After being outed for speaking in front of an organization, the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS-Minnesota) – as the group was calling for the murder of Jews and the waging of war against non-Muslims – United States Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) has gone back for a repeat performance.  Yet, while Congressman Ellison continues his outrageous conduct, he still gets rewarded with invites to sit on Congressional entities highly inappropriate for someone such as himself.  Why?

For well over five years, since at least December of 2002, MAS-Minnesota propagated hatred on its website aimed at Jews and Christians.  Up until recently, when the pages containing the offending material were removed, the following quotes could be found on the site:

• “The Holy Prophet (and through him the Muslims) has been reassured that he should not mind the enmity, the evil designs and the machinations of the Jews...”
• “In view of the degenerate moral condition of the Jews and the Christians, the Believers have been warned not to make them their friends and confidants.”
• “If you gain a victory over the men of Jews, kill them.”
• “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’”
• “May Allah destroy the Jews, because they used the graves of their prophets as places of worship.”

As well, there were quotes calling for violence in the name of Islam and praising terrorist organizations.  They included:

• “A Muslim must always worship Allah and wage jihad until death in order to reach his ultimate goal… Regularly make the intention to go on jihad with the ambition to die as a martyr.”
• “The [Islamic] revolution... has been crystallized in the steadfast, brave, aware Islamic resistance movement ‘Hamas’... Hamas is an embodiment of the Palestinian People’s belief in its Muslim and Arab origins, and a testimony that this people is still alive and will never die and that its jihad will be carried on by pure hands and clean hearts until victory is achieved with the will of Allah.”
• “Western secularism moved into a Muslim world already estranged from its Qur’anic roots, and delayed its advancement for centuries, and will continue to do so until we drive it from our lands. Moreover, we will not stop at this point, but will pursue this evil force to its own lands, invade its Western heartland, and struggle to overcome it until all the world shouts by the name of the Prophet and the teachings of Islam spread throughout the world.”

All of the above statements were located on the MAS-Minnesota website, when U.S. Representative Keith Ellison gave the keynote address at the group’s 4th Annual Convention, in May of 2007.  This fact was pointed out by this author on a number of occasions.  Never once has the Congressman ever condemned the statements or MAS-Minnesota for placing them on its site.  Instead, he has elected to remain silent about the issue.  But that makes sense, considering the fact that he just spoke in front of the group yet again.

This month, from May 23-24, MAS-Minnesota held its 5th Annual Convention, entitled ‘Islam: Faith & Life... Continuing the Good Work.’  One of the speakers for the event was “unindicted co-conspirator” of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Siraj Wahhaj.  Giving the keynote address, as he did last year, was Ellison.  This information was found on the homepage of MAS-Minnesota’s site, but like the group’s hate quotes, it was removed.

Co-sponsoring this year’s event was Islamic Relief (IR), a group that Israel has labeled a front for Hamas.  On the flyer for the convention, next to the IR logo is an image of the state of Israel dressed to look like a blood red rose, the head of the stem resembling a green hand flashing the Palestinian “victory” sign, whilst clutching onto a rock-shaped petal.

Representative Ellison’s attendance at these two MAS conventions is not a fluke.  Ellison has participated in a large number of other radical Islamist events, including functions for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

Knowing the above, one would have to wonder how it could be possible for someone such as Ellison to be appointed to Congressional forums against anti-Semitism and against terrorism, but that is just what has happened.

The Congressional Task Force on Anti-Semitism (CTFAS), founded by the now deceased Representative Tom Lantos, had not formally gotten off the ground yet – it still hasn’t – but one of the first things the group did was to appoint Keith Ellison as a member.  Its creation was announced on July 31, 2007.  Ellison joined the group 19 days later, on August 19.

On February 12, 2008, this author and the group he chairs, Americans Against Hate, took a delegation to meet with United States Representative Ron Klein (D-Florida) to discuss this matter with him.  Representative Klein co-chairs CTFAS with Mike Pence (R-Indiana).

We sought to convince Klein to remove Ellison from the group.  We showed the Congressman a number of documents proving our point, including screenshots of the offending MAS-Minnesota web pages and the program from the November 2008 North American Imams Federation (NAIF) conference, where Ellison had spoken, featuring Ellison’s image directly next to that of Siraj Wahhaj (mentioned earlier) and Al-Qaeda web designer, Mazen Mokhtar.

Unfortunately, even after viewing such overwhelming evidence, Representative Klein refused to remove Ellison from the task force.  And the task force is not the only group he should be removed from.

On January 30, 2007, six months prior to the establishment of CTFAS, Representative Sue Myrick (R-North Carolina), along with Representatives Bud Cramer (D-Alabama), Kay Granger (R-Texas), and Ben Chandler (D-Kentucky) announced that they had formed a new bipartisan Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus.  It was heralded as a breakthrough, as it showed that members of Congress were finally beginning to recognize the problem – finally they were beginning to “get it.”

However, when viewing the ‘Congressional Caucus Memberships’ page on the government website of Representative Ellison, one finds out that Ellison, as well, sits on the anti-terror caucus, a group that many hoped would target organizations Ellison is affiliated with.

According to Myrick’s office, caucus members “attend meetings where experts give presentations regarding terrorism and jihadist ideology.”  But how effective could it be, if the group allows a “jihadist” like Ellison to join, essentially giving him cover to continue his egregious activities?

This month, Cairo, Egypt’s Al-Ahram Weekly reported on a video conference taking place in Washington, D.C., featuring Ellison, which the publication sat in on.  There, Ellison discussed what he felt was the need for American Muslims to gain political power, an “Arab-Muslim lobby,” so that they could push for things they felt of importance to them, such as pro-Palestinian issues.

Ellison, later, was asked about American Muslim non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their effectiveness.  He stated, “[A] lot of these NGOs are really doing a good job, but they still have a lot of work to do, like the Islamic Society of North America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the Muslim American Society.  But we still need more people to get involved and more groups starting up.”

Representative Keith Ellison’s Islamist connections make him a danger to America.  If Keith Ellison gets his wish, radical Muslims will, one day, be able to move their extremist agenda forward.  If you ask him, that agenda is one of peaceful coexistence.  If you ask this author, that agenda is Hamas and the destruction of the United States as we know it.

Keith Ellison’s continued presence on Congressional groups based on fighting anti-Semitism and terrorism makes a mockery of those groups.  It subverts those groups’ stated goals, and it renders them virtually useless.  To preserve the integrity and effectiveness of the organizations, he should be removed from them immediately.

Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, assisted with this report.