Demonstrators Seek Removal Of Diversity Committee Member at

MIAMI — Volunteer school board

committees usually don’t spark controversy, but Broward’s diversity committee is under a microscope these days, NBC 6 reported.

A man who fellow committee members said has served well for nearly four years is drawing intense criticism for suggesting world governments recognize and negotiate with the Palestinian group Hamas.

At a demonstration in Fort Lauderdale, demonstrators said they want the school board to remove Arab-American Joe Badran from its diversity committee. They claim Badran supports Hamas, and therefore, is unfit to serve.

Terrorism victim Tuly Wultz said Hamas is proud of “teaching and preparing young boys and girls to become suicide bombers.”

Wultz’s son was killed in Israel by a suicide bomber.

The U.S. government and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization, even though it won a democratic election to govern part of the Palestinian territories.

”We are not against Muslims, we are against terrorism, and that’s what this individual represents,” demonstration organizer Joe Kaufman said.

Badran said the group has the wrong idea about him. “They’re mistaken,” Badran said. “I have never, ever supported terrorism; no decent person can ever justify terrorism.”

Badran told the school board on Tuesday that he’s a victim of character assassination, and a former president of the American Jewish Congress agreed.

Self-described Zionist Jack Lieberman is co-chairman of a group called the Jewish-Arab Dialogue Association.

”Joe, as my co-chair, has consistently spoken out in the Arab community in support of Israel’s right to exist, in support of the peace process, and against terrorism and suicide bombings,” Lieberman said.

Badran said he supports Israel’s right to exist, but “in the context of a two-state solution, a viable, independent Palestinian state as well.”

Regardless of what the school board does or doesn’t do about Badran, his term on the school’s diversity committee ends next month.

“This individual states that he supports Hamas; I think that’s grounds to remove this individual immediately,” Kaufman said.

But that won’t happen, NBC 6 reported. The school board doesn’t see Badran as a threat by serving on a committee designed to represent different views.

Source: http://www.nbc6.net/news/17775421/detail.html

Comments:

Showing posts #1 – 15 of 15

Who is Joe Kaufman
Stuart, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#1 Wednesday
Making Friends with the Enemy… The Nuclear Way
Joe Kaufman
In a speech recently made in front of a group of children, our President, George W. Bush, offered the following bit of wisdom: “One way to fight evil is to fight it with kindness and love and compassion.” While I would agree if the statement were made concerning the subject of something like substance abuse, when it comes to fighting Islamic Fundamentalism, it is as far from reality as possible. The real way to fight this type of evil – the only way – is – if I may steal a line from one of my favorite Planet of the Apes movies – by “pure merciless force.” Aside from Arabic, that is the only language they understand!

In other words, we’re not gaining any ground here. In fact, not only are we not gaining any ground, we are actually losing ground, for the simple reason that we’re spending too much time kissing behinds and dropping food and not enough time dropping bombs. And when I say bombs, I’m not talking about the “bottle rockets” we’ve been launching at the Taliban… I’m talking about major (and minor) nukes!

If the decimation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the right thing to do, in response to Pearl Harbor, then why the heck are we saving our nuclear weapons now? And furthermore, if we’re not using them, why do we have the nukes in the first place? After all, there is no more Soviet Union to compete with. If the attacks are not a good enough reason to use them, then what are we holding on to them for?!!!

In using nuclear weaponry, I do not suggest we randomly take out cities and towns around the globe. That would be highly irresponsible. What I do suggest, though, is that we perform, like our Administration has been saying, strategic targeted attacks.

First stop, Syria! Over twenty terrorist organizations, including a handful of the major ones, have their home offices located in the city of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Instead of trying to woo Syria into our coalition against terrorism, as our Administration has been doing, by offering to take them off the “terrorist list,” we should nuke Damascus and send the members of each one of its housed terrorist organizations scurrying around like a chicken with its head chopped off. If we’re truly looking to eradicate terrorism, this is the first place I would have gone after.

Second, Osama bin Laden, Al Quaida and the Taliban. It seems that these were the guys responsible for our recent attacks, or at least they have been a decent scapegoat. Before wasting this last month bombing Taliban installations, while at the same time allowing members of the Taliban government to run free into Pakistan, we should have nuked the Afghanistan capital of Kabul. In addition, we should not be sending out our ground troops to their deathbeds by having them search for Enemy Number One in any mountainous caverns. A low level nuke will flatten any mountain out, and thereby flatten bin Laden and his evil band of not-so-merry men.

