David Yerushalmi: "The Man Behind the Anti-Shariah Movement"

The New York Times has a lengthy piece on a man I consider a national treasure, and I am not just saying that becuase he is my lawyer, representing me in numerous cases (i.e., the $10,000,000 lawsuit brought by Rifqa Bary's parents; the violation of free speech in the banning of my freedom buses; the NYC transit ban on my Ground Zero mosque buses, etc.).

The Times gets it wrong, of course. It woud be kind of wonderful for the likes of Andrea Elliot to practice her craft in a sharia-compliant country and spare us her smears and deceptive whitewash of the most brutal ideology on the face of the earth.

It's a smear piece, and a heads up to Ms. Elliot,  America is behind the anti-shariah movement.

The Man Behind the Anti-Shariah Movement Andrea Elliot, NY Times

A confluence of factors has fueled the anti-Shariah movement, most notably the controversy over the proposed Islamic center near ground zero in New York, concerns about homegrown terrorism and the rise of the Tea Party. But the campaign’s air of grass-roots spontaneity, which has been carefully promoted by advocates, shrouds its more deliberate origins.

In fact, it is the product of an orchestrated drive that began five years ago in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in the office of a little-known lawyer, David Yerushalmi, a 56-year-old Hasidic Jew with a history of controversial statements about race, immigration and Islam. Despite his lack of formal training in Islamic law, Mr. Yerushalmi has come to exercise a striking influence over American public discourse about Shariah.

Working with a cadre of conservative public-policy institutes and former military and intelligence officials, Mr. Yerushalmi has written privately financed reports, filed lawsuits against the government and drafted the model legislation that recently swept through the country — all with the effect of casting Shariah as one of the greatest threats to American freedom since the cold war.

The message has caught on. Among those now echoing Mr. Yerushalmi’s views are prominent Washington figures like R. James Woolsey, a former director of the C.I.A., and the Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann, who this month signed a pledge to reject Islamic law, likening it to “totalitarian control.”

[...]

“It’s wrong to just accept that the courts generally get it right, but sometimes get it wrong,” said Stephen M. Gelé, a Louisiana lawyer who represents a nonprofit organization that has promoted Mr. Yerushalmi’s legislation. “There is no reason to make a woman play a legal game of Russian roulette.”

While proponents of the legislation have seized on aspects of Shariah that are unfavorable to women, Mr. Yerushalmi’s focus is broader. His interest in Islamic law began with the Sept. 11 attacks, he said, when he was living in Ma’ale Adumim, a large Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

At the time, Mr. Yerushalmi, a native of South Florida, divided his energies between a commercial litigation practice in the United States and a conservative research institute based in Jerusalem, where he worked to promote free-market reform in Israel.

After moving to Brooklyn the following year, Mr. Yerushalmi said he began studying Arabic and Shariah under two Islamic scholars, whom he declined to name. He said his research made clear that militants had not “perverted” Islamic law, but were following an authoritative doctrine that sought global hegemony — a mission, he says, that is shared by Muslims around the world. To illustrate that point, Mr. Yerushalmi cites studies in which large percentages of Muslims overseas say they support Islamic rule.

In interviews, Islamic scholars disputed Mr. Yerushalmi’s claims. Although Islam, like some other faiths, aspires to be the world’s reigning religion, they said, the method for carrying out that goal, or even its relevance in everyday life, remains a far more complex subject than Mr. Yerushalmi suggests.

“Even in Muslim-majority countries, there is a huge debate about what it means to apply Islamic law in the modern world,” said Andrew F. March, an associate professor specializing in Islamic law at Yale University. The deeper flaw in Mr. Yerushalmi’s argument, Mr. March said, is that he characterizes the majority of Muslims who practice some version of Shariah — whether through prayer, charitable giving or other common rituals — as automatic adherents to Islam’s medieval rules of war and political domination.

It is not the first time Mr. Yerushalmi has engaged in polemics. In a 2006 essay, he wrote that “most of the fundamental differences between the races are genetic,” and asked why “people find it so difficult to confront the facts that some races perform better in sports, some better in mathematical problem-solving, some better in language, some better in Western societies and some better in tribal ones?” He has also railed against what he sees as a politically correct culture that avoids open discussion of why “the founding fathers did not give women or black slaves the right to vote.”

On its Web site, the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil rights organization, describes Mr. Yerushalmi as having a record of “anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-black bigotry.” His legal clients have also drawn notoriety, among them Pamela Geller, an incendiary blogger who helped drive the fight against the Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero.

