Ahmed Bedier exemplifies the premise of Florida Family Association’s September 6, 2011 email alert titled “United they stand against us. Divided we could fall to them.”  That email alert described a coalition of people with an assortment of strong viewpoints who stand against traditional, God fearing Americans. That entire email is posted here.

It says a lot about the progressive political beliefs of officials at the City of Tampa when the president of their civil rights organization Ahmed Bedier: 

• is leading a national effort through United Voices for America to oppose federal legislation that would prohibit American courts from recognizing Sharia law.  See Note 1 with references below.
• as director of the Tampa office of the Council on Islamic-American Relations defended Sami Al Arian, who was indicted and plead to federal charges of raising support for a Palestinian terrorist organization.  See Note 2 with references below. 
• as director of the Tampa office of the Council on Islamic-American Relations spoke on behalf of Youssef Megahed one of two University of South Florida students who were arrested for allegedly carrying pipe bombs near the Goose Creek, S.C a naval base and Megahed was arrested later for deportation.   See Note 3 with references below. 
• lobbying efforts as director of the Tampa office of the Council on Islamic-American Relations resulted in the Hillsborough County School Board removing Yom Kippur and Good Friday from the school calendar even after nearly sixty percent of the students (supported by parents) protested by staying home from school on subsequent Good Fridays.  See Note 4 with references below.

For the record Ahmed Bedier’s blog states:  “Ahmed Bedier has NEVER met with anyone accused of terrorism. The source of this fabricated smear is a network of right-wing anti-Arab racist extremists. Bedier has been praised by the FBI Tampa field office for keeping nation safe (see video) and has excellent relations with local law enforcement. The right-wing bloggers want the public to believe that Bedier has law enforcement and the FBI fooled.”  Click here to read AhmedBedier.blogspot.com

It would be interesting to hear Mr. Bedier reconcile his blog statement “Ahmed Bedier has NEVER met with anyone accused of terrorism” with the above points two and three regarding Sami Al Arian and Youssef Magahed.

The progressive political beliefs of officials at the City of Tampa represented in this report reveals what Florida Family Association is up against in seeking equal justice for the death of the Palestinian woman named Fatimah Abdallah.  Her death appears to be an honor killing instead of an accident.  Click here for Florida Family Association’s full report on the Tampa Police Department’s mishandling of Fatimah Abdallah’s death.

David Caton Executive Director Florida Family Association

Dear Friend, Tampa officials and political allies are clearly embracing Islamic leaders without regard for policies that could change traditional American values.   And as we have seen with Michigan what grows in one community will likely spread to others. Our greatest challenge is not to change the ultra-left posture of progressive  officials  but  is  to educate and warn an otherwise sleeping public of what is happening.  That is why Florida Family Association is in the process of developing a new web site called Welcometotampafl.org.  We  will  use this site to educate people about this situation in Tampa using specialized web placement.

What can you do?

• Forward this email to family, friends, church members, business acquaintances and encourage them to keep informed on this issue by signing up to receive Florida Family Association email alerts by clicking here.  
• Pray that more people will become active in challenging this issue.
• Make a tax deductible, confidential gift to help Florida Family Association produce and advertise the new web site called Welcometotampafl.org  Click here to make your donation online or mail to FFA, PO Box 46547, Tampa, FL 33646-0105

Your support is important to our success in educating and warning the American public.

Blessings to you and your family,

David Caton

Executive Director
Florida Family Association

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Note 1.  Ahmed Bedier is President of United Voices for America.  The top issue at Unitedvoices.com is opposing federal legislation to prohibit American courts from recognizing Sharia law.  The headline issue on this web site states “If passed, this legislation will be disastrous…”  Click here to read top article titled “UV Policy Brief: Should Sharia Law Be Banned in America?” at United Voices for America.

Note 2.  “Ahmed Bedier, Tampa spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, said Moffitt was wrong about the Al-Arian plea. Al-Arian did not agree to admit to any charges associated with terrorism, Bedier said.  

"He stayed true to his convictions - he stayed true he wasn't going to plead to those issues," Bedier said. "There is no conspiracy to support terrorism."

Bedier said he could not reveal what charge Al-Arian agreed to, and he refused to reveal the source of his information.

Bedier convened a 7 p.m. news conference, saying he hoped to have Al-Arian's family there. They did not appear.

"Their lawyer would not allow them," Bedier said. He later said Al-Arian's family learned of the plea agreement Friday from a news report.

All of the above statements were reported by The Tampa Tribune on April 15, 2006.  Click here for full Tampa Tribune report.  

Note 3.  "We have faith in the American judicial system," said Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. "So far we've only heard and read about vague language describing an explosive device, but no actual evidence. Until that's displayed it's going to be unclear what's going on." 

The above statements were reported by the Tampa Tribune on September 1, 2007.   Click here for full report.

Note 4:  CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) lead then by Ahmed Bedier placed intense pressure on the Hillsborough County School Board to include the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Fitr in the 2006-07 school year calendar.  The school board responded to CAIR’s pressure by removing Good Friday and Yom Kippur from the school calendar.   

Click here to read the St. Petersburg Times October 26, 2005 report. 

Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly covered the school board’s decision during several shows.  Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair responded by leading a public effort to urge the school board members to add the religious holidays back.  The Hillsborough County School Board relented under the microscope of national pressure from Fox News.  

Click here for the St. Petersburg Times November 9, 2005 report. 

HOWEVER, the Hillsborough County School Board’s true secular progressive sentiment prevailed during the next year and years after the national publicity wore off.  The school board voted to remove Good Friday and Yom Kippur from the school calendar in subsequent years.

Tampa students supported and encouraged by their parents overwhelmingly demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the school board’s decision to eliminate Good Friday from the school calendar.  Approximately 60,000 of the 80,000 students attending Hillsborough County Schools did not show up for class on Good Friday 2008.  Media estimates of students not attending school that day ranged from 58% to 75%.  Additionally, many teachers and transportation personnel did not show up for work that day.