Third would be Iraq. Iraq could very well be to blame for the recent Anthrax attacks that have found their way to nearly every part of our country. But whether it is to blame or not, we know that Iraq is an enemy, and we know that its government is hiding and producing weapons of mass destruction. The answer to this? That’s right, nuke ‘em… every facility… every weapon… and Saddam, as well.

These things that I suggested may not end terrorism outright, but they will do much to halt its progress. On the other hand, attempting to make friends out of the terrorists – our sworn enemies – does nothing but make us look weak and foolish.

|#2

Joe Supports Meir Kahane
Stuart, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#2 Wednesday
A Kahane Legacy Lost
By Joe Kaufman
Source: http://joe4rep.com/KC%201-3-01.htm
I didn’t know anything about Meir Kahane. I had once seen his name mentioned in a book, in the section entitled, “Jews That We Wished Were Not Jews.” But aside from that, nothing. All that I knew was that, at my college, semester after semester, the Black Student Union brought another prominent antisemitic black Muslim onto the campus to speak, and we (the Jewish Student Union) were bringing an “extremist Jew” named Meir Kahane to counteract this. I didn’t know what to expect, but due to the level of racial tension that these cretins caused, and because of the number of antisemitic actions that took place around campus, after each one of these guys spoke, I can honestly say that I was looking forward to it. I never did get that chance to see him, though.
It was a film of a speech that he had given previously, and I cannot describe to you properly just how moving it was! I know it affected everyone in the crowd… and let me tell you, this was a crowd that was not used to such subjects! I remember, as if it were yesterday, the words he spoke: “I do not hate Arabs, but I love Jews.” These words stuck in my head. At the time, I questioned why he would say this. After all, it was perfectly understandable, if he were to have hated Arabs. Just like, during the Holocaust, it was perfectly understandable for a Jew to hate Germans. But he said he didn’t hate them, and I took him at his word. And anyway, it
taught me a valuable lesson: that you don’t necessarily have to hate your enemy; you just can’t lose sight of the fact that the one that you are fighting (and making deals with) is the enemy.
The controversy surrounding Kahane – at least, when it came to his Israel policy – revolved around his strong advocacy for removing (forcibly, if necessary) all Arabs from the Jewish state. This stance gained him popularity in Israel, which led to him acquiring a seat in the Knesset. This stance also garnered him many enemies, which led to him being removed from his seat in the Knesset. But his followers remained loyal. To this day, one still can read posters tacked and glued around the Holy Land proclaiming, “Kahane was right!”
But was he right? Well, first we have to ask ourselves if it is even possible to achieve peace with these people. I mean, can you ever truly make peace with a people whose holy book (god) states that you can never befriend a Jew… and worse? Can the answer(s) be more obvious?!
So Israeli officials continue to forge ahead with their “peace” deal. They call it “land for security.” What they truly don’t understand is that the land is their security. Kahane knew this to be the case. And whether you agree with his solution or not, you must agree on this: that Yasser Arafat is a terrorist, and there can be no peace achieved with him, or any of his colleagues for that matter. They are not out for peace; they are out for one thing, and that is blood. While Bill Clinton and Ehud Barak are trying desperately to deal away the Temple Mount and half of Jerusalem, you can hear Kahane screaming down from the Heavens,
“Don’t do it!” But as it states in Proverbs, “The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for want of understanding. “When Meir Kahane was assassinated, a huge void was left. His son, Binyamin, tried to fill it, but now he’s gone too… leaving six orphans in his wake and another lifeless body for his mother to grieve over. If the Kahanes’ memory serves us any purpose, it’s to show that trust (and peace) is ultimately between only ourselves. Who will be for us, if not us? It only takes one enemy from within to ruin it for all.

