Muslim group at presbyteries’ camp prompts protests
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, December 30, 2005
A Presbyterian camp today began hosting a conference by the Muslim-American Society of Tampa that was scheduled to continue through Jan. 2, although an effort to get it canceled was under way.
Presbyteries’ camp and conference center near Tampa.Deborah Brokema, co-director of Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center, which is owned by the presbyteries of Peace River and Tampa Bay, said the members of the Tampa group are moderate followers of Islam who asked to use the conference center as a witness to their commitment to peace. She told The Layman Online that Christians attending the camp during the three-day meeting were invited by the Tampa group to attend the sessions.
But a controversy has begun to swirl around the event. Joe Kaufman, chairman of Americans Against Hate and the host of The Politics of Terrorism radio show, wrote a column for the online Front Page Magazine titled “A New Year’s Jihad Retreat.” Kaufman charged that the Tampa group’s speakers included one who exalts terrorism and another who is linked to Al Qaeda and urged Presbyterian leaders to cancel the event.
And Larry Rued, a Presbyterian elder in Florida, began an e-mail campaign to solicit protests against the use of the camp and conference center by the Islamic group. “We need to demand that the Tampa Bay and Peace River Presbytery leadership immediately cancel this Muslim meeting at Cedarkirk until such time as each of our respective presbyteries have had an opportunity to fully understand the mission of the Muslim-American Society,” Rued said.
Kaufman said one of the speakers, Mazen Mokhtar of New Jersey, was the target of a U.S. government raid last August. His computers and other records were seized. Investigators said they established a link between a Web site Mokhtar was running and fundraising for Islamic terrorists.
Brokema told The Layman Online that she checked out that allegation with the Florida office of the FBI. She said an agent told her that the Mazen Mokhtar speaking at the conference in Florida was not under any investigation.
The Layman Online contacted the FBI in Newark, N.J., the jurisdiction for the raid last August, but no one from the office returned a call. Also, The Layman Online contacted the Muslim-American Society’s national office in Falls Church, Va. A spokesman said a official would call back, but no one did.
In a news story published on August 11, 2006, The Washington Post described the government-targeted Mokhtar as a computer professional and a “familiar face to young activist Muslim men in New Jersey, often delivering what acquaintances describe as mild speeches extolling marriage and religious piety.”
The newspaper said Mokhtar, an American citizen who was born in Egypt, denied the accusations and that “some of those who know him expressed surprise at the allegations.”
But two high-profile U.S. senators – Charles Schumer and Diane Feinstein – posted a joint statement on Schumer’s Senate Web site. They said, “The man being investigated, Mazen Mokhtar, ran the www.minna.com Web site, an exact replica of www.azzam.com (a site that was shut down after 9/11 and had links to an Al Qaeda operative arrested in Pakistan last month). According to The Washington Post, the Web site included the following passage on its ‘How Can I Train Myself for Jihad’ page: ‘In other countries, e.g. some states of USA, South Africa, it is perfectly legal for members of the public to own certain types of firearms. If you live in such a country, obtain an assault rifle legally, preferably an AK-47 or variations, learn how to use it properly and go and practice in the areas allowed for such training.'”
Kaufman saw a connection between delegations from the Presbyterian Church (USA) meeting with Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, and the event at the Presbyterian camp. “By trying to harm Israel, by meeting with leaders of Hezbollah, and now, by allowing an individual with ties to Al-Qaeda to use its camping facilities, the Presbyterian Church has shown itself to be an irresponsible and possibly dangerous organization. We call on leaders of the Presbyterian Church to stop this event from happening and to finally put an end to this support of evil.”