Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 03-09-2010 Regular — reading text

Western films, TV, music and books; Western defense; Christian, Hindu, Jewish, or any non -Islamic goods, businesses, or real estate projects; selected civic or welfare services for women; and health services for LGBT citizens. 3) Comply with a purification of funds method or other Zakat method to donate a percentage of profits ( known as charity or Zakat) to Shariah- Approved Charities. There are eight recognized categories of Zakat, with at least one category defined as " those fighting in the cause of Allah ", or " volunteers for Jihad ", and Empirical evidence is abundant. There are another 3 easily interpreted this way. 27 Islamic charities that operate globally, including America that have been indicted or designated by the U. S. Treasury under Exec, Act 13224, as sponsors of terrorism, in part, through receipt of Zakat or Purification dollars. Funding of terror is a criminal violation of U. S. Securities Law. At such time that any one of the four financial institutions named shall include in its disclosure documents pertaining to Shariah -Compliant products information essentially comparable with the information specified in this ordinance, this [ named government jurisdiction] shall review the disclosure information and then make a determination as to whether or not to rescind this prohibition against doing business with that financial institution. 93- THIS PAGE IS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK 94- My fellow councilmen: March 9, 2010 The dealings of financial institutions inside our country to include AIG, HSBC, UBS and CITIBANK, were brought to my attention one month ago. Their compliance with the " Sharjah- Compliant Finance" Products is providing a pipeline for funneling money to international terrorist groups that are engaged in war with our country. These institutions are helping support the very enemy our country is at War on Terror with. We are a military community, and many of us have sons and daughters and many of the children in our schools have moms and dads in far off lands, engaged in warfighting to preserve our national identity and the freedom we all cherish. As it is in any operation, money is the fuel that drives any war machine. I am asking my fellow councilmen to stand with me and unanimously approve a motion authorizing the City Attorney to draw up a City Ordinance to prohibit the city of Ft Walton Beach from doing business with AIG, HSBC, UBS AND CITIBANK, institutions that do not agree to transparency in divulging their association with the " Sharjah - Compliant Finance" Products. We must be Americans first. We must do our share and fight the enemy on the home front. I would truly hate to think that my city doing business with these forenamed institutions is providing money to terrorist groups that use these monies to buy bullets, explosives and other war supplies that kill our sons and daughters engaged in combat in far off lands -- or Americans here on our own soil. Furthermore, I would ask that we authorize Mayor Anderson to ask the Florida league of Cities to sponsor a House Bill forbidding the State of Florida from engaging in financial transactions with the same until full disclosure and transparency is provided by these named financial institutions. The Ft Walton Beach City Council has taken steps before to protect its residents from unlawful activities. let's step forward and set the example to show the rest of Florida that We The People of Ft Walton Beach are ready to do our share to protect the citizens of Ft Walton Beach, Okaloosa County, the State of Florida and the greatest country on God' s earth - -- the United States of America. Thank You Bill Patterson Councilman Seat 6 Shariah, Law and `Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond? Analysis and Findings of a Workshop Co- sponsored by: The McCormick Foundation and The Center for Security Policy McCormick Foundation Shariah, Law and ` Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond? Analysis and Findings of a Workshop Co- sponsored by: The McCormick Foundation and The Center for Security Policy Cantigny Park Wheaton, Illinois  Shariah, Law and `Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond? Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 5 Chapter 1: What is Shariah? 7 Chapter 2: Mapping Shariah in America 14 Chapter 3: What is Shariah -Compliant Finance? 17 Chapter 4: The Shariah Advisors 21 Chapter 5: The Criminal and Civil Liabilities Associated with Shariah -Compliant Finance 43 Case Studies I. Dow Jgnes, Shariah -Compliant Finance and Wall Street 58 II. Caribou Coffee, Shariah -Compliant Finance and Main Street 68 Chapter 6: Next Steps and Recommendations 75 Resources 77 Working Group Participants 78 Shariah, Law and ' Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond? Published by McCormick Foundation 435 North Michigan Avenue Suite 770 Chicago, Illinois 60611 312- 222 -3512 E -mail: info@McCormickFoundation.org All rights reserved. Copyright © 2008 McCormick Foundation 2 Executive Summary hariah -Compliant Finance ( SCF) is a phenomenon that is taking capital markets around the world by storm. It is estimated that there are currently $ 800 billion invested in vehicles that are deemed by a select group of Muslim scholars engaged for the purpose to comply with the all- embracing body of Islamic religious, social, politi- cal and military duties known as Shariah law. All other things being equal, that