USF TO HOST ISLAMIC GROUP PROMOTING VIOLENCE AND HATRED

MAS-TAMPA WEBSITE DISCUSSES MURDERING JEWS AND WAGING HOLY WAR AGAINST NON-MUSLIMS

(Coral Springs, FL) According to the website of the Muslim American Society of Tampa (MAS-Tampa), a radical Islamist organization tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, its 2006 MAS Olympics will be held at the University of South Florida (USF). The event will take place March 11th through the 12th. This will be the third year in a row that USF will have hosted MAS-Tampa's Olympics.

On MAS-Tampa's website, the group provides its viewers with driving directions to USF. On the same page, under the directions, there is listed the name, address and phone number of Masjid Al-Qassam, the Temple Terrace mosque founded by Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian was a well-established professor at USF, until he was taken into custody by the FBI.

MAS-Tampa's website also provides much material that is of a violent and hateful nature. Some quotes within the site's "e-Library" are:

• "A Muslim must always worship Allah and wage jihad until death in order to reach his ultimate goal… Regularly make the intention to go on jihad with the ambition to die as a martyr. You should be ready for this right now, even though its time may not have come yet." (Fathi Yakan, 'To Be a Muslim')
• "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'May Allah destroy the Jews, because they used the graves of their prophets as places of worship.'"… "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'May Allah curse Jews and Christians for they turned the graves of their Prophets into places of worship.'" (Sayd Sabeq, 'Fiqh-us-Sunnah')
• "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. 'O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.'" ('Sahih Bukhari')

Joe Kaufman, Chairman of Americans Against Hate (AAH), stated, "Given USF's history, with regard to Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders Sami Al-Arian and Ramadan Shallah, one would think that the school would not want to repeat its past mistakes. If USF hosts MAS-Tampa's 2006 Olympics, it would give the appearance that USF approves of MAS-Tampa's propagation of hatred and violence towards non-Muslims, as witnessed on the group's website. It is incumbent upon the university to shut this event down, before it begins."

As of the time of this release, officials at USF have not responded to repeated e-mails concerning this matter.

Joe Kaufman is available for interview. E-mail: joe4rep@gate.net.

© 2006 Americans Against Hate