THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 316, November 30, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LEGENDARY SONGWRITER NOW MARCHES TO AN ISLAMIST TUNE
By David J. Rusin
KENNY GAMBLE & HIS ASSOCIATES: "THE SAVING OF AMERICA" BY BUILDING ISLAMIST ENCLAVES IN THE U.S.A. --
SEEKING A NEW CALIPHATE & THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ISLAM AS A COMPLETE WAY OF LIFE IN AMERICA -- THREATENING
THE AMERICAN VALUES OF PLURALISM, INCLUSION, ASSIMILATION, NATIONAL LOYALTY, & NATIONAL UNITY
FULL STORY:
Music and real estate mogul Kenny Gamble, alternatively known as Luqman Abdul Haqq, is one of the most powerful
men in Philadelphia — and also among the most controversial. His effort to revitalize dilapidated South Philly
neighborhoods stands at the center of the storm. While he grandiosely links his projects to "the saving of America,"
others have accused him of constructing a "black Muslim enclave."
Gamble's story encompasses several themes that define the Islamist enterprise in the West: Muslim lobby
groups steeped in radicalism, highly motivated individuals with two-track agendas, and feckless governments that
unwittingly enable them. Therefore, Gamble provides an important case study — if not a warning — for cities desperate
to hand off the problems of urban decay to anyone with resources who comes along.
Kenny Gamble rose to notoriety as an influential songwriter and producer in the 1960s. Credited with bringing the
sounds of Philly soul to the world stage, he and his partner, Leon Huff, founded Philadelphia International Records in
1971 and were the creative engine behind countless hit singles, including "Me and Mrs. Jones," "Love Train," and "If
You Don't Know Me by Now." In 2008, the duo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A personal rough patch in the mid-1970s inspired Gamble to reexamine his faith. With his marriage failing and his label
embroiled in a payola scandal, he found himself drawn to the teachings of the Nation of Islam (NOI). Though he became
a Sunni Muslim, Gamble apparently retains warm feelings for NOI's leader, noted racist and anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.
In January, 2007, the NOI newspaper, Final Call, reported that Gamble said "he was praying for the minister
before he went into surgery and asking Allah to bless him with a successful and a speedy recovery." Gamble has also
acted as local Chairman for the Farrakhan-led Millions More Movement and participated in other NOI-sponsored
initiatives.
A central figure with the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), Gamble sat on the organization's inaugural Diwan
(Executive Committee) and now serves on its policymaking Majlis Ash-Shura (Consultative Council). MANA was
launched in 2001 and purports to speak for the country's "indigenous Muslims" — that is, mostly African-American
converts. A driving force behind MANA was Jamil Al-Amin, previously H. Rap Brown, the Black Panther famous for
warning that, "if America don't come around, we're gonna burn it down." On March 16, 2000, he topped off four decades
of violence by murdering a sheriff's deputy. Al-Amin's arrest, following another shootout, further catalyzed the
formation of MANA, which continues to embrace him and rail against the supposed injustice of his life sentence.
Gamble's colleagues on MANA's governing body include a number of Islamists:
Siraj Wahhaj, MANA Founder and longtime Head, appeared
on U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White's list of "unindicted persons
who may be alleged as co-conspirators" in the 1993 World
Trade Center bombing and the plot to destroy other New
York City landmarks. He later testified as a character witness
for ringleader Omar Abdel Rahman. Wahhaj has also
promoted polygamy, excused stoning, refused to condemn
Osama bin Laden, and predicted that the United States will
fall unless it "accepts the Islamic agenda."
Ihsan Bagby, MANA General Secretary, sits on boards for
the Islamic Society of North America and Council on
American-Islamic Relations, two groups labeled as
unindicted co-conspirators in a prominent terror financing
trial. "Ultimately we can never be full citizens of this country,"
he once stated, "because there is no way we can be fully
committed to the institutions and ideologies of this country."
A professor at the University of Kentucky, Bagby has been
criticized for his demographic "studies" that inflate the
number of Muslims in America and misrepresent their views.
Johari Abdul-Malik is Outreach Director for the Dar Al-Hijrah
Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, which Paul Sperry
has called America's most dangerous mosque, due to its
extensive terror ties. Malik publicly supported Ali Al-Timimi,
a Virginia-based cleric convicted of inciting his followers to
wage war against the United States. In response to the arrest
of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a congregant now serving time for
plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush,
Abdul-Malik simply lamented that "our whole community is
under siege."
Abdul Alim Musa, Imam of Masjid Al-Islam in Washington,
D.C., peddles 9/11 conspiracy theories, blames Jews for the
slave trade, and compares the United States unfavorably with
Nazi Germany. In a shocking 2007 interview, Musa declared
that "I have to like" Osama bin Laden, while praising Hamas
as "very nice people" and Hezbollah as "a good group of
people practicing Islam." Musa is the Founder and Head of
As-Sabiqun, a radical organization that seeks a new caliphate
and the establishment of Islam as a "complete way of life in
America."