A stout man who wears antique wire-rimmed glasses and a thick, white-streaked beard, Mr. Yerushalmi has a seemingly inexhaustible appetite for the arguments his work provokes. “It’s an absurdity to claim that I have ever uttered or taken a position on the side of racism or bigotry or misogyny,” he said.

When pressed for evidence that American Muslims endorse the fundamentalist view of Shariah he warns against, Mr. Yerushalmi argues that the problem lies with America’s Muslim institutions and their link to Islamist groups overseas. As a primary example, he and others cite a memorandum that surfaced in the federal prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Muslim charity based in Texas whose leaders were convicted in 2008 of sending funds to Hamas.

The 1991 document outlined a strategy for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States that involved “eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within.” Critics emphasize a page listing 29 Muslim American groups as “our organizations and the organizations of our friends.” Skeptics point out that on the same page, the author wrote, imagine if “they all march according to one plan,” which suggests they were not working in tandem.

The rest is here.

Comments

[Ronald W. Satz, Ph.D.]

Professor John Witte, Emery University, gave a great presentation on Sharia in the West, on UCTV. Everyone should watch it, when it repeats. He discusses the differences between Catholic Canon Law, Jewish Halakhah (Beth Dins), and Islamic Sharia. I thought it was a very fair, very knowledgeable treatment.

[Daniel Marcus]

Only recently, thanks to pamela did I become aware of this "threat" to my country. Most people have no clue, and I'm sure that it just goes over our heads, along with outrageous gas prices, medical Ins. costs, high unemployment, etc. Having more then our fair share of troubling BS to deal with everyday along comes Sharia, but not wraped in the clear picture we all saw on 911, it comes wrapped in an invisible wrapper which makes it look almost ominous to the average American. It needs to be explained in a very simple clear consise message which we can all understand, kind of like the message on a pack of cigarettets, or on a bottle of poison. It is the same as the cancer cigarettes, or drinking a bottle of poisonus toilet bowl cleaner cause.

[vlparker]

Don't confuse the libs with the facts.

[Linda]

Where is your link to this presentation? I click on your name and it takes me to some web page headed "Transpower Corporation"? What is UCTV?

[Bill E]

A very good point so often overlooked by the LameStream Media and the supporters of Islam/Sharia and religious rights: They should actually try living in a muslim country, spending "quality" time attempting free speech and free expression in a very not so free speech environment. You would think most of the media experts would at least have a handle on the ideology they are trying to support; it is obvious they don't.

[grungyoldvan]

"Despite his lack of formal training in Islamic law"

what a joke.. you can't get formal training unless you are a muslim. Non-muslims may be slaughtered for even touching the quran..

“they all march according to one plan,”

Oh right, islamic law.. the unchanging word of allah/mohammad that cannot be contradicted by any muslim or else risk a death decree by any pious muslim..

[Mark]

Look up Professor John Witte,here i did it http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=21039

[Terry]

Yes. A lengthy smear piece. She should be weriting for Al Jazeera.

[Linda]

This NYT article reads like nothing but another "smear job" against Conservatives and Mr. Yerushalmi. To top it off, in the comments section of the NYT article there is a Prof. of Law at Windsor University in Ontario who has done a five year study and written a book about how "harmless" Sharia law is as practiced informally within Muslim famlies living in America. This lady professor should go live in a Muslim country where Sharia law is enforced like Saudi and then write a book about her wonderful experience other than wearing her burka as a fashion statement. I guess the academic world is full of her kind though pushing a specific agenda. Noam Chomsky of MIT comes to mind. Wonder how she would defend Choudary's U.K. "Sharia controlled zones"?

[Mackie]

David Yerushalmi defines Sharia as opposed to to Jewish. Also note some other youtube videos were Yerushalmi defines it as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euv1HqZcKl0

[Semite]

---But it's not just Muslims who draw Yerushalmi's scorn. In a 2006 essay for SANE entitled On Race: A Tentative Discussion (pdf), Yerushalmi argued that whites are genetically superior to blacks. "Some races perform better in sports, some better in mathematical problem solving, some better in language, some better in Western societies and some better in tribal ones," he wrote.

Yerushalmi has suggested that Caucasians are inherently more receptive to republican forms of government than blacks—an argument that's consistent with SANE's mission statement, which emphasizes that "America was the handiwork of faithful Christians, mostly men, and almost entirely white." And in an article published at the website Intellectual Conservative, Yerushalmi, who is Jewish, suggests that liberal Jews "destroy their host nations like a fatal parasite." Unsurprisingly, then, Yerushalmi offered the lone Jewish defense of Mel Gibson, after the actor’s anti-Semitic tirade in 2006. Gibson, he wrote, was simply noting the "undeniable Jewish liberal influence on western affairs in the direction of a World State."---
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/david-yerushalmi-sharia-ban-tennessee

[Brandy]

I notice how she mentions all of Mr. Yerushalmi's associations but then while quoting CAIR never mentions their connections. Pitiful! I'll have to send her an e-mail. If you're going to write about a specific topic at least address both sides honestly.

