Follow-up Report: MOA Parade in Binghamton

Well, the MOA went ahead with their parade in Binghamton on Saturday as promised. The local paper reports (emphasis added):

BINGHAMTON - About 400 people marched through downtown Binghamton Saturday to celebrate the prophet Muhammad's birthday and show their Islamic faith to the community.

They were met by some curious stares from scattered onlookers and two protesters, one of whom was hustled away by Binghamton police after using a portable loud speaker to yell comments at the marchers.

The march was part of a series of activities organized by International Quranic Open University and Muslims of the Americas, a controversial Islamic community headquartered in Hancock.

[...]

"We show it's better to go by information you see than rumors," said Hussein Adams*, deputy director of the International Quranic Open University.

Saturday's event was only the first step, Hasib Qadri said, adding the communities intend to become more visible locally through social programs and community events. "We've decided it's not beneficial for us to stay by ourselves," he said.

*Note: Hussein Adams is a significant member of the JF/MOA/IQOU organization. He holds the rank of Khalifa and is the number two man at the headquarters compound in NY, hence his nickname within the group - "K2". The number one guy is Khalifa Husain Abdallah. Adams' father, Barry Adams aka Tyrone Cole, was one of the Jamaat ul-Fuqra operatives convicted in Canada years ago for plotting a horrific and thankfully unsuccessful terror attack on an Indian theater and Hindu temple. He was released from prison last year and is believed to be in the Caribbean, most likely Trinidad.

The organization has been on a PR blitz for a while after suffering quite a bit of negative publicity. They are attempting to remake their image as one of a charity organization, though there is much that lies beneath this facade.

Here's a slideshow of photos sent in by someone on the ground...



We also received this report (edited for brevity and clarity):

The event was referred to as being first "annual" and a "parade and festival". It was pretty much just the participants from Islamberg with almost no non-Islamic spectators. I counted about maybe 6 average joes watching from the sidewalk...plus a couple local police on each of 3 blocks directing traffic...and 2 local media people...one was from the local Press and Sun-Bulletin newspaper and the other from the local Fox tv station. After the parade, during the speeches, I noticed absolutely no non-Islamic onlookers.

The parade folks walked for several blocks and then over a bridge and a couple more blocks. And then they turned around and walked back to where they started. They sang a song while walking and there were many women and children marchers. There were several banners being held up for organizations: some kind of Islamic scouting group; there was one banner that had Islamberg written on it somewhere; and there was one for the "Hand to Hands" group; also, the first one was for the International Quranic Open University. There weren't any kind of political protesters. I expected the indymedia/progressive types to show up in solidarity since Binghamton has a big progressive presence, but I sure didn't notice anyone like that. I also didn't see [Executive Assistant to the Mayor] Tarik Abdelazim anywhere.

After the parade, they all went and sat down in front of the courthouse. They had a big stage set up for the speakers and a bunch of chairs in front on the right for the women and children and some chairs on the left under a tent for the main men. The "festival" was basically just the speakers plus a couple small tents which I assume featured items for sale underneath.

Now, on to the speakers: they started things off by singing the national anthem accompanied by some drumming. Then someone recited from the Koran and a second person did the same. Then, Matt Ryan, the Binghamton Mayor, spoke about unity between Islam and Christianity for a couple minutes. [After that] was Rev. Douglas Taylor of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Binghamton. He spoke for a while about unity as well.

An English professor at nearby Broome County Community College, Diane O'Heron, also spoke at the event. Candace de Russy at the PhiBetaCons blog on NRO wonders,

What motivates O'Heron and her fellow speakers to join in these suspect festivities? Will other academics or campus groups participate? If so, are they, and O'Heron, aware of the MOA's dubious pedigree? The answers to these questions are not yet apparent.

Indeed.
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More Information:

Additional photos from the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

FOX 40 WICZ TV report (w/video)

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UPDATE: One of our contributors, a Muslim and former member of MOA, writes in to comment:

The Muslim onlookers were from the group. Muslims all over the world know that celebrating the birth of Muhammad is not part of our faith. We also know that in Islamic law there are laws against protesting against gov't and trying to establish a gov't within a gov't -- these people implement Islamic law on their properties all over the USA. For example, if one of the members gets in trouble they may recieve a flogging. For those who do not know this term, it's when you sit in a chair [and receive lashes] or in some cases, like Sekou from Islamberg, they tied him to a tree and whipped him until he just about passed out. How do I know? I myself was victim to a flogging, 10 lashes to be exact . They have broken many laws in the very faith they say they believe in. If they even knew how much negativity they cause by "reaching out" they would stop their nonsense.