What do Senator Joseph Lieberman, Attorney General Michael Mukasey and attorney Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush’s special envoy for human rights in North Korea have in common? For one, they have each come under severe verbal abuse and public rebuke for the principled policy positions they have taken.
And, interestingly, each is also an observant Jew.
Although it’s not the sort of proposition one can prove conclusively, it’s fair to speculate that their personal lives are not unrelated to their demonstrated willingness to stake out unpopular positions that they regard as morally correct and stand by them at significant personal cost.
The saga of Senator Lieberman’s transformation from Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000 to his current status as pariah of his party is well-known. What is given less recognition is just how strikingly unusual it is for a career politician to have risked and endured what he has – humiliating electoral near-defeat and ostracism – and yet remain steadfast, indeed, defiant, in support of the national security policy of a deeply unpopular president with whom Lieberman disagrees on almost everything else. If an updated edition of John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage were to be issued, Joe Lieberman would surely merit inclusion.
Commenting on the steady liberal refrain that Lieberman is a “hack,” incoming Commentary editor John Podhoretz writes:
To hold views so discordant with your long-time comrades and colleagues is the sort of thing that can cause even the strongest of men to lose faith in his own views. And most politicians, who must balance conviction with prudence, would go with prudence in Lieberman’s situation and work to stifle his difference with his party’s orthodoxy. . . .
By remaining steadfast on the war in Iraq when others in his party fled their vote and then blamed their inconstancy on the supposed “lies” of the administration, and by refusing to join the jackal-like feast on George W. Bush’s reputation, Lieberman earned the hatred of many fellow Democrats. That hatred caused a hugely rich man in his state to spend millions of his own money to oust Lieberman from his own party’s nomination after serving three full terms as senator.
And yet there he remained, and remains, unbending. This is the opposite of hackery. It is the antithesis of hackery. It is the quality everyone says he yearns for in Washington — principled consistency. . . .
A long –time, highly regarded federal judge, Michael Mukasey answered the call of public service to become the nation’s chief law enforcement officer and, with it, a lightning rod for attacks on a president who has been demonized to an extent that few of his predecessors have been. Despite impeccable professional credentials and a sterling reputation for fairness, moderation and independence, Mukasey was confirmed by the narrowest Senate vote margin of any attorney general in more than 50 years.
Mukasey’s testimony in January before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the interrogation technique known as waterboarding was a study in contrasts: the dignified, thoughtful Mukasey refusing to be baited by self-righteous, intellectually sloppy Democratic senators so patently angling for camera time and to out-do each other as water-carriers for their Angry Left base.
Of the many – and there are many – fitness products that purport to offer great results and innovative design, only one meets my threshold of quality, effectiveness, affordability and portability: Bounderball (www.bounderball.com), a powerful exercise tool that attaches to a conventional fitness ball and enables people to do a wide range of motions and training routines. First, the product has massive credibility, having been created by a wellness professional with a passion for health. Secondly, the product works — big time! Watch the videos on the company’s website to get a better idea of how versatile Bounderball is. Thirdly, Bounderball improves your core strength, which is essential for long-term conditioning and overall mobility. And fourthly, Bounderball is economical and efficient; the product consumes hardly any space, making it a PERFECT tool for busy travelers who too often neglect regular exercise. Seriously, Bounderball represents a new era in fitness equipment — lightweight, mobile, easy to use and highly successful. You read it here first: Bounderball is a winner!
There is a revolution afoot — a green revolution! The rise of environmentally conscious companies – and by environmentally conscious, I don’t mean a few advertising gimmicks and a memorable slogan that misleads people, but an organization dedicated to improving the way we use natural resources – is at the center of responsible corporate citizenship. Enter Spruce Industries (www.spruceindustries.com), a New Jersey-based company that is an innovator in the use of cleaning supplies. I have written previously about Spruce’s long-standing commitment to a green workplace; and want to more extensively showcase their progressive approach toward business success and environmental leadership. Let me start by applauding Spruce for their common sense: the company’s executives know that no matter how "green" a building is – no matter the number of accolades a building wins for saving energy or using recycled materials – all is for naught, unless you regularly clean that space with non-hazardous materials. Hence the popularity behind Spruce: all of its cleaning supplies – and there are many from which to choose – are safe, environmentally sound and effective. Incredibly effective. Consider some of Spruce’s clients: Gucci, Union County (NJ) Community College and Staten Island University Hospital. These clients are major influencers within their respective communities; and their selection of Spruce is a major form of validation, that a good building is a clean building. Take a moment to visit Spuce’s website, and learn more about this exciting business. The power of green equals green, or doing good enables you to do well.
Leonard Jason is a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago and the director of the university’s Center for Community Research. He is on the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee to the federal Department of Health and Human Services and is a board member of the International Association for CFS/ME, an advocacy group.
Q: What is it about chronic fatigue syndrome that makes it so challenging for many people — patients themselves, doctors, family members?
A: Fatigue is a universal human experience, and in fact most people are very hard-working and feel fatigued a lot of the time. And severe fatigue is one of the most common complaints that people bring to their physicians. Because so many people have general fatigue and continue to function, they think, “What’s that? That’s not a disease, it’s just a fact of life.” So there’s a perception both among medical personnel and the lay public that it’s something that you push yourself through, you deal with it. There’s a tendency to think, “Well, you’re stressed out, get some better sleep, take some antidepressants.”
With heart disease or cancer or AIDS, you have an immediate feeling from your family, your work associates, your friends, that this is something we need to be sympathetic to, we need to make accommodations for. What’s strikingly different about this illness is that the majority of people not only have to deal with a particularly debilitating health problem, they also have to deal with the stigma and societal reaction and disbelief and illegitimacy, and that is crushing, Your work colleagues say you’re malingering, medical personnel say there’s nothing they can find so they’ll refer you to a psychiatrist, and your friends begin to complain that you’re never calling them, you’ve rejected them. So this person is in the whirlwind of a terrain of disbelief that is probably in some ways unique.
Q: Has the perception of C.F.S. changed over the years?
A: I spend a lot of my time giving talks to audiences of people I don’t know, and I feel it’s very different today — vastly different than 20 years ago. At that time, no one had heard of it and there was almost universal disbelief. Today, that is much, much less. I don’t mean to suggest that there is no skepticism remaining. It’s still present. But it is my opinion that the people who are skeptical haven’t really looked at the literature. It’s easy to nurse your skepticism when you haven’t really bothered to look.
Q: How much would you associate the skepticism with the name “chronic fatigue syndrome,” which is used in the United States, instead of names like “myalgic encephalomyelitis” or “myalgic encephalopathy,” which are more common in other countries?
A: The name is unfortunate. It’s a terrible name, because fatigue is the focus and that is differently experienced by people who are healthy than by people who have this illness. I do think if we called bronchitis or emphysema “chronic cough syndrome,” you’d probably have very little respect for those people, but a name that’s more medical sounding changes people’s perceptions.
When you have a more medical-sounding name, you’re saying the illness is not something fluffy, to be downplayed and ignored, and health care personnel think of it as more serious, more debilitating. I hope there will be a new name, but the problem is you don’t change names lightly, even bad names, because people come to recognize an illness by a name. I think changing it will confuse a lot of people, so it better be a new name that has broader acceptability among patients and researchers.
There is a movement developing around the world of people using different terms, and some are using the term M.E./C.F.S. The C.D.C. and the CFIDS Association are two of the last large organizations in the United States who have not come aboard.