Joe Receives Onion Award

Stuart, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#3 Wednesday
At their annual meeting, on 3/25/06, the South Pinellas (Florida) branch of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, recognized Joe Kaufman
(AmericansAgainstHate.com) with the ONION AWARD. The Award stated that Joe Kaufman deserved it for “his consistent record of trashing everything Muslim with a broad brush of innuendo, association and excessive rhetoric.
The South Pinellas Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State awarded its Orchids and Onions at its annual meeting Saturday, March 25. Americans United is a national organization that works to promote religious tolerance and the separation of church and state.
Onions are awarded to those who threaten religious freedom and civil liberties. Onions were awarded to Joe Kaufman chairman of Americans Against Hate. Through innuendo,guilt by association and excessive rhetoric Kaufman uses his web site to wage a campaign of hatred and intolerance against Muslims. The second Onion was awarded to Hillsborough County Commissioner Rhonda Storms for being a consistent voice against natural human rights and our constitutional rights of free speech and expression.
Rev. Harold Brockus, President South Pinellas Chapter, Americans United,

NBC a voice for extremist
Stuart, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#4 Wednesday
ARDYTH R DIERCKS, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER of NBC 6 and Ari Otzer were both informed about Joe Kaufman before this segment was aired. Yet, they chose to grant Kaufman air time and legitimatize him. It is sad, but this is a perfect example of unethical journalism that our children are subjected to. Shame on you NBC 6, Shame on you for not telling your viewers who is Joe Kaufman.

Restraining order Joe
Stuart, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#5 Wednesday
Posted on Thu, Nov. 01, 2007
Judge rules against Six Flags protester
By NATHANIEL JONES
Star-Telegram staff writer
A Florida man who protested Muslim Family Day at Six Flags over Texas last month is prohibited from threatening or harming event participants, a district judge ruled late Wednesday.
Several local Muslim organizations, including the DFW Islamic Educational Center, on Monday asked state District Judge Ken Curry to bar Joe Kaufman, co-founder of Americans Against Hate, from causing or inciting violence against their members.
Curry said the groups’ request was too vague and could not be enforced, but he issued an injunction prohibiting Kaufman from threatening and causing bodily injury to organizers of the event.

Joe Protest Muslim Day
Stuart, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#6 Wednesday
Posted on Sat, Oct. 27, 2007
Islamic groups sue man, seek libel damages
By MITCH MITCHELL
Star-Telegram staff writer
ARLINGTON — Islamic organizations in North Texas are seeking libel damages in a lawsuit against Joe Kaufman, leader of the Florida-based Americans Against Hate.
Kaufman visited Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington on Oct. 14 to lead a protest against Muslim Family Day, an event celebrating the end of Ramadan, a period of holy days on the Islamic calendar marked by fasts and prayer.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 12, asked a judge to prohibit Kaufman from threatening, harming or inciting violence against anyone associated with the outing, in addition to libel damages, according to court records.
Area Islamic organizations were granted the temporary restraining order against Kaufman. They have also asked a judge to make a determination of libel against Kaufman. The organizations charge that Kaufman’s Web site was used to paint all Muslims participating in Muslim Family Day as radical fanatics who used the event to spread anti-American hatred.
“He has scrawled JIHAD (in red that appears to be dripping in blood) over a map of the state of Texas, centered of Arlington and Six Flags,” and placed it on the Americans Against Hate Web site, according to the lawsuit.

Who is he
United States Reply »
|Report Abuse |#7 Yesterday
Is this the same fanatically right-wing Joe Kaufman who is known for his Muslim-watching organizations?
Why should anybody trust his opinion on the matter when he is clearly just a racist who opposes any integration of Arab-Americans into American public life?

Marc T
Fort Lauderdale, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#8 18 hrs ago
FROM THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE – BADRAN IS PART OF CAIR – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington, D.C.- Unfortunately, CAIR’s credibility as a community relations agency promoting “justice and mutual understanding” is tainted. Founded by leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas affiliated anti-Semitic propaganda organization, CAIR has never been willing to unequivocally condemn Hezbollah and Palestinian terror organizations, which the United States and international community have condemned and isolated.
In May 2007 CAIR was identified by the government as an unindicted co-conspirator in a case involving a charity that was allegedly affiliated with Hamas. Federal prosecutors in the case of the Holy Land Foundation listed CAIR under the category:“Individuals/entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.” The government also listed Omar Ahmad, CAIR’s founder and chairman emeritus, under the same category.
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Marc T
Fort Lauderdale, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#9 18 hrs ago
more from the adl

CAIR has also participated in and endorsed several rallies where support for terrorist groups was undeniable, including a rally in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2002, in which CAIR’s director spoke from the podium next to a Hezbollah flag.

