Jihad Watch posted the following column:

Tattoo: “Kafir (Arabic: كافر‎ kāfir, plural كفّار kuffār) is an Arabic term used in an Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as “unbeliever,” “disbeliever,” or “infidel.”

“What kind of America do we live in where someone comes back from war; disabled and decorated … while serving overseas was called an “infidel” for over 2 years, and then gets asked to leave an establishment because of a tattoo I have that says just that, because of a culture of people visiting our country, and an American Business with no ethical sense or a backbone for that matter.” What kind of America? A weak, confused, and Sharia-compliant one.

“Disabled Purple Heart veteran, embarassed [sic] at local business,” from Adventures of a Broken Soldier, April 3 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

I am a disabled combat veteran. I served in Iraq and worked in Afghanistan. I took an IED because my country asked me too, and I was injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. I have a Purple Heart and an ARCOM with Valor. I fully expect to be treated differently when I am visiting another country – when I am in America I expect equality and toleration; but what I experienced today is something that I never would have thought I’d have to go through in my own country. The country I fought for!I am a skydiver with around 300 jumps under my belt. I’ve done jumps from 30,000 feet, helicopters, hot air balloons, wingsuit skydives and so forth. So with that being said I travel around doing this sport quite a bit. Today was my second time at a dropzone called “Florida Skydiving Center / Skydive Lake Wales”.

Coincidentally there are soldiers from the country of Qatar being trained there.

The picture is of the tattoo I have. Here is the definition of said tattoo: “Kafir (Arabic: كافر‎ kāfir, plural كفّار kuffār) is an Arabic term used in an Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as “unbeliever,” “disbeliever,” or “infidel.” The term refers to a person who rejects God or who hides, denies, or covers the “truth.” The Muslim’s from Qatar saw that tattoo and complained to the dropzone. Once they did so I was called to the back office and asked to cover it up by the OWNER. Not that I would, but its 80 something degrees here today, and that would be an unreasonable request. After I told her that I had no pants to cover it up she told me that she has DUCT TAPE that I can use to cover it. I told the lady that I was not going to cover it up, as it was nothing more than a tattoo saying “I am not a Muslim”. After beating around the bush for a few minutes entertaining me while I was trying to convince her otherwise, she asked me to leave.

What kind of America do we live in where someone comes back from war; disabled and decorated… while serving overseas was called an “infidel” for over 2 years, and then get asked to leave an establishment because of a tattoo I have that says just that, because of a culture of people visiting our country, and an American Business with no ethical sense or a backbone for that matter.

I am honestly offended and embarassed [sic] by how I was treated at skydive lake wales.

Please, send them your feelings on the subject. Here is their contact information.

http://lakewalesskydiving.com/

https://www.facebook.com/skydivinglakewales

Florida Skydiving Center
440 S Airport Rd, Lake Wales, FL
(863) 678-1003

A new report by the Henry Jackson Society reveals that the Islamist terrorist threat comes significantly from within the United States, not just from without.

According to the new report, Al-Qaeda in the United States, of the 171 al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda-inspired terrorists who either committed acts of suicide terrorism in the U.S. or were convicted in U.S. civilian or military courts from 1997 to 2011, 54% were American citizens, and more than a third were born in the United States.

The researchers found, “Among those residing in the U.S., the state of New York featured most prominently, with 14% of individuals living there. Outside of New York, the two most common states of residence were Florida (11%) and New Jersey (9%).”

Two of the three most common states – Florida and New Jersey – were the place of residence for a significantly high amount of non-U.S. born individuals (18% and 14% respectively). Conversely, the most common state, New York, had a higher proportion of U.S. born AQRO perpetrators residing there than non-U.S. born individuals.

“Moreover, 36% of all individuals were U.S. born, indicating that these were citizens who had grown up in the U.S. rather than having moved there later in life. Therefore, this statistic dispels the myth that the terrorist threat is primarily external.”

The conclusions include:

• The majority of individuals who committed AQROs were young, educated men. 57% of perpetrators were aged under 30, and were most likely to have been aged between 20 and 24 years (33% of perpetrators). A total of eight women (5%) were convicted of AQROs between 1997 and 2011, two for their roles supporting their partners in the commission of AQROs.
• Of all 171 individuals responsible for AQROs, nearly a quarter (23%) were known converts to Islam. As a proportion of their overall involvement, converts committed more AQROs than non-converts in eight of the fifteen years studied.
• Of offenses committed by religious converts, 31% were by Active Participants, compared to 39% of offenses committed by non-religious converts.
• The vast majority (97%) of the 155 AQROs that have led to successful convictions (the total of 174 AQROs excluding the nineteen suicide hijackers from September 11, 2001) were prosecuted in federal courts. 3% of all convictions have taken place in a military court. Nearly two thirds (65%) of those convicted of AQROs pleaded guilty, and the single most common category was a sentence of between 10 and 14 years.
• Nearly half (47%) of those who committed AQROs attended training camps for terrorist purposes. Of those who received training, the most popular location was Afghanistan (68% of those who trained did so here), followed by Pakistan (29%). Therefore, 97% of individuals who had received terrorist training had trained in either Afghanistan, Pakistan, or both.

To read the full report click here.

The Henry Jackson Society is a British-based think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues. The authors, Robin Simcox and Emily Dyer, are research fellows at the Henry Jackson Society.

Senator Marco Rubio: “What is most important of all is for Israel to know that the United States and the west is clearly in their corner. Working with them on their security – and of course this issue of Iran is predominant on that issue of their security.”

Watch excerpts from his Sky News interview:

Rubio: “It is difficult for Israel to engage in a peace process of the kind that everyone agrees we need, if they feel as insecure as they do right now and rightfully so. You see the instability in Egypt. You see what’s happening in Syria. You have concerns about Lebanon and Hezbollah. And of course you have concerns about the Iranian ambitions.

“All these things make Israel much less secure. And it needs to look no further than the experience in Gaza a few years ago, where their unilateral retreat from Gaza lead to rockets and attacks.”

Senator Rubio and Israeli Maj. Gen. Noam Tibon, Commander of Northern Formation in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), during a helicopter flight over the West Bank and toward the northern borders en route to a briefing on the Iron Dome.

Rubio arrives in Haifa.

Rubio being briefed on the Iron Dome missile defense system.