Q: There are many people who think C.F.S. is just a form of depression. What’s the connection between the two?
A: The fast answer is, if you want to do a quick diagnostic test, you could say, “If you were well tomorrow, what would you do?” And the person with C.F.S. would give you a list of things that they want to get back to in their life, and the person with classic depression would probably say, “I don’t know.”
Eighty percent of people who have depression have fatigue, but it’s not their most serious complaint. They might have sleep problems, and some cognitive problems that are common, and they can end up being brought into the case definition for C.F.S. Some people with this disease do have depression. If you basically have a person who says they were feeling pretty good, now they’re sick, and then they get depressed, they could have depression as well as the illness. The real critical problem is when you have a person who has solely depression and does not have this illness, but has fatigue. So if your case definition is imprecise and you blur the categories, and that brings into it people who don’t have the illness, you ultimately have problems with estimating how many people have it.
Huma Abedin’s father, Syed Zainul Abedin, was born in India, in 1928 [prior to the partition]. It is possible that he was named for the fourth Imam, Ali Ibn el Hussain, Zainul Abedeen, also known as Zayn al-Abidin.
Syed Zainul Abedin’s undergraduate education was at Aligarh Muslim University, and his graduate education was at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his PhD, in American Civilization, in 1974:
He seems to have been living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and working at Western Michigan University, for several years before he was awarded his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania; from the library catalog at WMU:
Communal violence in India : a case study
by R.A. Schermerhorn, edited [by] Syed Z. Abedin
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Consultative Committee of Indian Muslims, [1976?]
The Muslim minority in India
edited by Syed Z. Abedin
Kalamazoo, MI : Muslim Students Association, Western Michigan University, [1972]
The future of South Asia
edited by Syed Z. Abedin
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Muslim Students Association, Western Michigan University, 1972
The Muslim minority in India
edited by Syed Z. Abedin
Kalamazoo, MI : Muslim Students Association, Western Michigan University, [1972]
The World of Islam [videorecording]
Lecturers: Dr. Visho Sharma, Mr. Salam Khadduri, and Prof. Sayed
[Kalamazoo, Mich.] : WMU-TV, [1971]
Professor Abedin then abruptly uprooted his family [to include his wife, Saleha, and his 2-year-old daughter, Huma], circa 1977, and headed to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
There is also a copy of her PhD dissertation, on microform, at Western Michigan University [which lists her year of birth as 1940].
For many years after the family resettled in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saleha Mahmood Abedin was a Professor in the Department of Sociology, at King Abdul Aziz University.
More recently, she has been part of the administration of Dar Al-Hekma Women’s College, which she helped to create.
Saleha Mahmood Abedin also serves as the director of her late husband’s Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, and as the editor of its Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs.
Abdullah Omar Naseef was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1939.
He received a "Bachelor’s Degree in Sciences", from Riyadh University, in 1964, and in 1971, he received his PhD, in Geology, from the University of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England:
The geology of the northeastern At-Taif area, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Omar Nasseef
Leeds, 1971 lib.leeds.ac.uk
[Parenthetically: Leeds was in the news earlier this year, for refusing to allow Matthias Köntzel to deliver his lecture, Hitler’s Legacy: Islamic anti-Semitism in the Middle East.]
There is very little evidence that Naseef was much of a practicing geologist; he may have taught geology circa 1973 or 1974, at King Abdul Aziz University, but thereafter he abandoned geology and quickly moved his way up the academic power structure:
Instead of pursuing his training as a geologist, it appears that Naseef was much more interested in spending the new Saudi oil revenues on an ambitious program of Wahhabi proselytization throughout the world.
In 1981, Naseef edited the tract, Social and natural sciences: the Islamic perspective, which is on file at Leeds; in 1984, as Secretary General of the Muslim World League, Naseef oversaw the opening of the Glasgow Central Mosque, which remains the largest mosque in Scotland; in 1988, he edited the tract, Today’s problems, tomorrow’s solutions: future thoughts on the structure of Muslim societies, which is on file at Penn.
The internet is replete with stories of young Muslim scholars and activists who were funded & encouraged by Naseef in the 1970’s and 1980’s, when he first left geology and became a fixture in the Wahhabi proselytization movement. Now, as he nears retirement, Naseef has possessed so many officiary titles over the course of his career that one could spend literally days [maybe even weeks] googling all of them; here are a few of the more prominent positions he has held:
Vice Chairman, Shoura [Shura] Council of Saudi Arabia
This is a unicameral parliament, roughly equivalent to the UK House of Lords, or the US Senate. It as also known as Majlis as-Shura, Majlis-e-Shoora, etc.
Secretary General, Muslim World League
The MWL is also known as Râbitat al-‘Alam al-Islâmî, or simply Rabitah [Rabita].
President, World Muslim Congress
The WMC is also known as Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami.
President, King Abdul Aziz University
Chairman, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
University of Oxford; Oxford, England
Chairman, Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association
President, International Union [Federation] of Muslim Scouts
In a moment, we will return to Naseef’s associations with Al-Qaeda and Wahhabi terrorism, but first let us note that Naseef was almost surely the driving force behind the Abedin family’s abrupt departure from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and their relocation to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, circa 1977, and, over the course of the last 30 years, he was doubtless responsible for funding the careers of both Syed Zainul Abedin and Saleha Mahmood Abedin:
…I thought why Islam cannot be taught like that. On the initiation of our colleagues, I began preparing some books and a curriculum. Later we shifted to Gary in Indiana state, 40 kms from Chicago. In 1976, I met Rabita chief Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef and Dr. Zainul Abedin of Insitute of Muslim Minority Affairs. They encouraged me to take up this venture. The first book to come out was Our Prophet, an assignment from King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah at Dr. Naseef’s behest…
Contemporary discussions on religious minorities in Islam
Jorgen S. Nielsen
Brigham Young University Law Review, 2002 findarticles.com GOOGLE CACHE
…Trained in social science and being of Indian origin, Professor Abedin was the founder of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, an institution that had the quiet but active support of the then General Secretary of the Muslim World League, Dr. Umar Abdallah Nasif…
…After studies at Aligarh Muslim University Zaiunul Abedin was close to the "Jamâ´at-i Islami-i Hind" and later in the United States, which he took during his student years in Philadelphia as his country of adoption, he became in the early 1980’s councilor of the "Râbitat al-‘Alam al-Islâmî" (Mecca). He established the "Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs" in Jeddah with a branch in London and founded and directed for many year its important organ, the "Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs"…
Note that the piece by Christian W. Troll also includes a very interesting insight into the political philosopy of Abdullah Omar Naseef:
… The West and secularism are projected as total negation of that for which Islam stands. "In fact, the secular world view is the total negation of the Islamic faith", ‘Abdullah Naseef the General Secretary of the Islamic World League, wrote in 1989. He considers it to be the foremost task of the Islamic thinker, whom he qualifies as dâ’i ("inviter", missionary), to destroy "the world view of secularism and its intellectual bases. This task includes not only the philosophical refutation of the basic position of secularism but the detailed analysis of all its manifestations, in the Islamic societies as elsewhere. The struggle of Islamic thought with modern secularism is part of the eternal warfare of Islam against kufr, against the powers of atheism, lie and evil"…
Fatima Umar Naseef was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1944.
She is usually referred to as either a Lecturer, or a Professor, in Sociology, at King Abdul Aziz University, and she is said to be the first Saudi woman ever allowed to issue a Fatwa.
