Americans Concerned for Florida
2200 Fourth Avenue North, #3
Lake Worth, FL 33461
March 9, 2009

Dear Honorable Florida Legislators, Cabinet Officials and Staff:

On March 9-10, a group with radical Islamist ties will be entering Tallahassee in an attempt to influence Florida legislators, cabinet members and staff. The organization goes by the name - United Voices for America.

United Voices for America has every right to come to Tallahassee and request a meeting with you, a Florida elected official. By the same account, you have every right to know that the person sitting across from you is part of a group led by someone who has a set of beliefs that are completely inconsistent with the principles of American Democracy and that are potentially destructive to the State of Florida.

Do not let the patriotic name fool you. This is a group that is led by a known extremist with well documented ties to terrorist groups and terrorist supporters.

The President of United Voices for America is Ahmed Bedier.

Up until May of 2008, Mr. Bedier was the Executive Director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Prior to that, he served as the Communications Director for CAIR-Florida.

CAIR, if you don't already know, was created by operatives from HAMAS, a Foreign Terrorist Organization listed in Section 219 of the American Immigration and Nationality Act. CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator by the Justice Department in a 2008 federal trial dealing with the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas. Because of this connection to Hamas, the FBI recently issued a directive to all of its field offices stating that none of them were to hold meetings with CAIR or any of the group's local chapters around the country.

Bedier joined CAIR in February of 2003, the same month that University of South Florida (USF) professor Sami Al-Arian was taken into custody by the FBI for his leadership role in Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). This was no mere coincidence. Through CAIR, Bedier became Al-Arian's "unofficial spokesman" in the media. He held press conferences for Al-Arian, he attended rallies for Al-Arian, and he used a radio show that he co-hosts to provide a forum for Al-Arian's PIJ colleagues.

Bedier's radio show hasn't just been associated with PIJ. In July of 2006, an entire show was devoted to lauding Hezbollah. All three of his guests heaped praise on Hezbollah, one even describing the group as "heroic." Another guest warned, "You can't just keep shutting it [Hezbollah] away, because it's always gonna rise again."

In addition to his support for terrorist-related organizations and individuals, Bedier's own statements are disturbing. In May of 2004, he told Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite, "Catholic priests pose more of a terrorism threat by having sex with young altar boys than those who flew planes into the World Trade Center." In December of 2005, when asked by a Tampa TV talk show hostess if it was immoral to associate with PIJ, he replied, "To a certain degree. Now, before 1995 there was nothing immoral about it." And in April of 2007, he told a crowd at USF, "People, when you corner them [Muslims], when you keep attacking them and demonizing them and treating them like animals, guess what? They're gonna snap. And one point, somebody's gonna retaliate, and then all hell's gonna break loose."

In September of 2007, Bedier's YouTube account was shut down for a "Terms of Use" violation. On it, he had produced a video which included an individual stating to a cheering crowd, "What we pray all the time is that the state of Israel be dismantled, totally dismantled..."

In light of this information and the detailed documentation in this Briefing Pack, we ask that you do not give United Voices for America any of your attention. Though it may state otherwise, given its radical leadership, you must understand that ultimately this organization is not in town for any positive reason whatsoever.

While the majority of the Muslim community in our state are productive citizens and do not get involved in extremist causes, United Voices for America and its leader are not representative of those Muslims.

Finally, we ask that you please be suspicious of this group's message, no matter how innocuous it seems or sounds. Ultimately, the group's agenda will do harm to life in Florida and America.

Sincerely,

The following signatories are simply a group of - Americans Concerned for Florida. We are a cross section of leaders from Florida and various parts of the United States who have joined together to alert the State of Florida to Ahmed Bedier and his new organization United Voices for America.

By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press Writer

The organizer of a day that brought nearly 200 Florida Muslims to the state Capitol to lobby politicians Tuesday was called a "known terrorist sympathizer" by a head lawmaker and others, a label the leader emphatically rejected.

House Majority Leader Adam Hasner said his colleagues should learn more about the head of Tampa-based United Voices For America before deciding whether to meet with any of the men and women at the Capitol for Florida Capitol Muslim Day. The group is about a year old and has four staff members and about 100 volunteers around the state. It had urged Muslims to come to talk to lawmakers about education and health care issues.

"All Floridians are welcome to come to Tallahassee to petition their government," Hasner said repeatedly during a news conference on the back steps of the Capitol. "This is to draw a light onto the leader of this organization who is a known terrorist sympathizer, who is a part of an organization with ties to funding Hamas and other terrorist organizations."

Hasner, R-Delray Beach, was talking about Ahmed Bedier, United Voices For America's executive director. Before starting the group he was the executive director of the Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. The Washington-based group was founded in 1994 and has offices in 20 states. Recently the organization was one of hundreds of Muslim individuals and groups named as unindicted co-conspirators in a terrorism-financing trial where a Texas charity was accused of helping fund Hamas. CAIR is fighting the label in court.

Bedier said Hasner's comments linking him to "terrorists" were "absolute nonsense."

"I've repeatedly spoken out against terrorists," Bedier said, adding too that CAIR was not the organization at the Capitol on Tuesday.

"This is a distraction from his real motive of disenfranchising minority participants, Muslims, from participating in the political process," Bedier said.

Bedier pointed to comments made in 2006 by the head of the Tampa office of the FBI who thanked him for an "open line of communication" between the agency and CAIR.

Hasner and other speakers at the afternoon news conference pointed to what they called Bedier's role as an "unofficial spokesman" for Sami Al-Arian, a former computer science professor at Tampa's University of South Florida once accused of being a leading Palestinian terrorist. Al-Arian, acquitted of many charges, later agreed to a plea bargain on others and was sentenced to nearly five years in prison. CAIR had supported Al-Arian during the time Bedier was in Tampa, and he was often quoted on the case.

Other participants at Tuesday's news conference included representatives from the Florida Security Council; Americans Against Hate and Christian Action Network. A spokesman for CAIR called those groups "extremists and Islamophobics."

Bedier said Hasner's comments did not appear to be affecting the actions of other lawmakers, many of whom met with Muslims at the Capitol for the day. Bedier said he expected the group to meet with just under half of all lawmakers.

He said he had not heard of any lawmakers turning away people who had come to visit them because of Hasner's comments. Hasner said he had not been contacted by representatives of United Voices for America and would not say whether he would meet with them if contacted.

Lobbying days at the Capitol are not unusual. Last week included Space Day, when space-industry groups were in town to meet with lawmakers.

Dr. Husain Nagamia from Tampa was one of the people who came to the Capitol for Muslim Day, his first trip to the Legislature. He said he had participated in the discussion of a bill on kidney dialysis, met with three lawmakers and planned to meet with another.

"It never crossed my mind that we could enter into a discussion with them. I think it's a great success for us," Nagamia said.