Last Friday FBI agents raided the homes of far left activists in Chicago and Minneapolis who are linked to the Marxist FARC terrorists and Islamic radicals as part of a terrorism investigation.
The home of radical Hatem Abudayyeh in Chicago was raided in the terror sweep.
Radical Hatem Abudayyeh protested against Israel in Chicago in January 2009. (Daylife)
Hatem Abudayyeh is the executive director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN). Hatem Abudayyeh has been with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) since 1999, and was appointed Executive Director in 2003. The Arab American Action Network was founded by former PLO operative and close Obama family friend Rashid Khalidi. Obama was a director of the Woods Fund from 1994 through 2001, when the board approved a $40,000 grant to the Arab American Action Network.
In 2003 Barack Obama was an honored guest at a dinner sponsored by the AAAN for former PLO-operative Rashid Khalidi. During the dinner a video was taken that shows Barack Obama celebrating with members of this Palestinian group who are openly hostile towards Israel. Barack Obama even gave a toast to a Rashid Khalidi at this going away party. The LA Times will not release the video from this Jew-bashing dinner.
Not only was Hatem Abudayyeh’s radical organization given $40,000 by Barack Obama and the Woods Fund but his organization also collected nearly half a million in taxpayer money.
Today the Obama Administration admitted that Abudayyeh was invited to the White House in April for a press briefing to Arab-American leaders.
Josh Gerstein at the Politico reported:
An Arab-American activist who attended an outreach session at the White House complex in April had his Chicago home raided by the FBI last week and appears to be a focus of an unfolding federal terrorism-support investigation.
Hatem Abudayyeh, who serves as executive director of the Arab-American Action Network, took part in a meeting for Arab-American leaders held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 22, according to appointment data posted on the White House website.
“He attended a briefing held by the Office of Public Engagement on April 22, 2010, to update members of the Arab-American community on issues of their concern,” White House spokesman Shin Inouye said.
The guest list for the event was drafted by the Arab-American Institute. Inouye said President Barack Obama did not take part in the session, which appears to have involved more than 80 people…
…The warrant and subpoena suggest the probe, which is being run by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago, is focusing on illegal support for terrorist organizations, particularly by a Minnesota-based group called the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. PFLP, FARC and Hezbollah are designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. government. A spokesman for Fitzgerald’s office declined to comment on the probe.
Abudayyeh has not been charged with any crime, nor do the court documents made public by targets of the searches make any explicit allegation of ties between the Chicago activist and any of the groups.
The White House briefing Abudayyeh attended was organized by the Arab-American Institute in connection with its annual dinner and related events, AAI President James Zogby said Friday.
“Each year we do a leadership summit of our institute leadership also of leadership from the Arab-American network. That is a network of Arab –American community and social service organizations and the group in Chicago is one of the network members and so they were invited,” Zogby said. “We did, as part of the weekend, a White House briefing and Hatem was included as part of the network.”
Zogby said the national network Abudayyeh’s group is part of works on domestic issues, such as immigration reform and civil liberties. “I know Hatem is active on those issues in Chicago. He’s very much a part of immigration reform coalitions there. That that would have been the purpose of the network’s inclusion in this meeting,” Zogby said…
A lawyer for Abudayyeh, Jim Fennerty, said he was not aware of his client’s White House visit. Asked if the investigation into Abudayyeh was underway at the time of his White House visit in April, Finnerty said, “We only became aware of [the probe] when people got their houses raided and search warrants carried out…..I think the grand jury started sitting a year ago though.” The lawyer said the investigation may extend back to protests held in connection with the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in 2008.
Fennerty said he believed his client was being targeted because of his anti-war activism. On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the attorney said Abudayyeh supports “a single, secular democratic state,” not the two-state solution endorsed by the U.S.
In a 2006 interview with Fight Back News, an outlet run by Minneapolis activist Kelly, Abudayyeh seemed to disagree rather strenuously with at least some of the U.S. government’s use of the “terrorist” label.
“The U.S. and Israel will continue to describe Hamas, Hezbollah and the other Palestinian and Lebanese resistance organizations as ‘terrorists,’ but the real terrorists are the governments and military forces of the U.S. and Israel,” Abudayyeh said. “The vast majority of the world sees and understands this, and are in full support of Lebanese, Palestinian and worldwide resistance to Israel and the U.S.’s naked aggression, war, imperialism and occupation.”
Fennerty said he was surprised to hear Abudayyeh was invited to a White House event. “He runs like a social-welfare office that helps people get citizenship, apply for benefits, welfare if they’re entitled to it,” the lawyer said.
According to a bio on the AAAN website, Abudayyeh has been affiliated with the group since 1999 and took over as executive director in 2003.
Abudayyeh’s White House visit was noted Thursday by several conservative websites, including the Gateway Pundit blog at First Things magazine.
Abudayyeh’s group, AAAN, briefly drew attention during the presidential campaign following reports that a foundation on whose board Obama served donated $40,000 to the group for “community organizing” in 2001. Conservative critics said the group and Abudayyeh have promoted anti-Israeli views. AAAN officials said the organization is strictly focused on local community issues and doesn’t get involved in international politics.
In 2003, Obama spoke at an AAAN-sponsored farewell dinner for Rashid Khalidi, a professor who was decamping from the University of Chicago to Columbia. During the 2008 campaign, the Los Angeles Times obtained a video of the event and reported that Obama lavished praise on Khalidi, who once served as a spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Other speakers at the event railed against Israeli policies.
Late in the 2008 campaign, Republican nominee Sen. John McCain attacked the Times for failing to make the video public. The newspaper said it obtained the video on the condition that it not be released publicly.
Previously:
FBI Raids Home of RNC Leftist Activist As Part of Terrorism Investigation
FBI Terror Suspect Aarded $457,000 in US Aid and a Trip to White House
What Was FBI-Raided Radical Abudayyeh Doing at Obama White House & Why Was He Awarded $457,000 in Taxpayer Money?