My best guess is that Fatima Umar [Omar] Naseef is [or has been] one of Abdullah Omar Naseef’s wives – it seems much less likely that she would have been a sister who never married.
Fatima Naseef’s most famous work was originally written in Arabic, then translated to French, circa 1995-1997, as Droits et Devoirs de la femme en Islam: à la lumière du Coran et de la Sunna, and was finally published in English, in 1999, as Women in Islam: a discourse in rights and obligations:
The Library of Congress indicates that the French edition was translated from the Arabic by "M. Boudjenoun" and "A. Bourezak", and that, for the 1999 English edition, the translation was supervised and edited by none other than Saleha Mahmood Abedin.
Furthermore, that English translation was published by Saleha Mahmood Abedin’s Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs:
Fatima Naseef seems to fancy herself the Muslim Rosa Luxembourg, or Emma Goldman, and she has developed a theory of "Radical Feminist" Islam, in which Muslim women fight side-by-side with their male brethren, in the cause of the greater Jihad:
…This is not the first time that Muslim women have declared jihad. In the 7th century women joined the Prophet Muhammad in his jihad against the forces of the jahiliya, age of ignorance that preceded the advent of Islam.13 Of these warriors, the best known is Nusayba Bint al-Ka’b (variously referred to as al-Najariya and al-Maziniya) who fought with Muhammad at the famous battle of Uhud in [*pg 230] 625 C.E. Indeed, she is credited with having protected him personally.14 These early women’s activism, however, did not provide precedent for those who followed them…
Muslim women from different walks of life have been authorizing themselves to be both mujahidat, female participants in jihad, and even muqatilat, women who fight with arms, for the Qur’an does call for conventional fighting (qital).30 In Surat al-Baqara, men and women are told to fight, however loathsome fighting might be: "Fighting is written for you even though you hate it. But it may well be that you hate what is good for you and that you love what is bad for you. God is the one who knows and not you."31
This is the verse that the Saudi preacher Fatima Umar Naseef cites in a chapter about women’s political rights in Islam.32 She quotes a Tradition attributed to the Prophet’s wife Aisha that describes jihad for women as being "without fighting," yet it remains jihad.33However, when infidels invade Dar al-Islam, "all inhabitants of this country should go out and fight the enemy. Indeed, it is unlawful for anyone to refrain from fighting."34 In other words, women may fight without their husbands’ permission, children without permission from their fathers and slaves without permission from their masters. She cites the Egyptian scholar Sayyid Qutb who had asserted in the 1960s that, in cases of emergency, women, like the women surrounding the Prophet in the 7th century, [*pg 233] may have to be mobilized for jihad.35 Naseef’s advocacy of total mobilization and the resultant transgression of hierarchical norms is striking, especially when articulated by a highly respected Muslim woman scholar. But she is not alone…
And remember that Saleha Mahmood Abedin was responsible for both the English language translation & the English language publication of that work, as excerpted by Miriam Cooke:
However, when infidels invade Dar al-Islam, "all inhabitants of this country should go out and fight the enemy. Indeed, it is unlawful for anyone to refrain from fighting."
The Children
Recall that Abdullah Omar Naseef has served as the Chairman of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies [e.g. here; GOOGLE CACHE]. Note that an "Hassan Abedin" serves as a fellow at the OXCIS:
Dr Hassan Abedin
BA (Clark Univ., Massachusetts), MA (London), Ph.D (London)
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Fellow oxcis.ac.uk GOOGLE CACHE
[in the past, he was also listed as the "Development Officer"]
It turns out that his full name is Hassan Syed Abedin, and he is almost certainly Huma Abedin’s brother [or at least her half-brother, depending upon how many wives her father took]; from the catalog of the library of the University of London, this is Hassan Syed Abedin’s PhD dissertation, in "International Relations":
Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and the Great Game in Arabia, 1896-1946
Abedin, Hassan Syed
335 leaves : genealogical tables, maps
Thesis(PhD)–University of London, 2003
International Relations catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk
Next, note that there is a "Khadijah Abdullah Omar Naseef", listed as a "Teaching Assistant" at the Women’s Campus of the Department of Sociology of King Abdul Aziz University:
My best guess is that Khadijah Abdullah Omar Naseef is the daughter of Fatima Umar Naseef, by Abdullah Omar Naseef, and that she is probably a contemporary of Huma Abedin & Hassan Syed Abedin [perhaps even a childhood acquaintance, or close friend].
Just two months ago, on August 10, 2007, Khadijah Abdullah Omar Naseef appears to have self-published a new work, Liberation Theology: Islam and the Feminist Agenda in the Qur’an, under the pseudonym "Omar Naseef", at the self-publishing label, "AuthorHouse", of Bloomington, Indiana:
268. Rabita Trust is a charitable organization which was created to organize the repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis (Biharis) from Bangladesh. Founded in 1988, the trust fund was started jointly by the government of Pakistan and the Saudi-based charity, the Muslim World League (Rabita al-Alam-e-Islami). Rabita Trust received the majority of its funding from the Muslim World League, a world-wide Islamic organization heavily funded by the Saudis, but which has also been involved with terrorism.
269. Rabita Trust was initially granted 250 million Riyals from the Pakistani government as well as 50 million Riyals from the Muslim World League to help relocate some 250,000 displaced Pakistani refugees in Bangladesh. In its 15 years of existence, the Rabita Trust has only managed to relocate a few hundred Biharis.
270. Rabita Trust is an al Qaeda front, and the Head of Rabita Trust is a known al Qaeda member. A Treasury Department press release issued when Rabita Trust’s assets were frozen indicated that:
Rabita Trust is headed by Wa’el Hamza Jalaidan, one of the founders of al-Qaida with bin Laden. He is the logistics chief of bin Laden’s organization and fought on bin Laden’s side in Afghanistan.
271. According to an authoritative biography of bin Laden and the original members of al Qaeda, the head of Rabita Trust, Wa’el Jalaidan, fought alongside Osama bin Laden and championed his cause. Detailing how al Qaeda’s key founders fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s, this account is noted for its accuracy and clarity. The biography, written by a fellow compatriot of bin Laden, noted:
One of the men who led the Arab Afghan Jihad forces came from one of the wealthiest Saudi families; he was influenced by the Afghan struggle, who would live together with them and sacrifice everything for the Afghani jihad. This man was Osama bin Laden, a young, tall man who followed Dr. Abdullah Azzam to fight in Afghanistan. Another Saudi joined together with them; his name was Wa’el Jalaidan, a US student who was studying agriculture and left to fight jihad in Afghanistan. These three: Osama bin Laden (a.k.a. ‘Abu Abdallah’), Dr. Abdullah Azzam (a.k.a. Abu Muhammed), and Wa’el Jalaidan (a.k.a. Abu Al- Hassen al-Madani), gathered together in December 1979 to create the new Islamic revolution in Afghanistan.
Accordingly, Jalaidan was branded a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity by the United States Treasury Department and his assets have been frozen.
272. Rabita Trust is the sister organization of the International Islamic Relief Organization as they are both subsidiaries of the Muslim World League.
273. Rabita Trust, a subsidiary of the Muslim World League, is connected to the SAAR Network, through two officers, Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef and Abdullah al-Obaid. The SAAR Network was the focus of March 2002 raids led by United States authorities for the network’s ties to al Qaeda.
