Islamic Terrorism's Fave Coffee Opens In Detroit's Airport (Debbie Schlussel New Fallujah Alert)

Debbie Schlussel.com ^ | 11/13/05 | Debbie Schlussel

[goldstategop]

Islamic Terrorism's Fave Coffee Opens in Detroit's Airport By Debbie Schlussel

If you live in one of the many areas around the U.S. (and elsewhere in the world) where Caribou Coffee is sprouting, please don't patronize this coffee chain. That includes people waiting at baggage in Detroit Metro Airport's McNamara terminal, where the store has now been awarded the exclusive, coveted slot.

In the past, I've written about Caribou Coffee's ties to Islamic terror in the New York Post (a version of the article appears here)and discussed it on Fox News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor" and MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews." Here's an interview I did with Business Forward magazine about this poisonous coffee.

Besides employing, for years, an Islamic cleric who is the spiritual leader of the terrorist group Muslim Brotherhood (where Qaeda's Al-Zawahiri and Yasser Arafat got their start), the company is owned by mostly Saudis (not the cute Minnesota couple, whose pic is displayed in the store). The company claims it fired the cleric, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi(there is no way to verify he was really fired, and reportedly is still on the payroll), but why did it hire the David Duke of the Islamic world, in the first place, and fire him only when it got caught? Al-Qaradawi urges homicide bombings against not just Jews, but American soldiers. And Caribou has an equally strong to Al-Qaeda's top financier (stay tuned on that).

So, now, Caribou Coffee has opened in Metro Detroit's primary baggage claim area, the only business there. It will make tons of money, I'm sure. But if you're an American against terrorism, you'll skip buying their cup of Jihad Java. The store will have plenty of other customers from around Detroit, the heart of Islamic America.

There are several other restaurants at Detroit Metro Airport with direct ties to Islamic terrorism. Stay tuned for more on this and Caribou Coffee.

[goldstategop]

Yep. Come to think of the times I passed through Detroit Metro and never noticed. Businesses raking in dough for Islamic terrorists right in the city's principal airport. Debbie Schlussel's piece makes one feel warm and cuddly about the Religion Of Peace. Especially when the Jihad Java is fetchingly named Caribou Coffee.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

BTTT!

[SJSAMPLE]

Oops.
Just picked up a cup at the Minneapolis airport on the way to Korea.

Not an English-speaker in the bunch.

[Prime Choice]

And Caribou has an equally strong to Al-Qaeda's top financier (stay tuned on that).

Interesting. And their assets have not been seized yet because...?

As an aside, I've been to Caribou coffee when in Minnesota. I'm disappointed if the reports are true about their links to Islamofascism. They were the only place that had a decent cup of coffee in the entire area.

[goldstategop]

Its reprehensible Saudi extremists should be subsidizing Al Qaeda killers with our dollars. It pays to beware who really owns a corporation - not just the people who front for it.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[SJSAMPLE]

LOL.
"I expect my oil to be funding these bastards, not my coffee!"

[goldstategop]

They may have cleaned up and gotten rid of their association with Islamic terrorists. Who knows. Its hard to obtain direct proof of terrorist connections. But I would say the terrorists probably do raise some funds by laundering it through legitimate businesses as well as through criminal activities.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[benvec]

I wonder if this is the same coffee offered for sale in bulk at Sam's Clubs?

[goldstategop]

Caribou Coffee? I dunno. I haven't been to Sam's Club. But the story does illustrate the global nature of the economy. Our enemies can benefit from the very free society they're sworn to destroy.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Prime Choice]

But I would say the terrorists probably do raise some funds by laundering it through legitimate businesses as well as through criminal activities.

Oh, I do agree...and I personally think the bulk of it is funnelled through the Saudi government. If it wasn't for their help, the Wahaabi sect wouldn't have near the reach it has today. I know it's not popular to say, but I do not believe the Saudis are our allies any more than the Red Chinese.

[goldstategop]

We back them not because we agree with the way they run their country but because their putative replacements are far worse. Its the lesser of two evils and a bunch of Saudi democrats aren't exactly waiting in the wings to take over if the monarchy falls.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[AnimalLover]

Did you see this thread?

E-RING - Delta Does Detroit TV Show, Drama


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1521605/posts

[injin]

http://www.cariboucoffee.com/

[rawcatslyentist]

>"I know it's not popular to say, but I do not believe the Saudis are our allies any more than the Red Chinese."

Aap aap ahh dap dap!!!!!
It's a religion of peace
It's a religion of peace

It aint Slim W, but this'll gitr done!
Kill A Commie For Mommie

Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

[Lancer_N3502A]

Someone send this to Hanity and O'Reily

[visualops]

Claim: An Islamic bank is the majority owner of the Caribou Coffee chain.

