Act! for America - Catherine Martin Forges Ahead

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Catherine Martin Forges Ahead

Last week we told you about the excellent report entitled “Islam in theClassroom.” This report was a project of the ACT! for America Mission Viejo (CA)chapter and the United American Committee.

If you missed that email and the link to the report, we strongly encourage youto click here to readit.

Today we’re delighted to forward you an article written about our very ownCatherine Martin, who heads up the northern Virginia ACT! for America chapter.

When Brigitte Gabriel founded American Congress for Truth six years ago, it wasthis kind of grassroots activism that she envisioned. Brigitte understood that,as evidenced in the article below, far too many elected representatives andgovernment officials have sold out to a politically correct response to thevery real threat of radical Islam, a response that just doesn’t “get it.”

And because so many in government, academia, and the media don’t “get it,” ordon’t want to “get it,” Brigitte knew that it would be necessary to create apowerful citizen action network to ensure that our voices were heard and oursafety, security and democratic values were protected.

Today that citizen action network is a reality, and today ACT! for America,with 53,000 members and 250 chapters, is the largest grassroots organization inAmerica dedicated to combating the threat of radical Islam. Yes, we have a waysto go to reach our goal of 1,000,000 members and 1,500 chapters nationwide. Butas Catherine Martin and the Mission Viejo ACT! for America chapter are proving,as we march toward tomorrow’s goal we are making a difference TODAY.

And with your help and support we will continue to grow and achieve successesand victories that will ultimately ensure that our families, our communitiesand our nation are safe from the many threats posed to us by radical Islam.

How can you help? Forward this email to others. Signup to start or help out a local chapter. Makean online contribution. Any and every action you take helps us continue topress forward.

Guy Rodgers, Executive Director

www.actforamerica.org

CatherineMartin Forges Ahead

Posted by huntingnasrallah on February 8, 2009

Febuary 4th, 2009

Catherine Martin Forges Ahead

by Gary H. Johnson, Jr.

Hillary Clinton has officially been sworn in to replace Condoleeza Rice asSecretary of State. And, now, Sharon Bulova has won Virginia’s Fairfax CountyChair, left vacant by Gerry Connolly. The stage is set, and it will not be longbefore a public battle on behalf of America’s communities is waged byVirginia’s 10th District Representative Frank Wolf and ACT! For America’sNorthern Virginia DC Metro Chapter Head Catherine Martin. Brigitte Gabriel’sACT! For America may be the strongest new political grassroots movement to hitthe American national scene in the wake of 9/11. With a 50,000 strongmembership and a steady influx of new recruits and volunteers, ACT! forAmerica’s chapters span across the United States and beyond. I recently had achance to sit down and discuss the street level activities of ACT! for Americawith the NoVa/DCMetro chapter head Catherine Martin, who has made it her lifemission to “educate United States citizens as to the threat of radical Islam”.With a volunteer staff of 70 committed Virginia and DC activists, CatherineMartin understands full well that her chapter is in the vortex of a brewingstorm.

“The question of the legality of the Islamic Saudi Academy’s curriculum inFairfax County is not going away,” Catherine says matter of factly. “As amother and as an American, I find it outrageous that the school teacheschildren to hate Americans, Christians and Jews. Brigitte Gabriel’s ACT! forAmerica is supporting us all the way on this mission as we continue our fightagainst ISA’s jihadi indoctrination right in our very own backyards - as webring the issue directly to the people of Virginia and across America.Representative Frank Wolf has been an ally and strong advocate for us at ACT!for America. When a coalition of groups here in Virginia demanded that theIslamic Saudi Academy be investigated for having anti-American and anti-Israelteachings in their textbooks, Congressman Wolf sent four letters to the StateDepartment requesting an investigation of the school and its curriculum. Sinceour grievance has not yet been fully addressed and the election cycle has ranits course, we will immediately engage the new leadership on behalf of ourcommunities. A fifth letter from Congressman Wolf is waiting at the StateDepartment for the incoming Secretary of State.”