274. On October 12, 2001, President George W. Bush’s Executive Order designated Defendant Rabita Trust as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity and the Treasury Department froze its assets. Defendant Abdullah Omar Naseef founded the Defendant Rabita Trust in July 1988 and is currently its chairman.
275. Abdullah Omar Naseef (or "Naseef") also served as Secretary-General of the Muslim World League during the time he created Defendant Rabita Trust and has attempted to spread Muslim World League offices around the world. Part of his global efforts are found in his involvement in a SAAR Network charity. Naseef is an officer of Makkah al-Mukarramah, Inc., registered in Virginia as a non-profit organization. A second shared executive is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Rabita Trust, Abdullah al-Obaid, who is also an officer at two of the SAAR Network businesses that were raided, the Muslim World League and Sanabel
al-Kheer. Defendant Abdullah Omar al-Obaid is unique in that, not only is he an officer at the Muslim World League and the SAAR Network, but he is also the Deputy General Manager at one of the al-Rajhi’s largest businesses, al-Watania Poultry in Saudi Arabia. Al-Watania Poultry has branches worldwide and in the United States.
Fund-Raising Methods and Procedures for International Terrorist Organizations Testimony of Steven Emerson Before the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations "PATRIOT Act Oversight: Investigating Patterns of Terrorist Fundraising"
February 12, 2002 PDF: financialservices.house.gov
Rabita Trust for the Rehabilitation of Stranded Pakistanis
The Rabita Trust, while ostensibly working in Pakistan, has its roots in Saudi Arabia. In July 1988, Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq and Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, the then-Secretary- General of the World League (MWL), established the Rabita Trust for the repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis.27 The Muslim World League (MWL) is an organization based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is funded by wealthy Saudis.28Naseef also served as one of the vice-presidents of Rabita Trust"29 and is currently the chairman of the foundation.30 Effectively, the Rabita Trust is a subsidiary of the Muslim World League, and therefore an offshoot of a Saudi organization.
Operating under the guise of a charity, the Rabita Trust instead served to promote terrorism. According to a press release issued by the Department of the Treasury on October 12, 2001:
The Secretary-General of the Rabita Trust Wa’el Hamza Jalaidan, one of the founders of Al-Qaeda along with Osama bin Laden. Wa’el Julaidan is the logistics chief of Bin Laden’s organization and fought on Bin Laden’s side in Afghanistan.
Rabita Trust was designated a SDGT on October 12, 2001, by President Bush’s Executive Order freezing the assets of terrorists and terrorist groups.
Terrorism Financing: Origination, Organization, and Prevention: Saudi Arabia, Terrorist Financing and the War on Terror Testimony of Steven Emerson with Jonathan Levin Before the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs
July 31, 2003 PDF: senate.gov
The Muslim World League
In May 1962, in an effort to strengthen Saudi presence in regional affairs and dilute Egypt’s influence, King Faysal of Saudi Arabia sponsored a pan-Islamic conference in Mecca. The objectives of the conference were to (1) promote cooperation among Muslim states, (2) counter Soviet and communist threats in the Arab world, and (3) mobilize the Muslim world to oppose the state of Israel. The Mecca meeting resulted in the creation of the Muslim World League (rabitat al-‘alam al-Islami).74
According to former Secretary General of MWL, Dr. Abdullah Naseef: The establishment [of MWL] came in a decision approved by the first General Islamic Conference held under the auspices of Saudi Arabia in Makkah in Dhul-Hijjah, 1381/1962. The conference was attended by a large number of Islamic leaders, Ulema [clerics], and intellectuals from various countries and continents.75
Since its founding, the League has functioned as the quasi-official religious missionary and propaganda arm of the Saudi Kingdom. In March 1997, Secretary General Abdullah Al-Obaid thanked King Fahd for his continued support, noting that the Saudi government had officially provided more than $1.33 billion in financial aid to MWL since 1962.76 In 1997, Prince Majid bin Abdel Aziz, emir of the Mecca province,
attended a meeting of the MWL Constituent Council in Saudi Arabia and delivered a speech on behalf of King Fahd:
Since its unification under King Abdel Aziz, may God grant him mercy, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has devoted its concern to Muslim affairs, and proffered its hand to assist Muslims wherever they may be… the kingdom has sponsored many such conferences and meetings. Foremost amongst them, is the Muslim World League which today we regard – thanks be to God – as an outstanding Muslim body devoted to the spreading of the Islamic call… Islamic unity must be cornerstone of co-operation to which we aspire. It’s the source of strength, and the secret of our potency.77
Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Uthman Ibn Jubair was Chairman of the Saudi Shura Council78 and a member of the MWL Jurisprudence Council until he died in January, 2002.79 The Deputy Chairman of the Saudi Shura Council, Dr. Abdullah Naseef, is a former Secretary General of the MWL.80
On its current website, MWL lists its main objectives as "to disseminate Islamic Dawah and expound the teachings of Islam. To defend Islamic causes in a manner that safeguards the interests and aspirations of Muslims, solves their problems, refutes false allegations against Islam, and repels inimical trends and dogma which the enemies of Islam seek to exploit in order to destroy the unity of Muslims and to sow seeds of doubt in our Muslim brethren."81
There have been credible reports and intelligence that MWL has assisted Islamic militants with financial and organizational assistance. According to intelligence sources, bin Laden’s mentor, Shaykh Abdallah Azzam, was first sponsored by the Muslim World League in the early 1980’s to open and head a relief agency in Peshawar, Pakistan that would aid arriving Arab-Afghan warriors.82 The Peshawar MWL branch office was also led for a time by Wa’il Jalaidan.83 The Peshawar office was financed by Osama bin Laden, and later was subsidized by large donations from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.84 In addition, the Egyptian MWL branch office served as the "third route to the Al-Ansar House in Jedda," one of Bin Laden’s "guest houses" used to funnel recruits to terrorist training camps.85
In February 2000, Jalaidan was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Rabita Trust (another financial arm of MWL in Pakistan) and served as its Director General.86 Soon thereafter, U.S. officials sent a confidential memorandum to UN police forces in southeastern Europe titled "Secret: US office only-Release to UNMIK [the U. N. administration in Kosovo]."87 The document named MWL representative Wael Jalaidan as an associate of Osama bin Laden and stated that Jalaidan had directly assisted bin Laden’s efforts to "move money and men to and from the Balkans."88 MWL’s Rabita Trust itself was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) Organization by the U.S. government on October 12, 2001.89
Saudi Support for Islamic Extremism in the United States Testimony of Matthew Epstein Before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security
September 10, 2003 PDF: kyl.senate.gov
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
CAIR has repeatedly sent representatives to Saudi Arabia seeking financial and political support. CAIR often received such support from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY).
