by Joe Kaufman
Offering a forum to CAIR and AMANA lawyer Wilfredo Ruiz, in the midst of bigotry and terror.
Wilfredo Amr Ruiz is a lawyer for two prominent US-based radical Muslim organizations. One, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has numerous terrorist ties, including ties to Hamas leadership. The other, the American Muslim Association of North America (AMANA), promotes white supremacist David Duke on social media and conducts rallies for Hamas. Given this, why would WPLG Local 10, an affiliate of ABC News, give Ruiz airtime to spout his views? But that is exactly what happened, earlier this month.
On March 13th, WPLG Local 10 news aired a segment criticizing Florida Governor Rick Scott for going on a TV talk show and refusing to answer a question regarding a statement Presidential candidate Donald Trump made about Islam. The piece featured South Florida attorney Wilfredo Amr Ruiz being interviewed by WPLG reporter Bob Norman. On it, Ruiz said that he and others “felt betrayed” by Governor Scott for not speaking out against Trump.
This was not the first interview conducted with Ruiz on WPLG. In December 2015, Ruiz was given a forum to speak on at least two other WPLG segments, both of which involved Norman as well. This is deeply disturbing, given Ruiz’s connection to two radical Muslim groups, CAIR-Florida and AMANA, for which Ruiz is respectively the Civil Rights Attorney and Legal Advisor. He is also the founder of AMANA chapters in Puerto Rico and Connecticut and a corporate director for AMANA’s sister group, American Muslims for Emergency and Relief (AMER).
CAIR was established in June 1994 as part of a terrorist umbrella group headed by then-global head of Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook. In 2007 and 2008, CAIR was named by the US Justice Department a co-conspirator for two federal trials dealing with the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas. Since its founding, a number of CAIR representatives have served jail time and/or have been deported from the United States for terrorist-related crimes. In November 2014, CAIR itself was designated a terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government.
CAIR-Florida, the Florida office of CAIR, has thoroughly reflected the extremism of its parent organization. CAIR-Florida Executive Director Hassan Shibly, who has in the past denied that Hezbollah is a terrorist group, wrote in August 2014, “Israel and its supporters are enemies of G-d...” In December 2010, CAIR-Florida CEO and Statewide Regional Operations Director Nezar Hamze repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas, when given several chances to do so, stating “I’m not denouncing anybody. I’m not getting involved in the politics.”
AMANA, which is based in South Florida, actively uses the internet to propagate material vilifying Jews, Christians and homosexuals. In one article previously found AMANA’s website, it is stated, “Every believer should firmly believe that the Jews and Christians are kuffaar [infidels] and enemies of Allaah, His deen, the Prophet Muhammad, and the Believers… The efforts to gain the friendship of the Jews and Christians are useless, as they will never be pleased with the Muslims until the Muslims follow their religion.”
The latest posting found on the AMANA Facebook site is an anti-Jewish conspiratorial video taken from the YouTube page of white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. The video, which features Duke, is titled ‘Will Israel Assassinate Obama?’ In July 2010, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned AMANA for posting onto the homepage of its official website another anti-Semitic video produced by and featuring Duke. The ADL described the video as being “venomous.” The video was posted right above an expose about Ruiz.
In July 2014, both CAIR-Florida and AMANA, along with AMANA’s sister group AMER, co-sponsored a violent pro-Hamas rally in Downtown Miami, where rally goers repeatedly shouted, “We are Hamas” and “Let’s go Hamas.” Following the rally, the event organizer, Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout, who is the President and Treasurer of AMANA and who has referred to David Duke as “a man to believe in,” wrote, “Thank God, every day we conquer the American Jews like our conquests over the Jews of Israel!”
In the WPLG piece about Governor Rick Scott, Wilfredo Ruiz is noticeably upset at the Governor for not speaking out against Donald Trump, but where is his upset for his organization’s cursing Jews and Christians or broadcasting David Duke hate videos or sponsoring pro-Hamas rallies? All of this incitement and hatemongering took place under Ruiz’s watch and continues to this day.
And what of WPLG’s ethical and moral responsibility for enabling someone like Ruiz to promote his radical Islamic agenda on its television network without being challenged? In November, WPLG interviewed AMANA’s Sofian Zakkout – who has a lengthy history of radicalism – shortly before Zakkout posted a video to his Facebook page glorifying brutal Palestinian stabbings against Israeli civilians.
Wilfredo Ruiz is a representative for Islamist terror and bigotry and should not be given a forum by any legitimate media outlet. He and his views should be repudiated and the organizations he represents shut down.
If you are concerned about WPLG’s unwarranted promotion of CAIR and AMANA’s Wilfredo Ruiz, you can contact Bob Norman and WPLG by phone at 954-364-2500 or via email at bnorman@local10.com and newsdesk@wplg.com. Please be respectful in any and all communications with this individual and station.
Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.
Joe Kaufman
Source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/262274/abc-affiliate-gives-airtime-rep-group-promoting-joe-kaufman
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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