an indictment handed down on November 5, 2009, with  plotting to attack a U.S. shopping mall and American soldiers in Iraq.  Abousamra, who remains at large, made two trips to Pakistan in 2002 to "obtain training in furtherance of jihad" and to join the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani-based terrorist organization with links to Al Qaeda.  Following Abousamra's failure to join a terrorist group in Pakistan, he and Mehanna began to explore other options, including committing terrorist acts in the U.S.

• U.S. permanent resident Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri was sentenced on October 29, 2009, to eight years and four months in prison for attending Al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan and conspiring to further the terrorist activity of Al Qaeda in the U.S. 

• Six U.S. citizens and a permanent resident were arrested on July 27, 2009 for engaging in weapons training and conspiring to carry out "violent jihad" overseas.  Daniel Patrick Boyd, the apparent ringleader of the group, allegedly attended terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992.  An eighth suspect, who has been identified as Jude Kenan Muhammad, is reportedly still at large and believed to be in Pakistan.  

• Christopher Paul, an American citizen from Ohio, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on February 26, 2009, for planning terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Europe. Paul's alleged ties to Al Qaeda date back to the early 1990s when he traveled to a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and later joined Al Qaeda in Pakistan. 

• Bryant Neal Vinas, an American citizen from Long Island, pleaded guilty on January 28, 2009, to providing information about New York City transit systems to Al Qaeda for potential terrorist attacks and to firing rockets at an American military base near the Pakistan and Afghanistan border. Vinas arrived in northwestern Pakistan in the fall of 2007 "with the intention of meeting and joining a jihadist group to fight American soldiers." Soon after arriving in Pakistan, Vinas was accepted into Al Qaeda and received "military-type training" from Al Qaeda in general combat and explosives.  He also reportedly learned how to shoot rockets and assault rifles and how to assemble a suicide bomber's vest. 

• American citizen Hamid Hayat, who attended Al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan between 2000 and 2004, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in September 2007 for providing material support or resources to terrorists.  Hayat's father, Umer Hayat, a naturalized American citizen, was arrested with Hamid and charged with financing his son's trip to Pakistan and lying to federal agents.

• Mahmud Faruq Brent, a U.S. citizen who was born in Akron, Ohio and later moved to Gwynn Oak, Maryland, was sentenced to 15 years in July 2007 for conspiring to send aid to LET and attending a terrorist training camp in Pakistan in 2002.  Tariq Shah, an American-born Muslim convert who was sentenced in 2007 to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to Al Qaeda, trained Brent in martial arts and urban warfare "as part of the conspiracy to provide material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba," according to court documents.

Pro-Israel students defeated divestment measures in California colleges

Pro-Israel students at the University of California, Berkeley and UC San Diego defeated anti-Israel divestment measures in their student governments.

 http://www.hillel.org/about/blog/item?id=2189

British protesters attack Israel's deputy ambassador

British protesters attack Israel's deputy ambassador - Israel News, Ynetnews
www.ynetnews.com  4/29/10

 Pro-Palestinian protesters storm towards Talya Lador-Fresher after her speech at Manchester University, prompting police to whisk her away from site. Protesters proceed to encircle police car, climb on hood.

Clinton: Everyone should do more for Mideast peace

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100430/usa/us_mideast_diplomacy_1


WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged Arab states to do more to back Israeli-Palestinian peace moves while warning Syria against arming Lebanon's anti-Israeli Hezbollah.

But Clinton, speaking to a pro-Israel group, said she also expected Israel to halt settlements in occupied land, meet the humanitarian needs of Gazans, and help the Palestinian Authority build institutions needed for statehood.

"We do not expect the Arab states to move forward in a vacuum," the chief US diplomat said in remarks to the American Jewish Committee.

President Barack Obama's administration is trying hard to relaunch indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that were aborted last month when the right-wing Israeli government announced new settlements in east Jerusalem.

Clinton also urged the US-backed Palestinian Authority -- which controls only the West Bank and not the extremist Hamas-run Gaza Strip -- to continue its work to improve security and stop anti-Israeli militancy in the West Bank.

Although she hit familiar themes, Clinton was more explicit than in the past about what steps the Arabs should take for peace after they ignored previous pleas because of what they consider Israel's intransigence.

