Emerge USA the new ACORN with a Twist?

By Dr. Rich Swier – According to its website, “Emerge USA began as the Center for Voter Advocacy (CVA) in 2006.  Since that time we have worked to create relationships with elected officials throughout the state of Florida.   In 2009 we merged with a group of similarly active communities from Texas and became Emerge USA, a registered tax deductible non-profit with 501(c)(3) status from the IRS.”

The broad goal of Emerge USA is: “To take the Muslim, South Asian and Arab American (MASA) communities and other underrepresented communities and training them on how to engage the political party structure so that instead of hoping to have our voices heard from the outside we can guarantee our voices will echo loudly on the inside.  Emerge carries out its mission through three unique lines of programming: Emerging Voters, Emerging Data and Emerging Leaders.”

The leaders of Emerge USA are: Khurrum Wahid a criminal defense attorney based in South Florida, A.J. Durrani a senior project manager for Shell Oil in Houston, Texas, Nauman Abbasi a Businessman based in South Florida, Zeba Khan the founder of Muslim Americans for Obama in 2008, and Arif Ghafur a Professional Engineer by trade and an active community organizer in Houston.

Joe Kaufman and Beila Rabinowitz in a February 2012 article for FrontPageMag.com wrote, “A radical Muslim group with ties to the Obama Administration will be featuring the head of the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as the keynote speaker for its annual fundraising banquet this coming April.”

The “radical Muslim group” Kaufman and Rabinowitz are referring to is Emerge USA.

Kaufman and Rabinowitz report, “Laila Abdelaziz, the Field Coordinator of EMERGE, denounced Israel in a question she posed to President Obama, during a January 2010 town hall meeting he held in Tampa, Florida. ‘[W]hy have we not condemned Israel and Egypt’s human rights violations against the occupied Palestinian people, and yet we continue supporting them financially with billions of dollars from our tax dollars?’ she belligerently asked.”

Kaufman and Rabinowitz found Khurrum Wahid, the Chairman and main face behind EMERGE:

“[H]as defended individuals charged with allegedly committing or conspiring to commit acts of terrorism…

Some of Wahid’s clients include: Rafiq Abdus Sabir, who received a 25 year prison sentence for conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaeda; Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who was given a life sentence for being a member of al-Qaeda and for plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush; and Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, who is awaiting trial for conspiring with others to funnel at least fifty thousand dollars to the Pakistani Taliban for the purpose of murdering American troops overseas.

Wahid, as well, created a legal fund for Tashnuba Hayder, a girl who had been identified by the FBI as a potential suicide bomber and who was later deported to Bangladesh, as she was considered an imminent threat to the security of the United States. Currently, Wahid is soliciting funds on his law office’s website for the defense of his client Hafiz Khan (above) and his son Izhar Khan, whom Wahid calls a ‘rising star’.”

“Prior to helping found EMERGE, Wahid was a legal advisor for CAIR National and a director of CAIR’s Florida chapter. In 2007 and 2008, CAIR was named by the U.S. Justice Department as a co-conspirator to the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas. At CAIR-Florida, Wahid had taken the place of Foad Farahi, an imam of a radical mosque, who the FBI has suspected of having had dealings with al-Qaeda operatives – “Dirty Bomber” Jose Padilla and Adnan Gulshair el-Shukrijumah – and who was arrested last month for “transportation violations,” report Kaufman and Rabinowitz.

Kaufman and Rabinowitz also note, “The Executive Director of EMERGE, Nauman Sabit Abbasi, is the President of Public Relations for IFSF. The IFSF Youth Group is run by Abdur Rahman al-Ghani, a fan of Hizb ut-Tahrir, whose Facebook site is littered with fanatical anti-America, anti-Israel and Islamic supremacist language. This month, al-Ghani posted to his Facebook, “[Y]es, Allah (SWT) has Decreed that we will over-take the World in numbers…”

Emerge USA is ACORN with a shariah Islamic twist.

NOTE: Joe Kaufman is a Republican Congressional primary candidate in Florida District 20. The winner of the Republican primary will be running against Democrat Rep. and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.