CAIR’s position on terrorism is further complicated by its ambiguous stance on innocent civilians – a notion that allows for an interpretation that all Israelis are a legitimate target because of Israel’s mandatory military service.

CAIR was founded by several leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which has been described by the U.S. government as part of “Hamas’ propaganda apparatus.” Omar Ahmad, CAIR’s first chairman, was president of IAP between 1991 and 1994. Nihad Awad, CAIR’s executive director, served as IAP’s public relations director during the early 1990s and was contributing editor of the IAP publication Muslim World Monitor. Other CAIR founders included Rafeeq Jaber, who is IAP’s current president, and Ghassan Elashi, who founded CAIR’s Texas chapter. Elashi, who served as chairman of IAP, is also a co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation, a charity group that the United States has accused of funding Hamas. In April 2005, Elashi was convicted of supporting terrorism by funneling money to senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook.

IAP published and distributed the Hamas Charter and Hamas communiqués, endorsed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and encouraged supporters to participate in a global Jihad against Jews. According to the FBI, in the year prior to CAIR’s founding, IAP and Holy Land Foundation leaders, including Ghassan Elashi, met with Hamas leaders to discuss fund-raising and political activities in the United States.

#10

Marc T
Fort Lauderdale, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#10 18 hrs ago
This past summer, in response to renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian terror organizations in Gaza , CAIR did not condemn the terror organizations that provoked the fighting by attacking Israeli soldiers across international borders and bombing Israeli cities. Rather, CAIR launched a concerted public relations campaign that sought to persuade Americans that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is harmful to American interests, issuing statements claiming that Israel controls American politics and monopolizes its public debate. It further called for a halt to American economic and military aid to Israel.

CAIR also endorsed and participated in several anti-Israel rallies supporting Hezbollah. In August, it hosted professors Stephen Walt of Harvard and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago for a presentation on their controversial paper on the “Israeli lobby” and the war in Lebanon at a press event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

In addition to its ambiguity on terrorism, CAIR has also offered a platform to conspiratorial Israel-bashers and outright anti-Semites.

CAIR’s December 2006 statement condemning the Holocaust denial conference hosted by Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran, echoes the sentiments of most Americans. However, if CAIR truly seeks to “challenge those who would fan the flames of anti-Semitism,” it should first address its past affiliation with groups whose ideology is rooted in the same anti-Semitism. Furthermore, CAIR’s statement will be seen as genuine only once it unequivocally condemns by name terrorist organizations that seek to destroy Israel, and denounces anti-Semitism at rallies in the U.S., instead of endorsing them.

The chronology below illustrates CAIR’s longstanding support for terror organizations and hostility toward Israel.

#11

Marc T
Fort Lauderdale, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#11 18 hrs ago
Chronology
January 21, 2008: Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR – Southern California, accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in an entry on his blog. Ayloush wrote:“Israel continues to engage in the illegal and immoral practice of collective punishment against the people of Gaza. Gaza today is a ghetto, possibly, the largest concentration camp in history…. Do your part to stop this war crime. Genocide is illegal, even for Israel.”

November 7, 2007: In an article in Southern California InFocus, a CAIR-affiliated publication, CAIR chairman Parvez Ahmed described the Holy Land Foundation trial as a “classic case of guilt by association and a political vendetta against American citizens to carry out the agenda of a special interest group – the Israel Lobby.”

October 27, 2007: Ahmad al-Akhras, CAIR’s vice-chairman, published an article in the Saudi online publication, Arab News, titled: “HLF Case: An Israeli Trial Conducted on American Soil.” In the article, al-Akhras argued that the trial was an attempt “to chill the First Amendment rights and charitable giving of American Muslims and other people opposed to our nation’s one-sided policies in the Middle East. In essence, this was an Israeli trial tried on American soil in which guilt by association was used as a substitute for actual evidence.”

