In their outrageous quest to legitimize radical Muslims as “moderates,” the Washington Post and Newsweek are publishing one deceptive piece after another, some of them by really bad people like the spiritual leader of Hizballah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, and Muslim Brotherhood stalking horse Tariq Ramadan.

Today the soothing words come from Muzzamil Siddiqi, chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America, and former president of the ISNA (one of the organizations named as unindicted co-conspirators in the Hamas funding trial in Dallas). Yes, it’s another attempt to make Americans believe that jihad is a peaceful inner struggle: On Faith: Muslims Speak Out Blog.

There’s no point in quoting it; if you’ve seen one of these pieces, you’ve seen them all.

But here’s some information about Siddiqi that the Washington Post and Newsweek didn’t bother to tell you. First, when Siddiqi was the imam of the Islamic Society of Orange County, one of the celebrity worshippers at his mosque was none other than American Al Qaeda traitor Adam Gadahn. Coincidence? Maybe.

An article by Kenneth Timmerman recounts what Siddiqi has said previously, when he wasn’t trying to fool the readers of the Washington Post:

Among the guests in this afternoon’s panel discussion is Muzammil Siddiqi, who until November 2001 was president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a leading Wahhabi front organization in the United States. Wahhabism is a radical form of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia and advocated by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his terrorist leaders.

Siddiqi has accompanied visiting Saudi officials from the Muslim World League on fund-raising tours across America, and is listed on its Website as the organization’s official representative in the United States. Offices of the Muslim World League in Herndon, Va., were raided by a federal antiterrorism task force in March 2002 because of suspected ties to al-Qaeda.

During an anti-Israel rally outside the White House on Oct. 28, 2000, Siddiqi openly threatened the United States with violence if it continued its support of Israel. “America has to learn … if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come. Please, all Americans. Do you remember that? … If you continue doing injustice, and tolerate injustice, the wrath of God will come.” By “injustice,” he meant U.S. support for Israel.

Siddiqi also has called for a wider application of sharia law in the United States, and in a 1995 speech praised suicide bombers. “Those who die on the part of justice are alive, and their place is with the Lord, and they receive the highest position, because this is the highest honor,” he was quoted as saying by the Kansas City Star on Jan. 28, 1995.

More statements from Dr. Siddiqi, from Steven Emerson’s American Jihad; in a tract titled The Establishment of the Islamic Government in Afghanistan (date unknown) Siddiqi wrote:

I can see there is already some impact of jihad in Afghanistan, in the intifadah movement in Palestine … insha’allah, you will see, in a few years, we will be celebrating, insha’allah, the coming victory of Islam in Palestine … We will be celebrating, insha’allah, the coming of Jerusalem and the whole land of Palestine, insha’allah, and the establishment of the Islamic state throughout that area.

And by “jihad in Afghanistan,” I’m pretty sure Siddiqi wasn’t referring to a peaceful inner struggle. He’s talking about the Taliban.

In an article published by The Message International in February 1991 titled Basic Principles of Involvement in War in Islam, Siddiqi stated that Islam does not allow a Muslim to fight for non-Muslim causes—such as fighting in the US military:

Islam will not allow a Muslim to be drafted by non-Muslims to defend concepts, ideologies and values other than those of Islam…

Emerson also has a more complete account of the Siddiqi statements reported by Timmerman, at the Jerusalem Day Rally in Washington DC, October 28, 2000:

The USA is directly and indirectly responsible for the plight of the Palestinian people. Our government is responsible for plenty of the injustice that is going on there. The US is the greatest supporter of Israel—economically, militarily, and politically … We want to awaken the conscience of America. America has to learn that. Because if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come. Please! Please all Americans, do you remember that, that Allah is watching everyone. If you continue doing injustice, and tolerating injustice, the wrath of God will come.

Good work, Washington Post and Newsweek. That’s one heck of a moderate you’ve found to tell us about the Religion of Peace™.