When asked what this fifth letter was designed to accomplish, Martin notesthat, “Hillary Clinton is replacing Condoleeza Rice in the State Department, sowe now have a fresh opportunity to have our concerns heard at the StateDepartment level. What most Virginia and DC residents are unaware of is thefact that when the original letters were issued by Congressman Wolf’s office,the State Department decided to bounce the request to the Fairfax CountySupervisor, Gerry Connolly. Connolly refused to launch an investigation of theschool and actually referred to ACT! for America and Representative Wolf as bigotsfor requesting the investigation of the Islamic Saudi Academy. Empty, raciallycharged, accusations from the likes of Connolly do not change the facts or thetexts in question. So, we are now taking our reasoned concerns about ISA’scurriculum of hate to Hillary Clinton and are prepared, if necessary, toconfront the Fairfax County Supervisor Chair, Sharon Bulova, should the newSecretary of State refuse to see the writing on the wall and attempt to evadethe truth by passing the hot potato down the line. With allies like JohnCosgrove over at United Action Committee, Jim and Andrea Lafferty with theTraditional Values Coalition, and Christine Brim at the Center for SecurityPolicy rallying to defend American communities, the Islamic Saudi Academy willbe forced to close its doors or submit to being subject to a transparentcurriculum. ACT! For America’s battle with the ISA over its curriculum is onlybeginning.”

Last June 25th, Chuck Hagee noted in the Mount Vernon Gazette that “debateabout the school’s curriculum was ignited in October 2007 when the U.S.Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a report calling for theschool’s closure ‘until such time as the official Saudi textbooks used at theISA are made available for comprehensive public examination in the UnitedStates.’” In addition to the USCIRF report, Hagee notes in a September 24thfollow-up piece that “To buttress his request, Wolf included a recent report bythe Heritage Foundation that stated ‘ISA is subject to the terms of the ForeignMissions Act’ and that it is within the State Department’s powers to declareISA ‘a foreign mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.’” The article closeswith Gerald Connolly remarking on the absence of Commission or State Departmentobjection to the lease renewal to ISA or the textbook controversy in a publichearing on the matters before the Board.

When discussing the Hagee articles with Catherine Martin, I asked why nothingwas mentioned of the Valedictorian of the ISA program, that was captured forattempting to assassinate President Bush. “The Islamic Saudi Academy is aprivate school under the umbrella of the Royal Saudi Academy and is but one oftwenty Saudi funded schools in the United States.” Catherine continues, “Withthe mountains of evidence in the USCIRF findings and the August 2008 NewEnglish Review article Behind the Veil at the Saudi Academy by JerryGordon and Isabella Cruz, which relates the shocking accounts of former ISAfaculty members, the implications of the assassination plot on our Presidentwould not bode well for the continued operation of all twenty of the U.S.Madrassas. But the fact of the matter is that if the Islamic Saudi Academy isrevealed as a breeding ground for future terrorists against the United States andIsrael then every state with a Royal Saudi Academy would voice their concern.What will it take to expose the school? What will it take to have the countyrefuse to renew their lease and shut them down here in Virginia? It certainlydoesn’t matter to the school’s supporters (ala Gerry Connolly), that a pastvaledictorian was part of the nationally known paint-ball terror cell whosemission was to assassinate the President of the United States. Others who haveattended the school have also supported jihad against the United States. Thesefacts beg the question: since when is it okay for us to have a school forterrorists in the United States? The State Department has a duty to make aruling on the ISA curriculum here in Fairfax, so that other state and countyseats can properly meet the threat of radical Islam across America.”

Moving on from the ISA topic, in closing, I asked Catherine Martin what otherprojects were ramping up for the ACT! for America NoVa/DCMetro chapter forFebruary. Without skipping a beat, Martin forges ahead, “For this month, theACT! For America Northern Virginia/DC Chapter is working with the UnitedAmerican Committee on a major problem that is happening in our local college,George Mason University (GMU). We have discovered that GMU has taken money fromthe Islamic Supremacist organization IIIT to establish an Islamic Studies Chairfor the school. This is the continuation of Islamist domination at GMU precededby: the student meditation room being converted to a mosque; the installationof footbaths at the tax payer’s expense; a school treasurer using her GMUwebpage to solicit donations for local madrassas; the school’s establishment ofa Halal menu; and lastly, the forcing out of critical members of the staff. Ourgoal will be to reverse the process of Islamist influence at GMU. ACT! ForAmerica and the United American Committee will put significant pressure on GMUand elected officials this month. GMU’s acceptance of $1.5 million from IIITwill not be answered with silent assent. The ACT! For America NoVa/DC Chapterhas also been invited to attend the screening of the Christian Action Network’sdocumentary, Homegrown Jihad: Terrorist Camps Around U.S. on February11th at 7:30pm at the Landmark Theater in Washington DC (between 11th and EStreet). The movie is about radical Islamic compounds that are currentlyoperating around the United States under the direction of an internationalterrorist. We are supporting this movie and encourage everyone in the DC areato attend. Documentaries like this prove that Radical Islam is on the move incommunities all over the United States.”

For more information on ACT! For America head over to www.actforamerica.org. Catherine Martinand her staff also post regular updates for the anti-jihad communities at http://actdcmetro.wordpress.com.