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9:45 AM
Reut R. Cohen
Gary Fouse sent me the following regarding his thoughts on the Irvine City Council Campaign. Here is what Gary has to say regarding the campaign of a local attorney for CAIR:For the past couple of years, I have been writing about the outrageous events and speakers being brought to UC-Irvine by the campus Muslim Student Union. I have posted many of my comments on the Red County blog of Orange County, a center-right blog. This has led many back and forth exchanges with other Red County readers, most agreeing with my posts, some disagreeing.
One of the figures who has occasionally commented in defense of the MSU and accused its critics of being anti-Muslim is none other than the local attorney for CAIR (Council of Islamic American Relations), Todd Gallinger.
Guess who is running for the Irvine City Council.
Not only is Mr Gallinger running for the City Council, he is upset that one of the incumbents running for re-election, Dr Steven Choi, recently spoke to a group of people and warned them about voting for someone who is associated with a "dangerous" organization (Gallinger-CAIR). Gallinger and CAIR are demanding an apology from Choi, which Choi refuses to give.
(CAIR's website today is reporting that Gallinger has just received a telephone death threat from an unidentified person. If that is the case, I certainly condemn it.)
Here's my 2 cents worth. CAIR insists that it is a moderate group which represents mainstream Muslims. It says it condemns terrorism (in all its forms), which, in my view, is a convenient add-on that opens the door to equate Israel with Islamic terrorism. Its Communications Director, Ibrahim Hooper, has refused to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. In addition, CAIR has engaged in lawsuits on behalf of US Muslims alleging discrimination and racial profiling. One example is the case of the "Flying Imams".
Finally, CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Homeland Foundation charities case.
Gallinger himself has participated in some of CAIR's lawsuits including suits against the Dept of Homeland Security and the FBI over those agency's roles in alleged delays in processing citizenship applications of Muslims due to background checks.
He also was involved in a lawsuit against Yale University Press representing a group called KinderUSA and trying to stop publication of a book entitled; "Hamas:Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad", by Matthew Levitt, who is director of the Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence and Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. This book linked KinderUSA to groups raising money for terrorism under the guise of charity. The case was settled in August 2007. An article from the New Haven Independent dated 5-9-07 by Paul Bass entitled; "Alleged terror front group sues Yale Press" may be found at the below website:
http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/05/hamas_terrorism.php
As for CAIR, it is fair and accurate to say that it is under a great deal of suspicion. Many of its critics charge that CAIR is connected to terrorist organizations overseas, which CAIR denies.
So, is CAIR a "dangerous" organization? I don't know, but I would be very comfortable in saying that CAIR is a suspicious organization.
Which means that I would not be voting for Mr Gallinger. But, of course, I don't live in Irvine anyway.
gary fouse
fousesquawk
6 comments. Leave a comment:
Gallinger's "response" to me is up on Red County as well as my response back to him.
gary fouse
fousesquawk
In regards to the report of a death threat to Todd Gallinger, I was wondering if there are any devopments. Specifically, I would like to know if he filed a police report.
I have posed these questions to Gallinger on red county. I wonder if he will respond.
I'm still waiting for Todd to answer my question, but if you check out Irvine Tattler, Mr Gallinger may have more serious questions to deal with.
Election is tomorrow, and in spite of my daily reminders to Todd on Red County, he has not responded to my 3 questions.
That does not surprise me at all, Gary.
On October 10, 2008, I posted an essay entitled; "Guess who's running for City Council in Irvine?" It concerned Todd Gallinger, a Southern California attorney for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). In that essay, I described a lawsuit brought recently by Gallinger against Yale University Press on behalf of KinderUSA, a supposed charity group directed toward Palestinian children. Yale University Press had published a book entitled: "Hamas:Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad", by Matthew Levitt, in which KinderUSA was described as a Hamas front group. Gallinger's suit was dropped when Yale filed a SLAPP countersuit against KinderUSA. (SLAAP means strategic lawsuit against public participation, in effect a suit designed to pressure someone who may not have the resources or will to fight in court.)
