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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

News All the Best Jihadists Are in Columbus

Posted by Joe Tone on Wed, Oct 24, 2007 at 9:43 AM

If you rely on Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network for your news, you might have a slightly skewed vision of the world (for example, that Will & Grace was produced by Osama Bin Laden to turn America gay and end the procreation of Western society). Recently, one of Robertson’s crack reporters went out in search of terrorists hiding on American soil. Where did he find them? Ohio, of course. ... According to a broadcast aired last week on Robertson’s “700 Club,” the city of Columbus is one of the nation’s hotbeds for jihad, despite the fact that 92 percent of the city’s residents are too fat and lazy to take the stairs at the mall, let alone launch a holy war. Reporter Erick Stakelbeck interviewed Patrick Poole, a local blogger and right-wing wack-job, who considers himself a “consultant” on terrorism. The 39-year-old grew up in the affluent Columbus suburb of Hilliard, moved away to work for some conservative think tanks, then came back to Ohio to find that his beloved hometown had been converted into “one of the hottest centers of jihad in the country.” Ever since he came back to the area, Poole’s been on a Scooby-Do-like mission to smoke out the ter’rists and expose them for who they really are. The only problem is that Poole’s definition of “terrorist” may be a bit broad, including anyone who lacks a Chevy Silverado and isn’t nicknamed “Junior.” When the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio decided earlier this month to sponsor a speaking event at the Statehouse to promote religious harmony between Islam and other religions, Poole mouthed off on his blog, calling the event the “October Terror Fest” and accusing many of the planned speakers of having ties to extremist organizations in the Mid-East. Poole’s comments prompted the event’s organizers to ask the Ohio State Highway Patrol to investigate, but the patrol refused to waste its time. After all, one of Poole’s prime targets, a person he called the “foremost spokesman for Hamas in the U.S.,” was scheduled speaker Anisa Abd El Fattah, chairwoman of the National Association of Muslim American Women. Fattah interviewed earlier this year for an open seat on the Columbus Public School Board – not exactly the type to go around passing out dynamite vests. Despite his reputation for hurling bat-ass crazy accusations, Poole was treated as an authority on Robertson’s show, which has all the look and feel of a real news broadcast – minus the truth. But look at it this way: maybe more right-wing crazies like Poole will stay out of Ohio now. We’ll take suicide bombers over them any day. -- Soon-to-be-dubbed-a-terrorist Jared Klaus

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Here's what Fattah wrote in a Dispatch letter: Marsha Hurwitz, president of the Columbus Jewish Federation, in an Aug. 13 letter to the editor, wrote, "Suicide bombings in the Palestinian territories are most often carried out against Israeli civilians." This is untrue. There are no Israeli civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are only illegal Jewish settlers, who, by Israeli law, are also citizen-soldiers. They are heavily armed with fully automatic weapons. ... Until Israel, which is the illegal and belligerent occupier according to international law, comes into compliance with the law, Israel, and those who are also violating the law by funding, supporting and facilitating the criminal occupation of Palestine, can expect to bear the responsibility for the violent and other illegal acts carried out against the Palestinian people by the state of Israel, and also by the criminal Jewish settlers to whom Hurwitz refers as Israeli civilians, while, by definition, the law refers to them as criminal trespassers, vandals, terrorists and war criminals. Yeah, she's a swell person. Upright pillar of the community...the Hamas community, that is. Nice hatchet job.

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Posted by Mohammed Sukmyballs on October 24, 2007 at 12:25 PM

Wow, if you removed all the fact-free sneering about "right-wing wack job," "Scooby-Do-like mission" and "bat-ass crazy accusations," the article would be about half as long, but not much more substantial. About the only thing that was left out was the obligatory unsubstantiated claims of "racism." Gosh, those hick Christians are so paranoid and stupid!

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Posted by religion of bacon on October 24, 2007 at 6:03 PM

Gee, if you bothered to watch the video and see the pictures of the former Columbus resident, Salah Soltan, pictured at a table this past summer with two designated global terrorists (Yusef Al-Qaradawi and Khaled Mishaal), perhaps you might have gotten a clue that Poole's "bat-ass crazy accusations" have proved entirely true. And this was the guy the Columbus Dispatch hailed as a moderate - one year before he fled the country after his US citizenship was rejected for his speaking at a HAMAS rally. Oh, and you forgot to mention that your Betty Crocker HAMAS operative and Statehouse speaker, Anisa Abd El Fattah, co-wrote two books with the current spokesman for HAMAS, Ahmed Yousef. Yes, I'll trust Poole over your bat-ass crazy anti-Christian bigotry any day of the week. Physician, heal thyself.

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Posted by Frederick Barbarossa on October 26, 2007 at 1:42 AM
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