On January 15, 2022, Malik Faisal Akram took hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. His goal was to compel the release of Aafia Siddiqui.
Aafia Siddiqui is a singular figure within the history of jihadism, particularly in the West. Her case has understandably acquired a great deal of international interest and scrutiny, especially after her arrest, conviction, and imprisonment during the early 2010s. Without a doubt, the high-profile nature of her case and her relatively unique status as a woman with a reported operational role in al-Qaida contributed to her infamy, as does the enduring belief among her supporters that she was unjustly convicted. Nevertheless, decades after her story initially made headlines, today’s jihadi groups remain committed to ensuring her release from prison and continue to use her imprisonment as a propaganda device. – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
This was an international news story live streamed on social media. A news story in which the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was uncharacteristically relevant. Because CAIR was also running a campaign to free Aafia Siddiqui. So CAIR must have known that reports that Akram was Siddiqui’s brother were false.
And CAIR knew more than just that.
CAIR also ran a very intense Twitter campaign in support of Aafia Siddiqui that spiked dramatically right around the time Malik Akram struck. Local TV station KXAS called this “chatter.”
The now-deceased attacker’s actions came against the backdrop of a sudden spike in social media activity as part of a coordinated campaign to “Free Aafia.”
Advocacy for Siddiqui’s release has been quiet in recent years, but reemerged in late 2021: “Aafia” was mentioned on Twitter fewer than 20 times per day in 2021 until late August, when “Aafia” related tweets spiked, with more than several thousand daily.
In September 2021, in response to an alleged prison assault on Siddiqui, the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Texas DFW &Austin chapter (CAIR-Texas) launched a formal campaign advocating for Siddiqui’s freedom via real-world and virtual events, as well as an online “#FreeAafia” campaign.
CAIR-Texas promoted the central node of the self-identified Pakistani network to promote Aafia-related material, and the most shared URL by the predominantly self-identified Pakistani network was a link to CAIR-Texas’s website promoting the Aafia campaign.”
– Sudden Massive Spike in Twitter Activity for“Free Aafa Movement” Preceded Attack on Congregation Beth Israel https://www.scribd.com/document/557763116/NCRI-Beth-Israel-Report#fullscreen&from_embed
KXAS also reported that CAIR did not know Akram. But that was not the point. Did Akram read CAIR’s tweets? Did anyone looked at his tweets, or if try to discover if he had a presence on social media?
FOX News anchor Eric Shawn asked his guest on the air:
Is it possible this guy in the synagogue was inspired by this global campaign?
Anyone with two eyes would at least have to consider the possibility. And NBC did consider it. But only so that it could put some distance between CAIR’s actions trying free Lady al Qaeda and CAIR’s statements on TV after Akram’s hostage-taking.
Previously, CAIR speakers had lashed their audiences, saying that Muslims had not done enough to free Siddiqui, and that the Prophet was disappointed in them. They also said that she was a victim of America’s war of terror on Muslims.
Did CAIR’s campaign incite Akram? If so, then the organization was a contributing factor to his demise. If that were the case, would the media cover it up? Would the FBI? For CAIR?
We know that CAIR regularly, systematically, consistently, and increasingly attacks people on TV every month. Eventually, it could inspire somebody to physically attack one of its targets.
The incitement didn’t happen on TV this time. It happened on social media. And it was a Muslim that got hurt while in the act of perpetrating a crime.
But maybe next time, it will be an innocent person that gets hurt.
SecondEve2 says
Whenever Muslims gain enough of a presence, they immediately try to force those of other religions to covert, or else! Any nation! Anywhere!
Keith O says
The other possibility not covered here is that CAIR and Akram were working hand in hand.
For the Islamist it was a win, win situation.
If he got killed, they have another martyr murdered by the nasty Americans at the bequest of the evil Jews.
And if this terrorist bitch was released, then it would be a great victory for justice and prove that she had been falsely imprisoned, (multi million dollar lawsuit to follow) and cries for all the falsely imprison, peaceful mudslimes to be released.