[Anne]

Imagine how the article would have been written if the author thought he was working with the Southern Poverty Law Center... "a self-made man, with a passion for his principles..."

[lilredbird]

The question is this: In light of the demonization of Geller, Spencer, the anti-jihad movement in general, and now Yerushalami and the fight to keep shariah out of American courts, can this article be taken as endorsement by The New York Times of the inclusion of sharia law in American jurisprudence, and are Michael Coren and Robert Spencer correct in predicting (interview with Sun TV 7/28) that the Obamullah's administration will create an avenue, perhaps via the UN/OIC demands for binding resolution against "hate speech", to circumvent the First Amendmen and silence criticism of Islam in the US?

Or is this paranoid and hysterical?

Because if it isn't, now is a good time to start thinking about creative ways to get the truth out without having to do it from a jail cell. Robert says all we have left is the truth, so we are sure to win. I love his way of thinking. My only question is, how?

[Choi]

The NYT article is further PROOF that Breivik's FALSE-FLAG ATTACKS are doing everything they were intended to do,which was to provide Jihadis and their LEFTY Enablers "GRIST" for their SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST COUNTER-JIHAD LEADERS.
The Yerushalmi "story" is continuing PROOF of their Choreographed PLAN.

[Annie]

The headline itself is absurd: "The Man Behind the Anti-Shariah Movement"

As if there could realistically be "one man" behind a movement as broad and multi-faceted as this one!

Andrea Elliot is out of touch. In the world of the NYT there are no suburban mothers whose high school daughters are harassed (verbally, obscenely) by young Arabian male students? And she doesn't read the textbooks kids are reading today, making Islam sound like it's, well, as propagated... "the religion of peace"?

911 and the election of Obama woke ppl up to what's happening. Bowing before the misogynist Saudi king indeed!! No one person is behind the movement. It's Zeitgeist, arising spontaneously out of necessity.

[Dot]

A national treasure, indeed! Pamela is in good hands with Yerushalmi (say it like they do in the Allstate® commercials).

[juniper]

anything from motherjones site is tainted!

[myx0mop]

A hit job or not, one still gets a feeling that David is an extraordinary and talented individual..

[Semite]

A racist "smeared" by his own writings.
What a bunch of losers.

[smarter than bull oreally's criteria]

"" kind of wonderful for the likes of Andrea Elliot to practice her craft in a sharia-compliant country and spare us her smears and deceptive whitewash ""

oh come on atlas .. they have to knock 'em one down one at a time .. he must be gettin a little traction since they sicced a light-weight, fleabag to smear him 'em good and keep him in his place.. get the 'tar' ball rollin a bit

now he's taken more than flak

[Alyn]

I believe that at this point in history there are some cultures are superior to others. I don't believe that includes race since there are some blacks who have excelled in areas other then sports.
I am not a liberal but I do think that racism has helped keep Blacks from reaching their full potential.
This is now starting to change although I would guess it will probably take at least another 50 years for the playing field to be completely level.
It will also depend on the right policies being put in place to encourage achievement, not just to reward underachievers because of a racial quota.

[Alyn]

Mel Gibson is a drunken lout who simply echoed the views of his nitwit father Hunter Gibson who promoted the nonsensical idea of a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world.
Definitely not a person whose views should be taken seriously.

[Tobin]

The Islamic apologists, liberal media and "academic scholars" in America who argue that Sharia Law is harmless and that there is no threat of an Islamic take over are foolish, to say the least. It appears these individuals have performed little if any, serious research into Sharia Law and the teachings of the Qoran,(Koran). One such teaching in Islam's holy book refers to lying to your enemy, say what is necessary to avoid conflict, until you,(muslims), have gained strength to overtake your enemy.

The Islamic movement in America is practicing just that; saying what they want to the media to appear peaceful, using our laws for protection and promoting their agenda in stealth mode.

It's pathetic to hear Americans apologize for a group of people who do not respect this Country, it's laws, culture and way of life. It's one thing to argue and offer criticism using facts, it's pathetic to blindly offer apologies for those who wish to do us harm. To demonize fellow Americans who are knowledgeable of the threat is equally pathetic !