As-Sabiqun offers a bottom-up strategy for advancing these Islamist objectives: assemble self-contained strongholds
that feature a mosque, Islamic school, Muslim-owned businesses, social welfare institutions, and housing. Coincidence
or not, this is the blueprint that Kenny Gamble has followed in Philadelphia. Indeed, Gamble explicitly outlined his aims
in a recent interview: "One of the intentions that we had from the beginning was to create a model," he told Saudi TV,
"so that, in the coming years, Muslims would be able to live close to each other, that they would live closer to the
masjid [mosque], that they would eventually be able to open up businesses so that they would be able to employ each
other and develop community life."
Three Gamble-run entities have helped realize this dream. Founded in 1994, the United Muslim Masjid at 810 South 15th
Street — only about eight blocks from City Hall — resides at the core of his empire. Gamble's Universal Companies,
which specializes in urban renewal projects, is headquartered on the same block and dominates area business and real
estate. In addition to managing hundreds of properties, Universal operates a construction firm, financial services
division, charter school, employment center and medical facility, along with numerous retail stores. Finally, the United
Muslim Movement, which dedicates itself "to establishing the religion of Islam," is described by MANA as the da'wa
(proselytization) wing of Universal Companies. As Gamble has explained, "We are not just here for Universal; we are
down here for Islam."
Flying the flag of community redevelopment, Universal has benefited from a healthy dose of government support —
despite the murky separation of its business and religious functions. For years, Philadelphia has transferred "blighted"
property to Universal at rock-bottom prices, expecting the company to renovate it. According to one deed from October,
1999, "31 parcels of land (92 properties) assessed at $147,284 were sold to Universal for $27."
Many longtime residents of South Philadelphia have objected to the city's liberal use of eminent domain laws to seize
private real estate and hand it to Universal for pocket change. A 2003 article in City Paper documents nightmares
encountered by displaced owners. Some suffered financial ruin after being offered compensation well below the market
value for their properties. Others returned home one day to find their buildings leveled. An elderly pastor who had failed
to sell on time was even billed for the demolition costs.
Incredibly, the push to shower Universal with cheap property appears to have reached high into the Bush administration
and hastened the downfall of Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who
announced his resignation in March, 2008. A "business friend" of Gamble's, Jackson was accused of orchestrating a
campaign of retaliation against the Philadelphia Housing Authority because its Director had refused to award Gamble a
lot appraised at $2 million. Internal HUD emails bolster these charges.
While Universal's revitalization work undoubtedly has done some good for a long-abandoned and deteriorating part of
the city, a profile of Gamble by Philadelphia magazine cites area residents who "fear that Gamble's real-life aims
aren't as inclusive" as his company's name suggests. "They fear that Gamble, a convert to Islam, is inclined toward racial
and religious segregation" and intends to turn the neighborhood into a "black Muslim enclave," similar to the ones
promoted by As-Sabiqun.
Gamble's reengineered blocks are not (yet) like the British no-go zones alleged to exist by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali.
However, a very strong Islamic character is evident, as described by an earlier article in City Paper:
"There is a large man in traditional Muslim clothing at
the corner of 15th and Catharine chanting prayers in
Arabic. Dozens of kids from the Universal Charter
School spill out onto the sidewalk after school,
dressed in their green school uniforms with traditional
Islamic head scarves. Minutes later, the large man on
the corner and several others pull out prayer mats,
face east, and pray on the sidewalk."
Philadelphia magazine asked Gamble about these worries. Instead of a straightforward denial of any Islamist
agenda, the reporter received a de facto endorsement of segregation. "It's like cats," said Gamble.
"They're all cats. But you don't see the lion with the tiger.
You don't see the tiger with the panther."
After helpfully offering examples of interspecies copulation, he returned to the structure of urban societies:
"You don't have people selling goods and services in
the Irish community from some other community. In
the Russian community, you don't have people from
other communities. In the Puerto Rican community,
the Puerto Ricans have their own economy, they
have their own stores."
The article notes:
"... it's illegal … to sell land or businesses based on
race. So chances are slim that he'll build an exclusive
‘Africatown' to rival Chinatown. But he does seem
to hope for it."
Gamble's vision actually bears little resemblance to the more familiar and benign ethnic enclaves he invokes. First,
today's Chinese or Russian or Puerto Rican neighborhoods are not cultural exclusion zones to the degree that Gamble
apparently believes and admires. Second, Chinatown and similar areas were neither the result of comprehensive social
planning nor the beneficiaries of massive government largess. Finally, districts like Chinatown evolved as places of
refuge for immigrants, while the As-Sabiqun-type model looks to segregate a native-born and previously integrated
population.
Gamble says that his work involves "the saving of America." But, if his goals are as disturbing as some have
suggested — and as his own words, deeds, and associations give reason to suspect — it is the American values of
pluralism and inclusion that would need to be saved from Kenny Gamble.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
The Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
David J. Rusin is a research associate at Islamist Watch and a Philadelphia-based editor for Pajamas
Media. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania. Please feel free to contact
him at rusin@meforum.org.
The foregoing article by David J. Rusin was originally published in American Thinker, November 29, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/2016)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
November 30, 2008
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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