"They should take specific steps that show Israelis, Palestinians and their own people that peace is possible and that there will be tangible benefits if it is achieved," Clinton said in a speech to a pro-Israel group.

The chief US diplomat urged Arab states to offer more financial support to the Palestinian Authority and its two-year development plan as well as move toward ending Israel's isolation by opening or re-opening trade offices.

"The United States has done our part, becoming the PA's largest bilateral donor, and Europe also has stepped up," she said. "Arab states need to share a greater portion of these responsibilities."

Gulf Arab states like Qatar and Oman closed Israeli trade offices in 2000 when the Oslo the peace process collapsed in violence. Qatar closed the Israeli trade office when Israel launched an offensive in Gaza in December 2008.

Clinton also suggested that Arab states grant Israel the right to fly over their territories as well as allow cultural or educational exchanges between Israelis and Arabs.

The moves involving Israel, the Palestinians and Arab state amounted to a complex choreography.

"As negotiations proceed between the Israelis and Palestinians, and mutual confidence increases, Arab states should reach out to the Israeli public," she said.

They should do so by "demonstrating that Israel's isolation in the region is ending, and all sides should resume multilateral discussions on critical regional issues," she said.

Under the 1993-2000 peace process launched in Oslo, Arab and Israeli delegations had discussed regional issues like sharing water and trade.

She also addressed Israeli allegations that Syria is arming Hezbollah with long-range Scud missiles.

"Transferring weapons to these terrorists -- especially longer-range missiles -- would pose a serious threat to the security of Israel," Clinton said.

"We do not accept such provocative and destabilizing behavior -- and nor should the international community.

"President Assad is making decisions that could mean war or peace for the region. We know he's hearing from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas," the chief US diplomat said.

"It is crucial that he also hear directly from us, so that the potential consequences of his actions are clear."

She also urged states in the region to stop supplying rockets and other weapons to Hamas.

ADL: Supreme Court Decision on Religious Monument 'Disappointing'

New York, NY, April 28, 2010 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called the Supreme Court's decision in Salazar v. Buono "a disappointing ruling that will have little impact."

The case asked – but did not answer – whether the government may transfer a small piece of land in the middle of a public park to private control merely to protect the religious monument that stands on it.  In its amicus brief, ADL urged the Court to find the cross display unconstitutional.

Robert G. Sugarman, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, issued the following statement:

    We are disappointed by the Court's action, but this is not a case destined to have much impact on religious freedom.   The unique facts and the splintered, technical nature of the decision provide minimal guidance on the broader issue of the display of religious symbols on public property.  This case will only add to the confusion surrounding what the First Amendment allows, requires and prohibits.

    One troubling aspect of this decision is that the plurality drew far-reaching theological conclusions when it determined that the cross has some universal meaning beyond Christianity.   This claim should be equally as offensive to Christians and non-Christians.

Haass: Don't exaggerate the centrality of the Israel-Palestinian issue

    * The Wall Street Journal     * OPINION     * APRIL 26, 2010

The Palestine Peace Distraction
Announcing a comprehensive plan now—one that is all but certain to fail—risks discrediting good ideas, breeding frustration in the Arab world, and diluting America's reputation for getting things done.

      
By RICHARD N. HAASS

President Obama recently said it was a "vital national security interest of the United States" to resolve the Middle East conflict. Last month, David Petraeus, the general who leads U.S. Central Command, testified before Congress that "enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests." He went on to say that "Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples . . . and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world."

To be sure, peace between Israelis and Palestinians would be of real value. It would constitute a major foreign-policy accomplishment for the United States. It would help ensure Israel's survival as a democratic, secure, prosperous, Jewish state. It would reduce Palestinian and Arab alienation, a source of anti-Americanism and radicalism. And it would dilute the appeal of Iran and its clients.

But it is easy to exaggerate how central the Israel-Palestinian issue is and how much the U.S. pays for the current state of affairs. There are times one could be forgiven for thinking that solving the Palestinian problem would take care of every global challenge from climate change to the flu. But would it? The short answer is no. It matters, but both less and in a different way than people tend to think.

Take Iraq, the biggest American investment in the Greater Middle East over the past decade. That country's Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds are divided over the composition of the new government, how to share oil revenues, and where to draw the border between the Kurdish and Arab areas. The emergence of a Palestinian state would not affect any of these power struggles.

