The Standard in Knoxville TN, recently known as an upscale, trendy venue for special events, will play host to another type event, one that may tarnish that top notch reputation. On Wednesday, December 21, the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) will be holding a fundraiser which will include a speech from the radical Muslim Brotherhood member Imam Siraj Wahhaj.  AMAC, headed by former CAIR official, Paul Iesa Galloway, states on their website they are bridge builders between the Muslim community and law enforcement, yet they were formed to oppose  Tennessee’s anti-terrorism material support bill in 2011. But this time, the real problem is their special guest.

 

 

Siraj Wahhaj, Imam of one of the most radical mosques in the United States, Masjid Al-Taqwa,in Brooklyn  NY, is one of 172 un-indicted co-conspirators in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. (click here936-list-of-co-conspirators to see the court document, Wahhaj’s name appears on last page) Wahhaj admits to having a friendly relationship with the mastermind, stating he respected Omar Abdel Rahman, and had invited him to speak at his mosque on several occasions. Rahman, known as the “blind sheikh” was also the spiritual leader to Osama Bin Laden. 

 

Wahhaj has his own problems as well. In a report about Wahhaj on the Discover the Network website, it states that “In August and September of 2001, just prior to the 9/11 attacks, Wahhaj was a guest speaker at a “jihad camp” in Pennsylvania, where adult participants took part in paintball practice and learned about the glorious afterlife that awaited Islamic martyrs who died for the cause of their faith. The camp was organized by Safet Abid Catovic, a leader of the Benevolence International Foundation, a “charity” that would be shut down in November 2002 on charges that it had provided funding for al Qaeda”.

While some claim Wahhaj is a religious, pious man known for giving fiery speeches, usually Anti-American, Muslim activists in Tennessee love him. Going back to the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) of Nashville TN , their executive director, Paul Iesa Galloway claims Wahhaj “guided” him  to Islam and praises his speeches as being the “best”.( AMAC currently is training law enforcement in Nashville TN) 

 

Really? Tennessee Muslim activists praising an Imam who supported and testified for a known terrorist whose name appears on a co-conspirator court document? But that isn’t all, this is how Imam Sihaj Wahhaj feels about America.

  SO in closing, this is who The Standard, in Knoxville TN is allowing to gather in the same ballroom weddings are held in. 

The American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) who lists itself as a “charity” on the Eventbrite website, whose executive director, Paul Iesa Galloway, a former executive with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR, aka Hamas) will be hosting Imam Sirhaj Wahhaj, a Muslim Imam who states America is “filthy and sick”, is listed on federal court documents as an un-indicted co conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, who testified on behalf on Omar Abdel Rahman,(aka the blind Sheikh the spiritual leader for Osama Bin Laden and the mastermind of the 1993 terrorist attack) and Wahhaj is, still to date  on the board of Muslim Brotherhood organizations.  

Is this the direction venues such as The Standard wish to go? The same ballroom, where American couples take their vows to celebrate their lives together, where in the same seats brides and grooms sit, will be occupied by supporters of those that hate America and what it stands for? 

Show your disgust, and let the management at the Standard in Knoxville TN know allowing radical, hateful groups and their supporters to host their event there is unacceptable.