The Hidden Agenda Behind the Pray-In

The six Imams removed from the US Airways flight last week after invoking Allah, carrying one way tickets with no baggage and voicing anti-American sentiments held their little protest at Reagan Washington National Airport today. Reading the report from AP, you would think that this was a group of clergy members simply expressing their religious freedom.

On Monday, Shahin and a handful of other Muslims bowed down on rugs and prayed in Terminal A near the US Airways ticket counter. Jewish and Christian clergy also said prayers.

Setting aside Imam Shahin’s connections to the terrorist fundraising organization, KindHearts, take a look at the “Jewish and Christian clergy” present at this “pray-in.”

Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center of Philadelphia. Here’s how the Sahlom Center of Philadephia describes its organization…

In the late '90s, The Shalom Center began addressing issues of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking (which Waskow as an individual had addressed since 1969). In 2002, with a US invasion of Iraq looming, The Shalom Center began investing a great portion of its energy in opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

By 2004, The Shalom Center's energies had crystallized around these concerns: the Iraq war and its by-products, especially including the emergence of torture as a tool of US policy and of top-down, unaccountable presidential power; "Beyond Oil," an effort to address the dangers American addiction to over-use of oil poses to the planet through the climate crisis of global scorching and other dangers; the creating of deeper connections among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim teachings and communities in Abrahamic mode; an interfaith effort to identify and encourage the use and marketing of "Sacred Foods"; peacemaking in the broader Middle East; gay rights, especially in marriage and other sacred contexts; and immigrants' rights.

Rev. Graylan Hagler – The very same Rev Graylan Hagler who is a coalition member of International ANSWER. The same Rev. Hagler who is a speaker with United for Peace and Justice – the Leslie Cagan Socialist organization – and participates in CodePink activities.

The MAS Freedom Foundation – who has the following on its About Us page…

Engagement of the following American institutions and organizations in order to build a broad based coalition that will enhance the religious political and social viability of the American Muslim Community:
Voter Registration & Education Organizations
Local civic groups
Municipal & state officials
Congress
Civil rights and progressive political groups: NAACP, ACLU, ANSWER, SCLC, CRLC
Organized labor
The Media
College campuses
Immigrant groups, Black, Hispanic, & Asian churches, & other non-Muslim religious institutions

Yeah – this was just a group of clergy members expressing their dismay at intolerance of Islamic Prayers in the airport. Not hardly. More like representatives of Ramsey Clark's organizations using the occassion to further their own anti-American agenda. And of course the media bought it hook, line and sinker.

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