oints of view

>> Send letters to: letters@thejewishnews.corn

Essay

Editorial

Islamism At Heart
Of Boston Bombs

Iran Has No Place
In Deciding Truth

T

he Boston Marathon bomb attacks
were a byproduct of domestic
terror nurtured by Islamism, a
global political ideology that has radical-
ized elements of Islam and that pulls not
only from Al Qaida, but also other funda-
mentalist groups seeking to invoke rogue
theocracies.
The furor that ravaged Boylston Street
amid an American tradition, which
included many Detroiters, is a powerful
reminder that America must intensify its
Tamerlan, 26, as a "martyr."
strategy toward beating back terrorism
The Obama administration continues to
growing from homegrown roots, notwith-
be slow in embracing the scope of Islamist
standing all the preventive work of the
danger as an extension of a dangerous
U.S. Department of Homeland
ideology.
Security.
In a statement, AIFD asks
In the aftermath of the shock-
American Muslims, the Obama
ing violence in Boston's Back Bay
administration and others
inflicted by the Tsarnaev broth-
to develop what it calls "a
ers on April 15, the American
coherent strategy to promote
Islamic Forum for Democracy
Western ideals of liberty
(AIFD), a player in tracking ter-
among Muslims domestically
ror arising on U.S. soil, declared;
and abroad, while seeking to
"Since 9-11, we have been fortu-
defeat the supremacist mindset
nate up until this attack to avoid
of political Islam and its con-
Robert Sklar
the kind of devastation and loss
tinued
threat to our national
Contributing
of life that we saw in Boston, but
security:'
Editor
that was not for a lack of trying
That's a tall order, but it
by our enemies?'
speaks to the magnitude of the
Islamism is not just a distorted inter-
challenge.
pretation of Islam. It's a militant brand of
political Islam — and different than Islam,
Jasser Connection
the religion. The IN long has believed
What validates AIFD is M. Zuhdi Jasser's
the way to control the battlefront against
association with it. He's a Phoenix physi-
Islamism is by grasping that the war is
cian and the author of A Battle for the Soul
ideological.
of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot's
Fight to Save His Faith. I met Jasser
The Backdrop
when he visited Detroit in 2009. He pro-
In 2011, Russian intelligence alerted the
vides an alternative voice to the Muslim
FBI that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older
Brotherhood's message in America.
brother in the Boston bombings and an
AIFD serves to educate and empower
Americans about the perils of Islamism
aspiring boxer, had become radicalized
invading Islam while also promoting
during a 2012 trip to the Dagestan region.
The FBI interviewed him, but found no
American values — including separation
evidence he was a threat because of his
of "mosque and state:' That's a courageous
political ideology. News reports indicate
course in these clashing ideological times.
the FBI didn't share what it learned about
I only wish AIFD had tens of thousands of
Muslim members.
Tsarnaev with Boston police. Clearly,
investigative agencies must share, not
Jasser founded AIFD in
hoard, findings about suspicious people.
the wake of 9-11. He is a
first-generation American
On May 17, Newsday reported that
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the surviving
Muslim whose parents
brother, scrawled a "deathbed" note inside
fled the Baathist regime
the hull of the boat in which he was cap-
of Syria in the 1960s.
tured. A law enforcement source told
Jasser speaks with con-
Newsday that the note claimed the broth-
viction when he asserts
M. Zuhdi
ers detonated the bombs "as retribution for Jasser
that assuring Western
America's attacks on Muslims in Iraq and
security, in the wake
Afghanistan" — and the bombing victims
of radical Islam and its
were essentially collateral damage:'
Islamism on page 36
Dzhokhar identified his brother,

"

America must intensify
its strategy toward
beating back terrorism
growing from
homegrown roots.

alk about the height
of hypocrisy: Iran, sus-
pected in the bombings,
has accepted Argentina's offer to
jointly set up a "truth commis-
sion" to probe the 1994 bombing
of the AMIA Jewish Community
Center in Buenos Aires.
So let's see: Tehran, all along
The Iranian flag
thought to be the mastermind
behind the bombing, might help
determine who ordered the malicious carnage, which killed 85 and
wounded hundreds. The likeliest suspect in actually planting the van
bomb: Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization allied
with Iran's ruling mullahs.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who says he has no gripe
with the Jews while seeking Israel's destruction, reportedly approved
the deal without a vote of Iran's parliament, which is no surprise. The
Iranian and Argentine foreign ministries signed a memorandum of
understanding on Jan. 27; official announcement of the joint probe
came June 2.
In February, Argentina's Congress approved the deal – and
unleashed a powerful backdraft. The AMIA JCC and the national
Jewish political umbrella group DAIA jointly filed a petition with the
country's Federal Administrative Court, arguing the Congress acted
unconstitutionally in voting for the memorandum of understanding.
Israel, America and international Jewish groups all oppose the
bilateral agreement, which is a political slap at sanity. American
Jewish Committee executive director David Harris put it well: "The
idea of establishing a 'truth' commission on the AMIA tragedy that
involves the Iranian regime would be like asking Nazi Germany to
help establish the facts of Kristallnacht."
Iran lacks any stature as a judicial beacon of fairness. In fact, it
refused to turn over previously implicated suspects. Compounding
the heresy, two suspects, Mohsen Rezai and Ali Akbar Velayati,
are candidates in Iran's June 14 presidential election. They are
believed to have planned the bombing. The Iranian constitution bans
Ahmadinejad from seeking another term.
Six Iranians tied to the bombing remain on Interpol's Most Wanted
list, including Gen. Ahmed Vahidi, the current defense minister.
The script for a TV murder mystery couldn't be written any better
than this real-life story is playing out.
Iran, of course, is believed to have also directed the 1992 car
bombing that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. That
blast, the suspected work of Hezbollah ally Islamic Jihad, killed 29
and injured 242.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress continues to advance at least two
bills designed to further restrict Iran's ability to do international busi-
ness. Existing sanctions principally target Iran's energy sector.
A U.S. Senate resolution passed overwhelmingly on May 22
urges the U.S. government to stand with Israel if the Jewish state
is compelled to military defend itself "in legitimate self-defense
against Iran's nuclear weapons program." The latest report by the
International Atomic Energy Agency indicated Iran continues to
refine uranium, but levels remain below the red line drawn by Israel
for possible intervention.
This Senate resolution underscores the insanity of Argentina, a civ-
ilized nation that's home to more than 200,000 Jews, inviting Iran,
the world's No.1 state sponsor of terror, to sit at a table charged with
finding "truth."
What truth have the ruling mullahs ever found in relation to
Zionism or the Jewish people?

ar

❑

June 13 • 2013

35