The relationship between WAMY and the Saudi government was perhaps best described by Dr Abdul Wahab Noorwali, Assistant Secretary General of WAMY, "Saudi Arabia’s support has been enormous since the establishment of WAMY in 1963. The Kingdom provides us with a supportive environment that allows us to work openly within the society to collect funds and spread activities. It also provides us with protection abroad through Saudi embassies and consulates, in addition to financial support."59Abdullah Naseef, Vice Chairman of the Majlis as-Shura of the Saudi Arabian Government, Vice Chairman of WAMY and former Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, explained "Praise is due to Allah SWT and then to the kings of Saudi Arabia who supported this pioneering organization and other non-governmental bodies such as the Muslim World League in Makkah in 1962 and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth in Riyadh in 1973."60
• In 1998, the Saudi Gazette reported that CAIR’s Executive Director Nihad Awad addressed a press conference at the WAMY headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to the report, "He [Awad] said CAIR needed funds to fight discrimination against Muslims, to promote the true image of Islam and to combat the anti-Islamic propaganda."61
• According to a December 23, 1999 Arab News article, Dr. Hamid Shaygi, assistant Secretary General of WAMY announced at a Riyadh press conference, with Nihad Awad in attendance, that WAMY "was extending both moral and financial support to CAIR in its effort to construct headquarters at a cost of $3.5 million in Washington, D.C." The article continued saying WAMY would also "introduce CAIR to Saudi philanthropists and recommend their financial support for the headquarters project."62
• On one fundraising trip to Saudi Arabia in 2002, CAIR and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) proudly announced their cooperation on a million dollar public relations campaign. As reported by The Muslim World, the weekly newspaper of the Saudi Muslim World League:
WAMY supports CAIR campaign against US anti-Islamic sentiment
RIYADH – The World Assembly of Muslim youth (WAMY) is extending support to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a US-based organization, which has launched a media campaign by publishing advertisements in leading American newspapers and distributing books on Islam free of charge…
Speaking to newsmen at WAMY’s new office in Riyadh, on 12 November, Muhammad Ibn Ali Al-Qotatibi, Editor-in-Chief of Future Magazine, a WAMY publication, said CAIR had already booked a quarter-page for every Friday of 52 week, in the ‘USA Today.’ The advertisement will commence in the 3rd week of Ramadhan and will cost $1.04 million…
Al-Qotaibi said Awadh had already met leading Saudi businessmen at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industries on 12 November, to brief them about the projects and raise funds. Among the top businessmen Awadh is scheduled to meet, with Prince Waleed Ibn Talal.
He said CAIR was also planning the Publication of advertisements in 10 other leading newspapers in America, and that is why he is in the Kingdom seeking funds for the purpose."63
Terrorist Hunter: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman Who Went Undercover to Infiltrate the Radical Islamic Groups Operating in America http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060528192/
Observing the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks; this program highlights the heroic work of Rita Katz, a private citizen whose ground-breaking research on the terrorist-funding apparatus was first subverted, and then ignored. The targets of Katz’s research are connected to both the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist milieu of al-Qaeda, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and to the upper echelons of the Republican Party and the Bush administration. Not surprisingly, the investigation of Ms. Katz, John Loftus and the agents of Operation Green Quest was actively neutralized by elements of the FBI and CIA…
19. "While Mark was cross-examining me on IIIT, Dave was pounding me with the Muslim World League. According to the way Mark and Dave addressed their questions, I understood that they were dividing between them the organizations connected to the SAAR network. They went, systematically, from one category to another. As I’d done years before, they started at the base of the pyramid, the U.S.-based organizations, and slowly made their way toward the pyramid’s peak. When they got there, I knew, they’d find the Rajhi brothers. But at that point they were still climbing. Dave, for instance, asked me how I could tie the designated Rabita Trust to MWL and to 555. I told him that Rabita, according to MWL’s Web site, was a subsidiary of MWL. I told him that Rabita’s director, Naseef, listed his address at 555 Grove. I sent him all the corporate records." (Ibid.; p. 320.)
20. "The reason Dave and Mark were unfamiliar with such basic facts as the contents of MWL’s Web site was that they couldn’t browse the Internet at work. If government agents were to browse sites such as MWL’s on their office computers, the traces (signatures) left while visiting them might raise suspicions in those who operate the sites. Amazingly, there was only one computer in each of their offices that could not be traced as a government computer, and the queue for that machine is obviously long. After I taught mark and Dave how to use the Internet to find documents, browse relevant sites, and figure out who ran these sites, along with the other research tools I often use, they began surfing late at night, at home. For long months, the investigation continued in that fashion. Green Quest worked nights and weekends, and so did I. They came to my office at least once a week. They needed me, and I was always there for them. Thus between Mark and Dave, Green Quest was studying the ties between SAAR and terrorism. They needed my input for every single step of their investigation because they knew so little at first." (Ibid.; pp. 320-321.)
• Former Pakistan-based charity suspected of financing terrorist groups
A financial arm of the Saudi-sponsored Muslim World League, Rabita Trust is a now-defunct Pakistan-based charity whose professed purpose was to give aid to Afghani refugees in Pakistan. Its additional objectives were to disseminate Islamic culture, explain the teachings of Islam, and "defend" Islam "in a manner that safeguards the interests and aspirations of Muslims, … refutes false allegations against Islam, and repels inimical trends and dogma which the enemies of Islam seek to exploit in order to destroy the unity of Muslims and to sow seeds of doubt in the Muslim brethren."
Rabita Trust was established in 1988 by the late Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq and the Muslim World League’s former Secretary-General Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef. Rabita Trust was scrutinized by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee based on evidence that it knowingly funded terrorist groups. The organization was directed by Wael Hamza Jalaidan, an al Qaeda founder and chief of logistics, until the United States and Saudi Arabia moved to close it down with Pakistani assistance. Because Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally, was a member of Rabita Trust’s Board of Directors, the U.S. initially resisted adding the group to its list of terrorist-sponsoring charities. But under U.S. pressure, Musharraf eventually resigned from the Board, at which point the United States designated Rabita Trust as a "Global Terrorist Entity" and froze its assets on October 12, 2001.
(This U.S. Corporation was dissolved in the year 2000)
Former Address:
555 Grove St.
Herndon, VA
• Organization founded for the professed purpose of supplying food, education, and technology to Islamic countries
• Suspected of fundraising for international terrorist groups, including Hamas and al Qaeda
SAAR is the acronym for Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Rajihi, the Saudi sheik who set up the SAAR Foundation in the 1970s ostensibly to allow scholars and scientists from the Middle East and Asia to create charitable programs that would supply food, education, and technology to Islamic countries. The U.S. branch of SAAR was dissolved in December 2000 after raising $1.7 billion in the United States. SAAR was part of the SAFA Trust Group, a group of shell companies headquartered at 555 Grove Street in Herndon, Virginia, where the FBI and the U.S. Customs agency believe SAAR was set up to raise funds and launder money for international terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and al Qaeda.
In March 2002 the FBI and U.S. Customs raided SAAR’s Virginia offices and seized records of the SAFA Group (SAAR included). The information obtained in this raid revealed a pattern of multi-layered transactions by the SAFA Group that were designed to confuse law-enforcement authorities and keep them off the money trail. Of $54 million dollars raised by the SAAR Foundation ostensibly for "charity," $26 million went to the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, a notorious location for drug runners and money laundering. Only $20 million made its way to SAFA Group charities. According to David Kane, the federal agent who led the raid, SAAR/SAFA’s intent was "to route money through hidden paths to terrorists, and to defraud the Untied States by impeding, importing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of the IRS."
Abdurahman Alamoudi, who has been linked to terrorism funding by federal authorities, led several organizations in the SAAR/SAFA Trust Group. The SAAR Foundation was also implicated in funding Sami Al-Arian, who was the U.S. leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), for which he raised money while working as a professor at the University of South Florida.
