Friday, May 19, 2006
MEMRITV has discovered video of Salah Soltan (or Sallah Sultan) questioning the truth about 9/11 and praising terrorist Yemenite sheikh Dr. Al-Zindani. I have posted about Soltan, a sometimes guest of the Islamic Society of Boston, previously in Salah Soltan - A moderate's guest?, Decisions of a Moderate's Guest and in Return of the Moderate's Guest. For further background on Soltan, a resident of Ohio, not Gaza, and a man who believes that Israeli soldiers have used Palestinian infants' skulls as ashtrays, and praises and encourages martyrdom (particularly in others), see any of those posts, particularly the first, and don't miss the comments.
Here's the latest on him from MEMRITV: Columbus, Ohio Muslim Leader Says 9/11 Planned by Americans, Praises the Wanted Al-Qaeda-Linked Yemenite Sheikh Al-Zindani [Note that the links to the video on the MEMRI site are incorrect, but I have corrected them in the text below. Also, all footnotes are in the text at the MEMRI site.]
Mr. Soltan's bio is not to be missed. To say he gets around and has influence would be an understatement. Apologies for the lengthy (almost complete) excerpt below, but you've really got to see it all together to get the impact.
Dr. Sultan, who has been called "one of America's most noted Muslim scholars," is signatory to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) 2005 fatwa against terrorism, and is a former professor and president of the Islamic AmericanUniversity in Michigan. He is president of the American Institute for Religious and Cultural Studies, and active in the European Council for Fatwa and Research (headed by Islamist sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi whom he calls "our great scholar");the Fiqh Council of North America; and the International Association of Muslim Scholars. He previously served on the board of directors of Islamic AmericanUniversity, and on the Muslim American Society Board of Trustees. Dr. Sultan's resume states that he also serves on the board of trustees of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, and is a member of the Council of Indian Scholars and of the Association of Scholars in Germany.
According to his website, Sultan is an elected member of the Shura Board of the recently founded International Association of Muslim Scholars in London (IAMS), and has written over 20 books, including Muslim Participation in the American Elections.
According to his online resume, Sultan's "vision" is: "To live happily. To die as a martyr."
Sultan currently attends Columbus State Community College in Ohio; previously, he worked at the Islamic Center of Greater Worcester in Massachusetts and at the Islamic Open University in Washington, D.C.
On May 17, 2006, Dr. Sultan appeared on the Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal-owned Al-Risala TV channel. [16] In his appearance on Al-Risala TV, Dr. Sultan praised Yemenite sheikh Dr. Al-Zindani, who has been categorized by the U.S. government as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" because of his loyalty to Osama bin Laden and his support of Al-Qaeda. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Al-Zindani "has a long history of working with bin Laden, notably serving as one of his spiritual leaders. In this leadership capacity, he has been able to influence and support many terrorist causes, including actively recruiting for Al-Qaeda training camps."
In March 2006, Al-Zindani appeared on Yemenite TV at a Hamas fundraiser. TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1086.
The following are excerpts from Sultan's May 17, 2006 address on Al-Risala TV. TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1143 .
Salah Sultan: "The film 'The Siege,' starring Denzel Washington, portrayed the Muslims in a very bad light. They are shown calling for prayer, performing the ablution, praying, and then planning multiple bombings - a government building, a security agency, the FBI, a bus carrying young men and women, adults and children. They bombed shops."The film came out in April 1999. It paved the way for 9/11, since it was filmed in Brooklyn, New York. The truth is that immediately after 9/11, I said people should view these events in the context of 'The Siege,' because these events were identical...
What a creep, happily living and raising a family in Columbus Ohio. I also blogged about Soltan/Sultan, and asked the questions:
Next time Dr. Soltan comes to the Boston area, can't we rustle up a decent protest? And the next time Dr. Soltan goes overseas, can't we stop him from coming back in?
Link: http://misskelly.typepad.com/miss_kelly_/2006/05/salah_soltan_91.html