Children & Teens

A Philly teen who wanted to be a terrorist bomb maker had conducted explosive tests near his house, authorities say Muhyyee-Ud-Din Abdul-Rahman, now 18, conducted more than a dozen tests on homemade bombs near his family’s house in Wynnefield while aspiring to become a bombmaker in Syria, authorities said.

(Philadelphia Inquirer) A Philadelphia man who was charged as a teenager last year with supporting foreign terrorist organizations had conducted more than a dozen tests on homemade bombs near his family’s house in the city’s Wynnefield section, and had begun planning to […]

Government & Politics

Pennsylvania rep met with Hamas supporters before boycotting Bibi’s speech CAIR's executive director said he was 'happy to see' Hamas’s invasion of Israel on October 7

(Free Beacon) Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean (Pa.) met with the pro-Hamas advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, before announcing her boycott of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress, she said Wednesday. In an interview on CNN, Dean said […]

Citizenship

Former Penn State Abington student pleaded guilty to lying about his ties to ISIS Kamal Fataliev, 20, had shared information about weapons, guerilla warfare, and toxins with extremists online since 2022.

(Philadelphia Inquirer) A former student at Pennsylvania State University’s Abington campus pleaded guilty Friday to lying in federal documents about whether he’d ever communicated with ISIS sympathizers or other potential terrorists. Kamal Fataliev, 20, a Russian citizen who was also a legal […]

Government & Politics

Bob Casey praised CAIR official who urged Fetterman to ‘hang his head in shame’ over support for Israel Casey has been slow to defend Fetterman from left-wing attacks

(Free Beacon) Sen. Bob Casey has touted an official at a pro-Hamas activist group who this week attacked the Pennsylvania Democrat’s Senate colleague, John Fetterman, for meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, the executive director of the Council […]

Immigration

8 suspected terrorists with possible ISIS ties arrested in New York, L.A. and Philadelphia, sources say The men from Tajikistan came to the U.S. through the southern border and their criminal [background] checks came back clean at the time they crossed, officials familiar with the matter said.

(NBC) Eight men from Tajikistan with potential ties to ISIS out of central Asia were arrested over the weekend in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday. The suspects had been on the […]

Government & Politics

Inside Bob Casey’s troubling relationship with Erdogan’s best friend in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania Murat Güzel, a prolific Democratic donor, credits Bob Casey with helping him get a start in politics. Casey’s wife, Terese, recently thanked Güzel for a $100,000 donation to another Pennsylvania committee.

(Free Beacon) Murat Güzel is one of Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s closest allies in the United States. A former board member of the Turkish American National Steering Committee alongside Erdogan’s cousin, Halil Mutlu, the Turkish-born Pennsylvania businessman has lobbied lawmakers on […]

Government & Politics

Summer Lee cancels appearance at CAIR banquet featuring antisemitic speakers Her decision comes after leading Democrats in the state, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, criticized the event

(Jewish Insider) Amid fierce backlash, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) announced on Tuesday that she had canceled her planned appearance this weekend at a fundraising banquet for a leading Muslim advocacy group featuring several speakers who have espoused antisemitic and homophobic views. “I […]

Government & Politics

McCormick calls on Lee to resign over scheduled appearance at CAIR gala featuring antisemitic speakers Sen. Bob Casey criticized CAIR in a statement, but declined to speak out against Lee’s appearance at the event

(Jewish Insider) Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick called on Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) to resign from Congress after she scheduled an appearance at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) gala featuring a lineup of antisemitic speakers, including one who praised Hamas’ Oct. […]

Clerics & Preachers

Rep. Summer Lee headlines CAIR fundraising banquet, alongside speakers with antisemitic history One scheduled speaker rejoiced over the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre hours after it occurred

(Jewish Insider) Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) is scheduled to give remarks at a fundraising banquet for a leading Muslim advocacy group on Saturday alongside several speakers who have made antisemitic and homophobic comments. The freshman Squad member, a vocal critic of Israel […]

Academics & Education

This Islamic scholar railed against gays. An anti-Israel student group invited him to UPenn’s campus 'Prepare to be inspired,' UPenn's Muslim Students Association said when announcing Yasir Fahmy as a speaker

(Free Beacon) An anti-Israel student group at the University of Pennsylvania invited an Islamic scholar and cleric to campus who last year argued that gay people are “destructive” and “will not be happy.” The scholar, former Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center […]