• Saudi-based Islamic organization with chapters in 55 countries
• Founded by Osama bin Laden’s nephew
• Holds conferences and distributes literature promoting jihad and anti-Semitism
• Raises funds for Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas
• Has been linked to both the 9/11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
A non-governmental youth and student group affiliated with the United Nations, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) was founded in 1972. It defines itself as "an independent organization and Islamic forum that supports the work of Muslim organizations and needy communities the world over." While WAMY’s international headquarters are located in Saudi Arabia, the organization also maintains satellite chapters in 55 additional countries and is affiliated with some 500 other Muslim youth groups on five continents.
Specifically, WAMY aims to achieve the following: "Preserve the identity of Muslim youth and help overcome the problems they face in modern society"; "educate and train them in order for them to become active and positive citizens in their countries"; "introduce Islam to non-Muslims in its purest form as a comprehensive system and way of life"; "establish a relationship of dialogue, understanding and appreciation between Muslim organizations and the western societies"; and "provide assistance to Muslim and non-Muslim organizations to fulfil [sic] these goals through training and cooperation."
Toward these ends, WAMY holds regional and local Muslim youth and student camps; helps to establish Muslim scout groups; organizes conferences, symposia, workshops and research circles "to address youth and students issues"; publishes books, brochures, reports, and exhibition material "that best introduce Islam to non-Muslims in its holistic vision"; organizes exchange visits, Hajj and Umra trips; and provides training and support to Muslim youth organizations around the world. These activities have earned WAMY the designation of "humanitarian and relief-works organization" from the United Nations.
The World Assembly of Muslim Youth is also one of the vehicles through which the Saudi Wahhabi government funds Islamic extremism and international terrorism. WAMY was co-founded by Kamal Helwabi, a former senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and by Osama bin Laden’s nephew, Abdullah bin Laden (who served as WAMY’s President through 2002 and is now its Treasurer). WAMY raises funds for the terrorist group Hamas, and in October 2002 made Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al an "honored guest" at a Muslim youth and globalization conference held in Riyadh. WAMY also helps finance the Kashmir insurgency against India, characterizing it as a "liberation" movement.
A Saudi opposition group reports that WAMY disseminates literature encouraging "religious hatred and violence against Jews, Christians, Shi’a and Ashaari Muslims." As WAMY puts it, this literature is expressly designed "to teach our children to love taking revenge on the Jews and the oppressors, and teach them that our youngsters will liberate Palestine and Jerusalem when they go back to Islam and make jihad for the sake of Allah." Some WAMY publications have included interviews with Saudi clerics such as Ayed al-Qarni, an adviser to Saudi Prince Fahd. In one such interview, al-Qarni stated that he prays for America’s destruction daily, that he encourages students to go to Iraq to fight against U.S. forces, and that those who cannot go should at least contribute money to the cause. Another WAMY publication features a list of "martyrs" who have attacked and murdered Israelis; one of the individuals on this list is a man who drove 14 bus passengers off a cliff as a member of the group "Heroes from Palestine."
Investigations of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center uncovered, in an apartment of one of the terrorists, an envelope marked "WAMY" along with a training manual on how to set up terrorist cells in other countries and stage attacks.
WAMY came under FBI scrutiny after 9/11, when it was determined that a radiologist, Dr. Al Badr al-Hamzi, whose credit card was found among the possessions of the hijackers, was receiving funding from the organization. The Senate Finance Committee requested that the IRS examine WAMY’s U.S. branch for links to terrorism. WAMY was also named in a trillion-dollar lawsuit by the families of the victims of 9/11.
In May 2004, federal law-enforcement, immigration, and anti-terrorism agents raided WAMY’s Alexandria, Virginia office, seizing all of its computers and hard drives, and arresting a volunteer board member, Ibrahim Abdullah, on immigration charges. WAMY had been operating out of the office of Jamal Barzinji, who was involved with a total of seven organizations that were raided by federal agents in connection with terrorist financing. After the raid on its office, WAMY likened itself to the YMCA, saying that it was interested only in "youth education, youth development, and serving the Muslim community.
Though WAMY’s activities in the United States were derailed, its operations elsewhere in the world continue unabated — in many instances with the help of other, likeminded organizations. For example, WAMY’s efforts in Somalia are supported by the "Christian charities" Novib and Oxfam, which are based in the United Kingdom and Holland, respectively.
In December 1999, WAMY announced at a press conference in Saudi Arabia that it "was extending both moral and financial support to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) "to help it construct its $3.5 million headquarters in Washington, D.C." WAMY also agreed to "introduce CAIR to Saudi philanthropists and recommend their financial support for the headquarters project." In 2002, CAIR and WAMY jointly announced, again from Saudi Arabia, their collaboration on a $1 million public-relations campaign.
Islam scholar Stephen Schwartz calls WAMY "the Saudi equivalent of the Hitler Youth: a hate-mongering, ultra-extremist group preaching, among other niceties, that Shia Muslims are not real Muslims, but products of a Jewish conspiracy." The website Militant Islam Monitor characterizes the organization as "part of the Saudi Wahhabist ‘Jihad through conversion’ drive."
A Troubling Presence at a Funeral
By Ben Johnson
June 11, 2004
…Magid, who was born and educated in the Sudan, is the Director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS). ADAMS has numerous close affiliations with the main targets of "Operation Green Quest," "the largest U.S. terror finance investigation anywhere in the world." In March 2002, federal agents raided ADAMS’s facility in Herndon, Virginia, as part of an investigation into financial support for terrorism. Federal affidavits state that the "Grove Street addresses" (500 and 555 Grove St. in Herndon) housed more than 100 interlocking Muslim organizations, most headed by Jamal Barzinji, and these groups gave material aid to terrorists. Among those raided were several major ADAMS associates, including its chairman. Magid himself was present when federal agents raided the Herndon offices of ADAMS in March 2002…
I finally read the much-discussed paper by Conservative Rabbi Jill Jacobs on the living wage, which was recently adopted by the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (link, download – PDF). I was fairly impressed with the care with which the author read the sources and did not try to infer more than the texts allow. There is, to my surprise, no attempt to say that halakhah requires us to pay a living wage or hire union workers. Rather, the author tries to show that these actions are mandated by the underlying values of halakhah. She also does not romanticize unions and, in my opinion, adequately deals with their problems and points out that they are still necessary to safeguard very basic workers’ rights. In my admittedly unqualified opinion, almost all of the conclusions are self-evident as desideratum, even if not halakhically obligatory.
The rishonim almost unanimously point out that halakhah attempts to protect workers’ rights. R. Gersion Appel writes (A Philosophy of Mitzvot, pp. 123-124):
Though the essential laws governing employer-employee relations are to be found in the Talmud and the later codes, the spirit underlying them is already evident in the Torah, as noted by the Hinnukh. While the employer is entitled to benefit in due measure from the work of his employee and to receive an honest day’s work, special consideration under the law is accorded the worker in order to protect him from exploitation and to safeguard his material and human rights. He is to receive his wages at the stipulated time, the employer being biblically enjoined from withholding it, "for he is poor and setteth his heart upon it" (Deuteronomy 24:15). The Halakah gives the worker the advantage when claiming his wages. While, ordinarily, the law provides that one can deny a disputed claim and be freed of the obligation by taking an oath, in this case the employee has the right to take the oath and receive his wages.
Significantly, the law guards his rights due him as a free agent. In exercise of this freedom the Rabbis allow the worker to quit his job on the principle, "For unto Me the children of Israel are servants" (Leviticus 25:55), and not servants of servants. This right is limited, however, in consideration of equity, to prevent injustice and undue loss to the employer. The welfare of the common worker merits the Hinnukh’s special consideration. Thus, he advocates that we should follow the practice today of granting severance pay to one who has provided service for a period of time, even though the law was, strictly speaking, limited to the Hebrew servant in the time of the Temple.
