Bob Buckhorn was sworn in as Tampa’s fifty-eighth mayor at the Tampa Convention Center on April 1, 2011.   Many clergy were invited to participate in Bob Buckhorn’s swearing in ceremony including “Imam Al-Inshirah Abdel-Jaleel of the United Muslim Association.”   Although media handlers provided the name United Muslim Association as the group the imam represented, United Muslim Association in Florida did not turn up in searches on the Florida Division of Corporations web site, Anywho.com telephone directory or Google.com.  Click here to read Tampa Tribune article noting Abdel-Jaleel’s attendance. 

Why was Imam Al-Inshirah Abdel-Jaleel associated with the non-existent organization “United Muslim Association?”  Probably because his real associations did not sound as good.

Imam Al-Inshirah Abdel-Jaleel is currently involved in a terror-related institution and has exhibited extremism, himself.  Abdel-Jaleel is a teacher of Islamic studies at the American Youth Academy (AYA), a children’s school founded by convicted terrorist Sami al-Arian.  Click here to see Abdel-Jaleel on AYA staff directory.  Click here to read related article on Sami al-Arian.  

The American Youth Academy was called the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF) at the time al-Arian was arrested for his involvement with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).  The Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF) was named in the federal indictment as being part of the global “PIJ Enterprise” and a front for terrorist fundraising.

Responding to the indictment, Florida lawmakers dropped the academy from Florida’s private school voucher program.  IAF reincorporated as the American Youth Academy and used a street address directly adjacent to IAF.

Frontpagemag.com reported on May 4, 2011: 

One of the present directors of AYA, Ayman Barakat, was previously a director of IAF. As well, he is currently a director of the mosque al-Arian founded, the Islamic Community of Tampa (ICT), which is located on the same block as AYA. While it was incorporated as the Islamic Community of Tampa, the center also uses the name Masjid al-Qassam, the same name as Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s main mosque in the Gaza Strip.

A former director for AYA, Ibrahim Khader, co-founded with al-Arian a Tampa-area subsidiary of al-Baraka, a Saudi banking and investment corporation with reported ties to al-Qaeda financing. Former federal prosecutor John Loftus has alleged that funds from the local group might have reached the 9/11 hijackers. Khader and al-Arian dissolved the group less than three weeks after 9/11.

Khader, as well, was a contact for AYA and used, as the contact address, the address for the mosque, which according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser is owned by the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). In 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Justice Department named NAIT a party to the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas.

Imam Abdel-Jaleel, besides having ties to this radical children’s school, has shown signs of his own extremism.

As this author writes, Abdel-Jaleel has on his personal Facebook page, under the heading ‘Activities and Interests,’ “Israel is not a country.”

Buckhorn, for his efforts of “inclusivity” at the inauguration, gained the praise of at least one Islamic extremist, Ahmed Bedier. Bedier, a Tampa-area leader of the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), is the former unofficial spokesman for al-Arian.

About Buckhorn, Bedier stated on the radio program he co-hosts, “[K]udos to Bob Buckhorn for doing the right thing in being inclusive, kicking off his administration the right way.”

Frontpagemag.com is operated by Freedom Center and David Horowitz.  Click here to read full report.

Tampa’s previous mayor, Pam Iorio stopped issuing proclamations for CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) after learning about the organization’s radical agenda.  Mayor Iorio signed four annual proclamations for CAIR Days.   However, Mayor Iorio declined to issue any more proclamations after learning about CAIR’s extremist history. .

The Tampa Tribune reported on June 11, 2009 “Mayor Pam Iorio has decided to halt proclamations of an annual day in Tampa for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an organization that says it seeks to defend the civil rights of Muslims in the U.S., but has been accused of terrorist links.  Iorio has proclaimed a "CAIR Day" each fall since 2005. The organization has an active chapter in Tampa.”

Click here to read Tampa Tribune article titled Iorio says she won't issue any more CAIR Day proclamations.

Abdel-Jaleel’s Facebook page posted below states “Israel is not a country” found under "Activities and Interests" section.