CHECK OUT ALL THE OTHER DETAILS: http://www.adl.org/Israel/cair.asp

#12

Marc T
Fort Lauderdale, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#12 18 hrs ago
FROM OCT 7 DALLAS MORNING NEWS…http://crimeblog.dallas news.com/archives/2008/10/fbi- cair-is-a-front-group-and.html

#13

Plastiq
Joined: Aug 9, 2008
Comments: 554
United States Reply »
|Report Abuse |#13 16 hrs ago
Marc T wrote:
FROM OCT 7 DALLAS MORNING NEWS…http://crimeblog.dallas news.com/archives/2008/10/fbi- cair-is-a-front-group-and.html
Well I don’t know why you are giving them a hard time.

It sure sounds like they CAIR an awful lot… about themselves.

#14

Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout
Miami Lakes, FL Reply »
|Report Abuse |#14 7 hrs ago
For the past 10 years the only award I saw for Joe Kaufman is the “Onion Award” given to him by his associates “the Americans United” located in Tampa. On the certificate they wrote: “For his consistent record of trashing everything Muslim with a broad brush”.
Myself an Mr. Badran publicly gave statements in the past and today I would like to renew our stand as JADA the Jewish Arab Dialogue. When it comes to suicide bombing and killing civilians and children that we are clear in that and we are strongly against it.
Joe Kaufman is the one who supported terrorist organizations verbally and by his website and by meeting with them. The organizations Joe Kaufman supported called Kahane Chai and Kach which are known as terrorist organizations and they are banned in the United States.
We have never called for the destruction or death to any country or any group. Joe Kaufman did! He wrote an article in his website complaining and urging the Bush administration to use the Nuclear weapons the US have to NUKE the Muslim world. This guy is dangerous!
In his website he is spreading hate against all Muslim leaders and who associate with Muslims He is attacking the FBI because CAIR giving them special trainings, he is attacking the Muslim senators. He keeps coming to Muslim events and rally against them and we succeeded to have one of the Judges to approve twice restrain orders against Joe Kaufman.
He is causing growing conflicts between the Jews and the Muslims in South Florida and other areas in the US. He should be stopped. I do not like to see growing hate in our communities that may bring violence and more hate crimes.
I request that the board of diversity to establish a special committee to investigate Joe Kaufman’s allegations and behavior towards our community. I believe that one of the most important points in the mission statement in the Diversity Board is to bring communities together and to prevent future conflicts. Too many actions made by Joe Kaufman have no base and no place. That will lead to major conflicts between Muslims and Jews. I do not like to see that!
Also I urge the ADL the (Anti Defamation League) to investigate Joe Kaufman before they associate their names with him. And not to take his website as the only source!

Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout
AMANA – www.al-amana.org
- The Director of AMANA, the American Muslim Association of North America.
- Executive Board member at AMER, American Muslims for Emergency & Relief.
- Executive Board member at the Miami Dade Crime Watch.
- Board member at the Crime Stoppers of Miami Dade County.
- Serving at the Florida Advisory Board to the US Commission in Civil Rights.
- Board member at JADA, Jewish Arab Dialogue Association.
- I was appointed by Commissioner Kristin Jacobs to serve at the Diversity Board in Broward.
- I was appointed by Commissioner Barbara Jordan to serve in Miami at the Asian Board
- I was appointed by Commissioner Javier Soto to serve at the CRB the Community
Relations Board in Miami-Dade County.

#15 / Dave
United States Reply »
|Report Abuse |#15 7 hrs ago
Why are there no questions in the media about whether or not the US should continue negotiating(and paying for) the radicals in the Israeli government?.
Hezbollah was formed AS A RESPONSE TO Israeli aggression and invasion of Lebanon in ’82,but listening to the US media most would infer that it is only the Lebanese that are the aggressors…baloney!.

By the way,Menachim Begin was the leader of the “Irgun” which bombed the King David hotel resulting in the deaths of 90 British(Tzipi Livni’s father Eitan was also involved in this operation and her mother robbed a train).
One would think that there is a prerequisite to having been involved in terrorism to be involved in the Israeli leadership.
Most groups of people separate and vilify the radicals amongst them,the Jews do not,this may be one reason of the continuation of anti-Semitism,their silence and lack of condemnation is taken as tacit approval of their radicals actions.

We have had plenty of propaganda and bias in our media,movies and all other forms of news until the net.
Thank heaven that the Zionist propaganda is being undermined.