One thing that I found surprising in the paper is the claim that Jewish employers are obligated to follow even unenforced American laws based on the concept of "dina de-malkhusa dina – the law of the land is the law" (p. 45 of the paper). My understanding of this concept is that we are only obligated to follow laws that are enforced. There are all sorts of antiquated and ignored laws on the books and there is no reason that Jews should be the only people following them. I don’t supposed the author of this paper would advise people living in states with sodomy laws that they must follow them. Similarly, I feel free to, and have personally seen great Torah authorities, cross against a red light when no cars are coming (in NY City, where these laws are not enforced).
Additionally, while I support the concept of a living wage, the paper defines a living wage as "the amount of money a person needs to earn in order to support him/herself on a single forty hour/week job" (p. 28) and then goes on to give more specifics on "support him/herself". I don’t know who sanctified the 40 hour workweek but I don’t think it has any standing in halakhah. If we are forcing employers to pay a certain wage, why not make employees work a 50 hour workweek? Or a 6 day/60 hour workweek? Yes, it is difficult. But it isn’t, in my opinion, unethical to ask employees to work that hard.
Islamabad (PTI): A 32-year old beauty of Indian and Pakistani parentage, better known as US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s "body person", is being wooed by a US lawmaker known for his anti-Muslim views.
Huma Abedin, born to a Pakistani mother and an Indian father, is also called the "secret weapon" in Clinton’s campaign, and is being courted by New York Congressman Raymond Wiener.
Weiner, a Jewish lawmaker, has acknowledged that he is romancing Clinton’s glamorous "body woman" official jargon for travelling assistant.
Weiner, a likely 2009 mayoral candidate, is literally pouring his heart into Clinton’s White House bid, the Daily News of New York reported.
The 43-year-old bachelor admitted on Thursday that he is "hot" for Abedin, who was born in Michigan and raised in Saudi Arabia.
The whispers have been around for months, but Weiner had until Thursday ducked questions about her, saying his personal life was off-limits.
Though she recently posed for a glamorous photo spread in Vogue, Abedin is reported to be "press-shy".
She got an internship in the First Lady’s office in 1996 and quickly became her indispensable right hand. These days, Abedin rarely leaves Clinton’s side, while Weiner rarely leaves hers.
WASHINGTON: Huma Abedin (32), born to a Pakistani mother, an Indian father and raised in Saudi Arabia, is not only a Vogue model and a close aide to Hillary Clinton, but is also someone who is being courted by a New York congressman known for his anti-Muslim views. Jewish Congressman Raymond Wiener, Huma’s great admirer, is likely to run as mayor of New York next year. He has said that he is romancing Huma, known as Clinton’s glamorous “body woman.” Asked by Associated Press about all the time he is spending on the road campaigning for Clinton, the 43-year-old bachelor said, “It’s largely because I’m dating Huma.” In a New York tabloid profile last year, Huma was called “a sort of mythical figure” who never has a hair out of place or a wrinkle in her Prada suit and who can hush a crowd of rambunctious reporters with a single look. “I think there’s some dispute as to whether Huma’s actually human or not,” an admiring Weiner said then. Huma was an intern at First Lady Hillary Clinton’s office in 1996 and has since become her “indispensable right hand,” whose side she rarely leaves. There have also been rumours about the nature of the relationship between the two women.
Yes, I’m hot for Hillary Clinton’s ‘body woman,’ Congressman Weiner admits
By Helen Kennedy
Daily News Staff Writer
Thursday, May 29th 2008, 5:41 PM
Dharapak/AP
Who’s the glamorous aide always by Hillary Clinton’s side? She’s Huma Abedin, Vogue model and ‘mythical figure’ who hushes reporters with a glance. She’s won the heart of Rep. Anthony Weiner (below).
Smith for News
Click for a gallery of Weiner’s string of gal pals.
Weiner, whose district includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn, finally ‘fessed that he is romancing Clinton’s glamorous "body woman," Huma Abedin.
Asked by The Associated Press about all the time he’s spending on the road campaigning for Clinton, the 43-year-old bachelor said, "It’s largely because I’m dating Huma."
The whispers have been around for months, but until yesterday Weiner ducked questions about Abedin, saying his personal life was off limits.
Though she posed recently for a glamorous photo spread in Vogue, Abedin, 32, is famously press-shy.
The New York Observer, in a long profile last year, called her "a sort of mythical figure" who never has a hair out of place or a wrinkle in her Prada suit and can hush a crowd of rambunctious reporters with a single look.
"I think there’s some dispute as to whether Huma’s actually human or not," an admiring Weiner said then.
Abedin was born in Michigan to a Pakistani mother and an Indian father and was raised in Saudi Arabia.
She landed an internship in the First Lady’s office in 1996 and quickly become her indispensable right hand.
These days, she rarely leaves the senator’s side – and Weiner rarely leaves hers.
As to the hectic pace of a presidential campaign, he conceded, "It’s not a great environment to forge a relationship."
…Anthony Weiner may be a lean, mean dating machine, but he’s not real chatty about his hottie from Hillary Clinton‘s campaign.
A day after the bachelor congressman finally admitted he was dating Clinton’s "body woman" aide, Huma Abedin, Weiner was eager to talk about national security, his mayoral ambitions – anything but his love life.
"I’d like to talk about it as little additionally as possible," Weiner said during a meeting with the Daily News Editorial Board Wednesday. It was a mild protest, delivered with a sheepish grin.
His admission dredged up old reports that Weiner, 43, dated several beauties over the years, including ABC reporter Gigi Stone, New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead and AOL cybermodel Alli Joseph.
"Soon there will be pictures of me emerging from behind a tree," Weiner joked about his no-longer-private personal life.
After all, a girlfriend who recently graced a Vogue photo spread is a nice catch for a skinny guy from Brooklyn, who was embarrassed in a 2001 Vanity Fair article that described him posing as an auto parts salesman while trying to hook up with a young Capitol Hill staffer at a Washington bar.
Weiner turned serious when asked if he was taking a political risk dating Abedin, a Michigan-born Muslim who grew up in Saudi Arabia.
"I’m certain that the relationship was not the product of a political calculation," he said.
Weiner quickly added that he remained a staunch critic of the Saudis and quipped, "Given how hard I’ve worked for Hillary, I think I might be ambassador to Saudi [Arabia] in the Obama administration."
Then realizing the gaffe, Weiner corrected himself and predicted Clinton – who he has campaigned for – would win the nomination over Barack Obama.
What does Clinton think of him romancing her right-hand woman?
"Haven’t talked to her about it," Weiner replied.
Nor would Weiner say what his Jewish mom thinks of his stunning sweetheart. "It’s not something I want to talk about," he said.
A friend of the couple said Weiner and the 32-year-old Abedin are something special.
"They’re just two people that you would never imagine together but they’re perfect together," said the friend, who asked not to be named. "It lends credence to the old saying that opposites attract."
There was no comment from Abedin, the daughter of an Indian expert on Islam and a Pakistani professor mother.
Weiner pals who have known him since he arrived in Washington a decade ago recall him as a "baby-faced dork who was never all that smooth with women."
They said he has been under "pressure" to settle down for some time.
"He is at that age when you decide if you want a wife or not," one friend said. "And with a Jewish mother, that was even more pressure."
