Muslims Are Mad At Obama Because He Had The Audacity To Ask Them to Help In the Fight Against "Terrorism"

Taher Herzallaj

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's request to American Muslims that they must help "root out" extremists in their midst received an angry response inside mosques in a part of California where four men were recently arrested for conspiring to aid Islamist militants. 

At the West Coast Islamic Society in Anaheim, southern California, where two 24-year-old men arrested in May accused of conspiring to aid Islamic State had worshipped, the message was clear: there is no trust of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the U.S. government. 

Imams and workers at mosques also described the arrested Islamic State sympathizers as victims of over-zealous law enforcement, illustrating the difficulty the Obama administration may face in convincing some Muslim leaders to identify and report radicals in their midst to U.S. authorities. 

They said they found Obama's request insulting, with some questioning why the same message is not sent to Christian churches after mass shootings carried out by non-Muslims. 

"It is unfair to speak about the Muslim community in this way," said Moustafa Kamel, the imam of the West Coast Islamic Center. An immigrant from Egypt 13 years ago, Kamel added, "there is a lot of suspicion of the FBI here."

Kamel's mosque is where Muhanad Badawi and Nader Elhuzayel, both 24, had occasionally worshipped in the months before the FBI arrested them in May on charges of conspiring to join IS overseas. 

According to an FBI affidavit in support of the arrests, the men drew the attention of authorities with inflammatory comments on social media, especially their Twitter and Facebook accounts. According to the FBI, the men professed support for Islamic State and their desire to die as martyrs on the battlefield. 

The FBI also wire-tapped their phone conversations. In one, the two discussed where they would like to die as martyrs, and both agreed on Syria. 

In March 2015, according to the FBI affidavit, Elhuzayel was introduced online to a woman in Palestine who professed support for Islamic State. They discussed getting married. 

On May 21, Elhuzayel was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport, about to board a flight to Tel Aviv, Israel, with a layover in Istanbul, Turkey. 

According to the FBI, after his arrest, he admitted he had intended to travel to Turkey to join and fight for the Islamic State. 

Badawi is accused of purchasing Elhuzayel's plane ticket, using his credit card on the travel website Orbitz. Badawi was arrested in Anaheim the same day. Both men are being held without bond. They pleaded not guilty at a hearing in June. Their trial is set for June next year. 

Taher Herzallaj, the manager at the West Coast Islamic Center, read through the FBI affidavit against Badawi and Elhuzayel, and questioned why they were arrested. 

"They have not said anything here about attacking America or being a threat to U.S. national security," he said. "My guess is they were trying to join ISIS to do something for Syria," he added, using another acronym for Islamic State. 

So, he used an acronym for "the Islamic State" when discussing Syria.

That means he believes in the Caliphate established by ISIS.

And Reuters doesn't note that.

And Obama doesn't acknowledge that.

THIS IMAM IS A RADICAL.

HE NEEDS TO BE DEPORTED.