Demonstrations

‘Proud of what has occurred’: Scenes from inside Philadelphia’s pro-Hamas rally Activists in City of Brotherly Love call for Israel's destruction, say slaughter of civilians is justified

(Daily Wire) Anti-Israel activists gathered Sunday in Philadelphia in a rally organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition to proclaim their support for the Saturday terrorist attack on Israel, stating that they were “proud” to see Hamas slaughter Israeli civilians. Around 220 people […]

Children & Teens

Philly criminal lawyer reveals teen terror suspect is his son 'I didn’t see it coming at all. At all,' the lawyer, whose 17-year-old son was arrested in an FBI raid on charges of plotting a national terrorist attack, told the Daily Beast.

(Daily Beast) A prominent Philadelphia criminal defense attorney has confirmed that the terror suspect arrested by the FBI in an armed raid on his suburban home [Friday] is his 17-year-old son. Qawi Abdul-Rahman, 50, told the Daily Beast that he was “shocked […]

Children & Teens

Teen terror suspect lived in home of Philly lawyer who just ran for judge 'You wanna find out what I'm really about?' attorney Qawi Abdul-Rahman said when we asked him about the arrest. 'Text or call me one more time, and you'll find out what I'm really about.'

(Philadelphia Magazine) On Monday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and the FBI announced that police arrested a 17-year-old from West Philadelphia on Friday, charging him with crimes stemming from a terrorism investigation. I had been aware of the arrest since right after […]

Legal

Penn State Abington student indicted for lying about ties to ISIS terrorists Prosecutors say Kamal Fataliev, 19, uploaded hundreds of bomb- and firearms-making guides to terror-related chat groups. They discovered his involvement after disrupting a planned attack in Chicago.

(Philadelphia Inquirer) Federal authorities have charged a sophomore at Pennsylvania State University’s Abington campus with lying about his contacts with ISIS sympathizers and assistance he gave to the plotters of an averted terrorist attack in Chicago last year. Kamal Fataliev, 19, of […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

US may elect first Muslim senator. Why are few Muslims thrilled? Donald Trump-backed Mehmet Oz’s Senate bid fails to produce enthusiasm seen with previous Muslim firsts in US.

(Al-Jazeera) The United States may elect its highest-ranking Muslim official next week — a Donald Trump-backed Republican who has questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 elections. Mehmet Oz, a television personality and retired surgeon of Turkish descent, is running in Pennsylvania against […]

Government & Politics

Mehmet Oz faces backlash from Pennsylvania’s Armenian community over Turkish ties Would-be Republican senator's refusal to recognise genocide has made him persona non grata for many Armenian voters

(National-UAE) For many of the roughly 40,000 Armenian Americans living in Pennsylvania, the Senate race between Democratic candidate John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz is personal and has become focused on a genocide that occurred during the First World War. Oz, a […]

Government & Politics

Pennsylvania Armenians decry Oz’s failure to recognize the Armenian Genocide 'It’s not just genocide denial, it’s the reason why he’s doing it,' said Lorig Baronian, volunteer for the Armenian National Committee of Pennsylvania.

(Philadelphia Inquirer) For Lorig Baronian, the Armenian Genocide is a century-old piece of history that still affects her life today. The descendant of survivors of the genocide, Baronian grew up hearing about the atrocities her ancestors experienced: her great-grandparents meeting in an […]

Arts & Entertainment

Celebrity surgeon Dr. Oz seeks to be first Muslim elected to the US Senate Besides Sufism, the mystical Islamic sect, Oz's spiritual practices include transcendental meditation and elements of his wife's Swedenborgian tradition.

(Religion News) Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity surgeon and host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” has launched a campaign for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat now held by Pat Toomey, who is retiring. If Oz wins the Republican nomination, he will be the […]

Government & Politics

Muslims win office in US municipal elections in 2021 Three years after the first Muslim women were elected to Congress, successful campaigns in Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania put Muslims in key local offices.

(Religion News) In Dearborn, Michigan, where the mayor once promised to do something about the city’s “Arab problem,” Abdullah Hammoud, a Lebanese American Muslim, was elected this month to fill that post. In New York, Bangladeshi American Shahana Hanif became the first […]