FROM THE NEW YORK POST: October 21, 2007 — WHAT was Hillary Clinton’s ultra-glamorous right-hand woman, Huma Abedin, doing cooling her heels outside a Bukharian Jewish Congress reception in the Senate on Thursday afternoon? We’re not sure, but one of D.C.’s most eligible bachelors, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn), was the emcee. As the event wrapped up, an ebullient Weiner was spotted escorting the charming Abedin – who has been profiled in Vogue – out the Capitol’s first-floor doors. "They were yapping and catching up," said a Weiner spokesman.
Huma Abedin the top confident and closest aide for Hillary Clinton is an assistant editor to an Islamic Journal called “Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs” http://www.imma.org.uk/editorialboard.htm
In fact the “Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs” and its “Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs” were founded by Huma Abedin father Syed Z. Abedin was a famous Islamic scholar but died when Huma was 17, and now both the Islamic institute and its journal are headed by her mother Saleha Mahmood Abedin also known as Saleha S Mahmood a famous Islamic scholar and deputy dean of an Islamic school in Saudi Arabia called Dar Al-Hekma College for Women . http://www.amritavarsham.org/profiles/saleha.htm. That is Huma mother in the picture shown in the link wearing the islamic Hijab.
Among Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews, the Haredim, social workers are often called "child-snatchers" and the police "Cossacks," harking back to the 19th century pogroms against Jews in Russia. These cloistered communities, in which women are expected to raise and financially support their large families while their husbands spend their days stooped over the Torah, make up 10% of Israel’s population and a third of Jerusalem’s, and consider themselves defenders of a core morality in Jewish society. But that moral authority has come under scrutiny since evidence began to emerge in March of incest, rape and child abuse in four different ultra-orthodox enclaves around the country.
Over the last few weeks the Cossacks have arrived wearing the uniform of the Israeli national police force. In a series of raids following tip-offs from victims’ relatives, neighbors and hospital workers, the police have arrested ultra-orthodox wives, husbands and yeshiva students.
Community elders were at first appalled. Now they are grateful for the intervention. "The Haredim are shocked by these cases," says Noach Korman, a Haredi attorney in the rabbinical court that adjudicates family and religious law, and the director of a shelter for battered wives. "At first they said, ‘These people are crazy, they don’t belong to us.’ But now I hear Haredi voices saying: ‘We should examine ourselves and not close our eyes to why these things are happening.’ "Says Naomi Ragen, an orthodox woman who is an author and advocate for gender equality: "These shocking things had to come out. There was no more room left under the carpet."
Sex predators operate with ease among the ultra-orthodox communities because female victims often keep quiet, knowing that to speak out will damage their prospects of finding a husband. "The families all want their girls to have a AAA marriage to a religious scholar from a good family, and nobody’s going to marry a girl who gets raped," says Ragen. In Bnei Brak, a predominately Haredi city near Tel Aviv, social worker Doron Agasi says one young Haredi man told him that he had molested more than a hundred girls. Agasi, director of the Shlom Banaich Fellowship, the only organization in Israel that treats pedophiles and their victims, convinced the young man to confess to the police. But, says Agasi, the authorities refused to bring charges because none of the parents of the alleged victims had filed complaints. Agasi says the rapist is now roaming free.
Convincing the Haredi to work with police and social workers has been a struggle, says Miki Miller, a social worker in the newly built Haredi town of Kiryat Sefer near Jerusalem. "The Haredi believe that a closed society is a pure society," she says. But a closed society can hide a multitude of sins. A senior police officer in Jerusalem acknowledges that the instincts of the Haredi community to cover up such crimes undermines the authorities’ ability to investigate and prosecute offenders: "We’re aware of this phenomenon of sex abuse among Haredis, but an extremely low number of these cases are ever reported."
The first port of call for Haredi families faced with violence or sex crimes is often their rabbi. But religious leaders themselves have not been immune from accusations of abuse. On April 6, a Jerusalem court indicted a Haredi mother of eight for child abuse in light of evidence that she broke her two toddlers’ bones with hammers, forced the children to eat feces, and locked them inside a suitcase for hours. The alleged abuses came to light only after her three-year-old son was taken to hospital in a coma with brain damage. The woman claimed she was driving "devils" from her children following instructions from her religious counselor Elior Chen, who has since fled to Canada. Israeli police are seeking his extradition.
In Beit Shemesh, a town near Jerusalem, another case of abuse centered on a self-styled female "rabbi" who hid her face entirely behind a black veil. Her religious modesty attracted dozens of Haredi female disciples over several years, but her own sister was frantically seeking police intervention to stop the woman from thrashing her children with a rolling pin. Neighbors say she allegedly left her kids tied for hours to a garden tree. After her arrest, one of her children, now an adult, told police that his mother had encouraged incest among her offspring when they were younger.
Family Honor
The majority of ultra-orthodox families are orderly and loving, but for some mothers, the stress of raising an average of seven to eight children while holding down a job is too much to handle. Haredi men place a higher value on spiritual learning than on money or possessions; devout husbands, who wear black hats and long-tailed coats modeled on those of 18th century Polish noblemen, are expected only to study. And when they are abusive, their wives often cover up to preserve the family’s honor. Says Ragen: "You hear the Haredi women say: ‘I took the stain on me so that my husband could be as white as snow.’ "
Social workers at Jerusalem’s shelter for battered Haredi women say that family violence often erupts during the ritual Shabbat dinner, when all children are gathered — tempers flare over mundane arguments and the husband strikes his wife. A wife may endure such treatment for years. But the number of women who call a 24-hour hotline for battered Haredi women has jumped from 477 calls in 2004 to 1,402 last year. Social workers attribute the increase to a new generation of rabbis urging women to speak out against domestic violence.
A May 25 New York Times Magazine cover story about the hazards of oversharing titled "Blog-Post Confidential," by former Gawker blogger (circa 2006 to 2007) Emily Gould, inspires such vitriol that the Times shuts down the comments function on the online version of her piece after accruing hundreds of frequently vicious comments.
What the hell happened to the blogger as media-cultural hero? In Gould’s case, it didn’t help that during her tenure at Gawker, she was known for being ultra-snarky, so there’s an obvious bit of turnabout-is-fair-play-ism at work here. Of course, anybody who read Vanessa Grigoriadis’ New York magazine deconstruction of the bloggy "culture of bile" last fall knows that Gould is just a bit player in a larger drama. In March, Michael Arrington, of TechCrunch fame — in the wake of the suicide of advertising exec Paul Tilley, who many indelicately speculated had been distraught about attacks he’d endured from ad-industry blogs — wrote a post titled "When Will We Have Our First Valleywag Suicide?" about Gawker Media’s Silicon Valley blog and the distress it causes in its often blindsided subjects. And then Ricky Van Veen, the editor in chief of College Humor, writing on his thoughtful (generally noncomedic) personal blog, speculated that Gawker Media’s cruelest bloggers could be, yes, murder victims if one of their more thin-skinned targets snapped.
As for the notion of the self-actualized, non-wage-slave blogger? That’s turned out to be, for many semi-famous bloggers, complete bullshit. Never mind all the hype about the select few blog stars, mostly in the tech realm, who are actually getting rich doing what they’re doing; they’ve invariably fashioned unhealthy, obsessive-compulsive-disordered lifestyles for themselves way worse than anything any old-media slave drivers ever concocted. (See: GigaOm blogger Om Malik, heart attack victim at 41.)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff)
