Community Corner

Report: Nassau Official Attempts to Block Upcoming Speech

Human Rights Commissioner Habeeb U. Ahmed accused of intimidation tactics to prevent April 14 speech by anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller.

A coordinated campaign is underway by a prominent Nassau County official to persuade Great Neck Synagogue leadership to cancel an appearence next month by outspoken Islam critic Pamela Geller, according to several sources .

Habeeb U. Ahmed, one of 15 appointed members of the Nassau Commission on Human Rights, has urged members of an interfaith group to bar Geller from speaking April 14 in Great Neck, according to a Jewish Press report.

The human rights commission was established in 1963 to improve relations and insure equality of opportunity. Geller's opportunity at free speech in Great Neck has been the subject of recent emails by Ahmed, according to published reports.

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Labeling Geller the "personification of an Islamophobe," Ahmen recommended a petition of the Stationary of Council of Churches, The Interfaith Alliance and Holocaust Center against Geller, according to emails from the interfaith group posted on Geller's Atlas Shrugs blog.

In response to Ahmen's call for action, Tom Goodhue, the executive director of the Long Island Council of Churches, and Robert Nuxoll, of the Interfaith Alliance of Long Island and a member of The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock, equated Geller to a Nazi, according to a string of emails posted by Geller.

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Ahmed told the Jewish Press, "Free speech is not absolute, and Geller’s speech is like yelling fire in a crowded theater – that is not protected."

Geller says Muslims and leftists are attempting to pressure Jews to come out against her.

"You never see Muslims protesting Islamic supremacists such as Imam Faisal Rauf or Reza Aslan," said Geller on her blog. "But there are always plenty of Jews protesting against defenders of Israel. I have never seen Muslims at pro-Israel rallies. I have seen plenty of Jews at anti-Israel rallies."

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Geller was an organizer and keynote speaker at the rally against the proposed "Ground Zero Mosque" on Sept. 11, 2011.

Geller claims on her blog that Ahmed is reportedly the uncle of Farhat “Daisy” Khan, the wife of the Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, an Islamic supremacist behind the failed attempt to plant a 16-story victory mosque at Ground Zero who is using his political position to harass.

The Freedom Defense Initiative and Stop Islamization of America, co-founded by Geller, have been labeled as a hate groups by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Great Neck Synagogue says its standing by the invitation of the synagogue's men's club for Geller to appear with Greg Buckley, Sr., father of U.S. Marine Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr, who was killed by Jihadists.

Buckley Sr. is calling for swift justice for the murderers of his son and demanding prosecution on American soil as terrorists. 

The Marine Corps presented Geller with the flag flown on Sept. 11, 2011, over Camp Leatherneck, "amid the battlefields of Afghanistan during decisive operations against enemy forces in Helmand Province," according to Geller.

Geller's books include: "Freedom or Submission: On the Dangers of Islamic Extremism & American Complacency," "Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance" and "The Post-AmericanPresidency: The Obama Administration's War on America with Robert Spencer."


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