amount is expected to grow dramatically in the years ahead, thanks in part to the ever -increasing treasuries of the oil- exporting Muslim states and their sovereign wealth funds. Unfortunately, Shariah -compliant finance is also a Trojan Horse —an instrument for legitimating and propagating Shariah law in Western soci- eties. Since the stated purpose of that code is to bring about —through vio- lent means (jihad) if necessary— the rule of Islam worldwide in place of sec- ular governments like that of the United States, SCF is furthering a seditious agenda. Sedition is, however, only one of a number of civil liabilities and criminal exposures associated with Shariah -compliant finance. SCF is conducted as a " black box," with a small cohort of Shariah advisors —Muslim authorities on Shariah law— determining capital and credit flows with little, if any, of the transparency and accountability at the heart of federal and state securities laws. This gives rise to risks for firms engaging in SCF that include: racketeering, anti -trust and securities and consumer fraud. Worse yet, these advisors' adherence to authoritative, totalitarian Shariah not to be confused with the personal, pietistic " path to God" embraced by many tolerant, peaceable Muslims) gives rise to another problem: material support for terrorism. Under Shariah law there are eight approved forms of charity to which faithful Muslims are expected to tithe at least 2. 5% of their income. Four of these can be interpreted as supportive of violent jihad. Shariah -compliant finance affords Shariah advisors the opportunity to channel funds skimmed off of SCF investments in the form of zakat (charita- ble contributions) or " purification" ( funds judged by the advisors to have been generated by " impure," non- Shariah- compliant sources) to charities of their choice. There is strong reason to believe at least some of these funds are finding their way to entities that sponsor or otherwise support terrorism. Executive Summary For all these reasons, Shariah- compliant finance should be seen by regu- lators, the financial sector and investors alike as problematic in the extreme. It is inconsistent with this country' s legal code that requires transparency and disclosure of risks that would be material, particularly to post -9/ 11 American investors. The true nature of Shariah law, the unacknowledged agenda of the Shariah advisors that enable Shariah -compliant finance and the array of civil and criminal liabilities associated with SCF all should be fully revealed. In the absence of such transparency and disclosure, Americans are in jeopardy of aiding and abetting economic warfare in the form of "financial jihad" against their own country. Introduction his monograph is the product of a series of conversations that led ultimately to an extraordinary, day -long workshop convened on 4 March 2008 under the co- sponsorship of the McCormick Foundation and the Center for Security Policy. For many of the partici- pants in that workshop, as will be true of many —if not nearly all —of the readers of this volume, the subject of Shariah -Compliant Finance ( SCF) was a new one. It is our hope that the latter will be as moved as were the former by the shocking information presented here —moved to understand the challenge posed to our capital markets, our economy and ultimately to our society by the still- nascent Shariah -compliant finance phenomenon in the United States and moved to counter this threat. The pages that follow focus on three important facets of the phenomenon of Shariah -compliant finance: First, this monograph addresses the true nature of authoritative Shariah and its ominous implications for America and other freedom -loving nations. In contrast to the personal, pietistic version of Shariah embraced by hun- dreds of millions of peaceable, tolerant Muslims around the globe, that prac- ticed by all of the formal schools of Sunni and Shi' a Islam, by the faith' s rec- ognized Shariah authorities and by their adherents is a prescription for the destruction of the West' s sovereign governments in favor of a world -wide theocracy. Shariah -compliant finance is an instrument for legitimating and otherwise advancing this seditious agenda and must be both understood and dealt with as such. Second, this monograph explores the personal history, associations and agenda of several of the men at the heart of the Shariah- compliant finance industry: the Shariah advisors. The rulings of these scholars determine whether investments conform to authoritative Shariah or are " impure" and must, therefore, be eschewed. In order to accommodate the unique role of these advisors, the SCF industry has been structured as a " black box " —an arrangement that utterly defies Western legal and regulatory requirements for transparency and accountability. This situation would appear problematic on its face. Unfortunately, as the illustrative biographical material makes clear, the Shariah authorities employed as advisors to the Shariah -compliant finance market are, seem- ingly without exception, avowed Islamist-sympathizers. As a general rule, Introduction they appear to have ties to organizations or institutions associated with ter- rorism financing or other activities. It is the height of folly to entrust decision - making concerning a significant —and growing —portion of Western capital and credit flows to such individuals. Third, this monograph explores the relationship between Shariah- compli- ant financial transactions and zakat, the