This essay was posted on Orange County-based blog, Red County, a blog that Gallinger reads and occasionally comments on-usually in defense of the Muslim Student Union at UC-Irvine. What resulted was a thread of exchanges between Gallinger, myself and a couple of other commentators. To be more accurate, Gallinger only "replied" three times to numerous questions from me. In his replies, he stated that if I had any further questions, I should send them to his official site and he would "try to get to them" though he was very busy with his campaign. I replied on two occasions that since he was a candidate for office, I would continue to ask him questions in a public forum to which he should reply publicly.
To summarize, I asked Gallinger throughout the course of the thread the below questions:
1 Is there a connection between CAIR and Hamas as alleged in the Levitt book?
2 Did he file a SLAPP-type lawsuit against Yale University Press designed to pressure them to pay a settlement and suppress a book?
3 Could he comment on an article in the Irvine Tattler to the effect that he and his political allies running for spots on the Irvine City Council had financed a newspaper called the Irvine Community News and Views-which was actually printed in Northern California and was basically a campaign newspletter sent to Irvine residents.
4 How could he put up campaign signs along the roads of Irvine with the phrase, "Homegrown leadership" when he had just moved to Irvine this past April in order to run for City Council?
5 Did he report an alleged telephone death threat he received to the police?
To this date, Gallinger has only relied to the last question (He did, in fact, file a police report.)
Here are his three replies:
Gallinger:
"I've talked about my work with CAIR on here before, you can draw your own conclusions based upon that. I'm proud of the work I've done with them, I know it has been in defense of civil rights and also national security.
I've never represented CAIR-National nor have I ever heard the story about there founding here. I honestly could't understand the claims, but its clear they're more attempts at guilt by association, which I reject.
My work with KinderUSA is described in the article.
If you have meaningful questions, just email me, I'll try to get to them, but am pretty busy right now."
October 12, 2008 2:36 PM
Gallinger:
"To Fouse - Yes, a police report was filed the day the threat came in. This of course was reported in both the OC Register & LA Times articles. You guys honestly amaze me with your intellectual laziness.
To whoever wanted a tape recording, I don't make it a habit of recording all incoming calls. Do you?
I don't see a need to. Also, if I did record every call, it would be in violation of CA law which requires permission before taping.
What do you all think of the McCain volunteer w/ the B on her cheek? Does this now mean every report by a white person is subject to suspicion?
Though I do occasionally read this blog, if you want to find something out, try using the google or emailing me. But it seems like you wouldn't want any knowledge which challenges your preconceived notions."
October 24, 2008 7:31 PM
Gallinger:
"Fouse -
You still didn't answer my question, will this make you less likely to believe crimes reported by white people, as you feel with the false report by the Muslim girl? Does this report discredit the McCain campaign & the Republican party, the same way you believe CAIR was discredited?
Also, you can email me and then post my response, rather than simply rely on me to read everything that gets written on here. I have dead time tonight, the first in a long time and likely the last for at least the next 10 days. Additionally, your question could have been answered by reading below the headline of any of the articles which were published on the threat, which I assume is how you originally heard of it."
October 24, 2008 10:10 PM
* Note: I did, indeed, answer Gallinger's question on the Pittsbugh hoax by posting my own essay on the incident.
During the past week of the election, I posted a daily comment to Red County blog asking, "Where is Todd Gallinger?" I kept asking Gallinger to reply to my questions before the election. He never did.
Yesterday, Gallinger, part of a 4 member team that was trying to be elected to the City Council/Mayor's Office, was the only one who failed. (Three spots were open plus the mayor's office.)
I am certainly not trying to take full credit for Gallinger's failed campaign. Of more concern to Gallinger is information being published by the Irvine Tattler website pertaining to him and his fellow candidates. Yet, his arrogance in dealing with my questions on the widely-read Red County blog could not have helped his cause.
If you are interested in reading the entire thread, go to;
http://www.redcounty.com/rccampuswatch/2008/10/criticism-of-todd-gallingers-a/
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