Soon to surpass Iraq as the largest U.S. involvement in the region is Afghanistan. Here the U.S. finds itself working against, as much as with, a weak and corrupt president who frustrates American efforts to build up a government that is both willing and able to take on the Taliban. Again, the emergence of a Palestinian state would have no effect on prospects for U.S. policy in Afghanistan or on Afghanistan itself.

What about Iran? The greatest concern is Iran's push for nuclear weapons. But what motivates this pursuit is less a desire to offset Israel's nuclear weapons than a fear of conventional military attack by the U.S. Iran's nuclear bid is also closely tied to its desire for regional primacy. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians would not weaken Iran's nuclear aspirations. It could even reinforce them. Iran and the groups it backs (notably Hamas and Hezbollah) would be sidelined by the region's embrace of a Palestinian state and acceptance of Israel, perhaps causing Tehran to look to nuclear weapons to compensate for its loss of standing and influence.

Nor is it clear what effect successful peacemaking would have on Arab governments. The Palestinian impasse did nothing to dissuade Arab governments from working with the U.S. to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in the Gulf War when they determined it was in their interest to do so. Similarly, an absence of diplomatic progress would not preclude collaboration against an aggressive Iran. Just as important, a solution would not resolve questions of political stability and legitimacy within the largely authoritarian Arab world.

Alas, neither would terrorism fade if Israelis and Palestinians finally ended their conflict. Al Qaeda was initially motivated by a desire to rid the Arabian Peninsula of infidels. Its larger goal is to spread Islam in a form that closely resembles its pure, seventh-century character. Lip service is paid to Palestinian goals, but the radical terrorist agenda would not be satisfied by Palestinian statehood.

What is more, any Palestinian state would materialize only amidst compromise. There will be no return to the 1967 borders; at most, Palestinians would be compensated for territorial adjustments made necessary by large blocs of Jewish settlements and Israeli security concerns. There will be nothing more than a token right of return for Palestinians to Israel. Jerusalem will remain undivided and at most shared. Terrorists would see all this as a sell-out, and they would target not just Israel but those Palestinians and Arab states who made peace with it.

The danger of exaggerating the benefits of solving the Palestinian conflict is that doing so runs the risk of distorting American foreign policy. It accords the issue more prominence than it deserves, produces impatience, and tempts the U.S. government to adopt policies that are overly ambitious.

This is not an argument for ignoring the Palestinian issue. As is so often the case, neglect will likely prove malign. But those urging President Obama to announce a peace plan are doing him and the cause of peace no favor. Announcing a comprehensive plan now—one that is all but certain to fail—risks discrediting good ideas, breeding frustration in the Arab world, and diluting America's reputation for getting things done.

As Edgar noted in "King Lear," "Ripeness is all." And the situation in the Middle East is anything but ripe for ambitious diplomacy. What is missing are not ideas—the outlines of peace are well-known—but the will and ability to compromise.

The Palestinian leadership remains weak and divided; the Israeli government is too ideological and fractured; U.S.-Israeli relations are too strained for Israel to place much faith in American promises. The West Bank is the equivalent of a fragile state at best. What is needed are sustained efforts to strengthen Palestinian economic, military and governing capacities on the West Bank so that Israel will come to see the Palestinian Authority as a partner it can work with.

Also needed are efforts to repair U.S.-Israeli ties. The most important issue facing the two countries is Iran. It is essential the two governments develop a modicum of trust if they are to manage inevitable differences over what to do about Iran's nuclear program, a challenge that promises to be the most significant strategic threat of this decade. A protracted disagreement over the number of settlements or the contours of a final settlement is a distraction that would benefit neither the U.S. nor Israel, given an Iranian threat that is close at hand and a promise of peace that is distant.

Mr. Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of "War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars" (Simon & Schuster, 2009).

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704448304575196312204524930.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion

Rare color footage of Israel, 1947- 1967, found!

The unmarked reels which had sat for decades were about to be disposed of.  Fortunately, the family of the late Fred Monoson sought help in determining what was on the reels.  Here is a selection of the films, as aired recently on Israeli TV.  The segment has now been provided with English subtitles.  Enjoy!
 


Source:  http://blip.tv/play/hK8_gbOSAwI
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hat tip: Israel Matzav