[Madeleine]

Isn't Mr. Yerushalmi just pro-constitution and pro-American?
No one has to write anti-Sharia about this man, when the whole of our
national identity is anti any other way of doing business
outside the boundaries of our democratic way of running our government.
To write that he is anti-sharia portrays that our country
is ready to embrace something other than what we have lived under
for hundreds of years. Mr.Yerushamlmi is a good guy and I am sure he
is also anti-nuclear war and anti-violence, and anti-drugs, and
anti-gangs and anti-too much sun, and anti-junk food, and anti-cigarette
smoking, and anti-cruelty to animals, etc. So please NYT, please
write articles about those of us, (every single American, except a few)
who aren't anti-this or that. Most of us are! David Yerushami is of
the majority so why bother writing about his point of view, tell us
something we don't know, we don't share in common. Write about those
who are pro-sharia in the USA, we want to know who they are and hear
what would drive them to be that way in America.

[Madeleine]

P.S. sorry about messing up the way I spelled the name. *Yerushalmi*

[TL Winslow]

If Anders Breivik was a false flag than you gotta admit that the insidious OIC got game. Where can a newbie cram all the key facts about the modern Islamic threat including key organizations and religious and political leaders? Answer: the Historyscper's free new Muslimscope:

http://tinyurl.com/muslimscope

[karl anglin]

AMEN!

[Kufar Dawg]

Salman Rushdie is STILL in hiding w/a death fatwah, backed up by a monetary reward, for writing a book critical of MuhamMAD, he even converted to Pisslam.

[Jamie]

"One such teaching in Islam's holy book refers to lying to your enemy, say what is necessary to avoid conflict, until you,(muslims), have gained strength to overtake your enemy.

The Islamic movement in America is practicing just that; saying what they want to the media to appear peaceful, using our laws for protection and promoting their agenda in stealth mode."

That is not a problem of islam, that is a problem of the structure of religion that allows mentally sick people to abuse it, with the notion that something that doesn't exist, exists.

The islam is merely a distraction from the real problem in the world where greedy people want to abuse the global faith systems SUCH AS islam and the monetary systems. Get rich because people believe in you. Filthy shit.

So the biggest lie that is being avoided every time is the lie that it would be the truth that a God exists. Existence is a word preserved primarily for science and shall not be abused by any other form of faith about what existence can entail.

End of discussion. Period.

[Kufar Dawg]

@ Jaime

Maybe you should read a book about Islam sometime, maybe you should read about its history up to and including the present day. Maybe you should read the Quran. Because your comments sound like the ravings of an ignorant lunatic.

[Isahiah62]

gee a NYT reporter accusing one rich JEW of orchestrating a whole movement of people who oppose an ideology of hate that sends killers to our shores and indoctriates children to do the same, that preaches overthrow of our govt.world domination and superiority of Muslims. She must be right.
Yup I am sure just thisone rich JEWS is responsible- yup those darn JEWS just run our nation. Damned Zionist lobby has poisoned us against ISLAM- the towers falling, the Pentagon atacked, Flight 93, Bali,Beslan, 7/7, Spain trains, threats on Israel- Threats from Osama and Ajhad--->just had nothing to do with it!! nothing at all!! It's Bush's fault for listeing to those damn JEWS!
and those words of the Koran that advise Muslims to kill and conquer and convert as the highest form of submission to ALLAH, to subdue anyone not Muslims-tht can't be true "Islam is peace, cant you see how cuttingoff hands has stopped stealing and covering up the women prevents rapes?? yup that scheming liar JEW Yerushalmi did it all by himslef- re-wrote the Koran & history books too. And you people are just fooled by those clever JEWS.

/sarc

[Isahiah62]

gee a NYT reporter accusing one rich JEW of orchestrating a whole movement of people who oppose an ideology of hate that sends killers to our shores and indoctriates children to do the same, that preaches overthrow of our govt.world domination and superiority of Muslims. She must be right.
Yup I am sure just thisone rich JEWS is responsible- yup those darn JEWS just run our nation. Damned Zionist lobby has poisoned us against ISLAM- the towers falling, the Pentagon atacked, Flight 93, Bali,Beslan, 7/7, Spain trains, threats on Israel- Threats from Osama and Ajhad--->just had nothing to do with it!! nothing at all!! It's Bush's fault for listeing to those damn JEWS!
and those words of the Koran that advise Muslims to kill and conquer and convert as the highest form of submission to ALLAH, to subdue anyone not Muslims-tht can't be true "Islam is peace, cant you see how cuttingoff hands has stopped stealing and covering up the women prevents rapes?? yup that scheming liar JEW Yerushalmi did it all by himslef- re-wrote the Koran & history books too. And you people are just fooled by those clever JEWS.

/sarc