In a move that has raised eyebrows, California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has recently allocated taxpayer money to a San Diego mosque with alleged links to the 9/11 hijackers.
The mosque's imam has also been known to defend Hamas's attacks on Israel. This allocation was made under a state anti-terrorism program, which aims to bolster security for religious institutions and nonprofits against potential terrorist threats.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, the Islamic Center of San Diego received nearly $200,000 in March. This is not the first time the mosque has benefited from state funds; Newsom's administration has previously granted it an additional $500,000. "Today more than ever, our state stands together to support our communities. Californians deserve the right to worship, love, and gather safely, without fear of violence," Newsom stated, a sentiment that has been questioned given the mosque's controversial history.
Imam Taha Hassane, who has been leading the Islamic Center of San Diego since 2004, has a history of endorsing anti-Israel violence. Following the slaughter of Israeli civilians by Hamas on October 7, Hassane defended the act in a sermon, stating that "resistance [against Israel] is justified." "We cannot accuse somebody who is fighting for his life to be a terrorist. The terrorist is the one who started the occupation, not the one who is defending himself," Hassane said. These remarks led to his removal from San Diegos Human Relations Commission.
Adding to the controversy, Hassane's wife, Lallia Allali, resigned from her position with the San Diego school district after sharing a cartoon that depicted a Star of David beheading five children, following the October 7 attacks. Allali now teaches courses on "Islamophobia" at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
The Islamic Center of San Diego gained notoriety after 9/11 when it was revealed that two of the al Qaeda operatives who flew the plane into the PentagonNawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdharwere regular attendees at the mosque. An official at the mosque allegedly facilitated a $5,000 wire transfer from the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind 9/11. Other mosque leaders reportedly hosted a welcoming party for the hijackers upon their arrival in San Diego in 2000, as per the 9/11 Commission report.
Newsom's decision to award the grant comes at a time when California is grappling with a significant budget shortfall. The Governors Office of Emergency Services, which oversees both the grant program and the states wildfire mitigation program, has been under scrutiny. Newsom was criticized after a Free Beacon report revealed that he had disbanded a highly trained volunteer firefighting force, Team Blaze, a year before the Los Angeles wildfires wreaked havoc on the city in January.
Newsom has also been known to award grants to other mosques that have been accused of preaching anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments. The Islamic Society of Corona-Norco received $200,000, where preacher Hussam Ayloush claimed that it was a "lie" that Hamas had launched an "unprovoked attack" on Israel. Another $200,000 was allocated to the Islamic Center of Hawthorne, where Imam Hamdy Sadek prayed in a sermon: "Oh Allah, purify the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the malevolence of the Jews."
In 2023, following these revelations, the Newsom administration pledged to investigate whether any of the grant recipients had engaged in hate speech. "If it is determined they have, their funding will be immediately revoked," Newsom spokesman Brian Ferguson said. "As a matter of principle, the State of California rejects hate speech and discrimination in all of its forms. Such speech is a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace."
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