Status: True.

---

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
Example email:

As you will see from the links below, Caribou Coffee is owned 87.8% by the First Islamic Investment Bank which, among other things has the following philosophy: "Above all, ensuring that all activities conform to Islamic Shari'ah" The chairman of their Shari'ah supervisory board is:

Dr. Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradawi
Chairman, Seerah & Sunnah Center, Qatar University;
Professor, Faculty of Shari'ah, Qatar University.

As you will see from the links below he is also on the supervisory board of "Union for Good," which is a charitable organization to support Palestinians. Nothing wrong with a charity to help Palestinians, but here is a quote from the Union for Good web site:

"The Al-Aqsa Intifada is the latest of a long line of affliction faced by the people of Palestine. Its ancestry dates back to the massacre of innocent men, women and children in villages such as Deir Yaseen and the illegal occupation of Palestine in 1948."

You get the picture. Starbucks here I come!!!

http://www.firstislamic.com/sharia.htm
http://www.firstislamic.com/caribou.html
http://www.interpal.org/web/supervisory.htm
http://www.interpal.org/web/cbackground.htm

---

Origins:
In 1992, newlyweds John and Kim Puckett, both recent MBA recipients, developed a vision for a gourmet coffee company while "hoofing around Alaska's Denali Park." Pursuing that vision, they raised the capital to open the first Caribou Coffee shops in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1993. (If you're wondering why anyone would challenge the now-giant Starbucks in this line of business, note that at the start of 1992 the Starbucks chain had a mere 116 outlets nationwide.)

Unfortunately, the new venture was plagued by problems nearly from the start, and by 1996 Caribou board members were expressing concern about the company's operating problems. In 1997, Jay Willoughby, an operations expert from Pepsico, was brought into the fold; although the chain opened nearly 50 stores that year, its growth was halted at about 90 outlets in 1998 while the company sought to address its operating issues. In 1999 the Pucketts were replaced by McDonald's veteran Don Dempsey as chairman and chief executive, but by the end of 2000 the company ran out of cash and could not raise any more operating capital from its investors (who had already kicked in more than $40 million through several rounds of financing). So, in December 2000, Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. announced that it was selling a 70% stake (later to become an 87.8%) to Atlanta-based Crescent Capital, a deep-pockets investor backed by First Islamic Investment Bank of Bahrain for $80 million; founders John and Kim Puckett left the board, but CEO Don Dempsey stayed on to run the company for the new owners.

Should any of this be a cause of concern to coffee lovers, especially since Caribou Coffee is second only to Seattle-based Starbucks (albeit a distant second, with a couple of hundred stores to Starbucks' 4,700) as the USA's largest chain of non-franchised specialty coffeehouses?

The impression many people are taking from the message quoted above is: "Oh, no; Caribou is owned by Islamic militants, the same people who are trying to kill us!" That isn't what the message claims, however. The protest was that the chairman of the First Islamic Investment Bank's supervisory board (which advises First Islamic on issues of Islamic law regarding its investments) was also on the supervisory board of the Union for Good, a coalition of charities (such as the London-based Interpal) providing various means of relief to Palestinians. The message notes that there is "nothing wrong with a charity to help Palestinians" but then suggests Caribou Coffee should be shunned because of two sentences from the introductory paragraph on the Union for Good's English-language web site:

The continuing aggression from the occupying forces against unarmed Palestinians coupled with the blockade, the destruction of the resources of state, not to mention random attacks on innocent children, the elderly and women as part of a collective punishment campaign has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the wounding of thousands more. The Al-Aqsa Intifada is the latest of a long line of affliction faced by the people of Palestine. Its ancestry dates back to the massacre of innocent men, women and children in villages such as Deir Yaseen and the illegal occupation of Palestine in 1948.

Moreover, the blockade has a crippling effect on the labour force resulting in the loss of the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian workers. This can only be termed a human catastrophe. Not only that, an economic disaster, a state of famine, the paralysis of all national institutions and public services, the destruction of the education system and a deterioration of the health situation are the natural outcomes.

In the light of what is mentioned above a group of international charities have collaborated in launching a human relief campaign to expand the circle of support to avert the threat and danger posed by the occupying forces. The aim is also to raise public awareness of the real tragedy of the current situation and to endeavour to ease the effects of the unjust and discriminatory sanction imposed on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

This is done in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters in support of their steadfastness in what is called the I’tilafu al-Khayr Union for Good 101 Days Campaign: in solidarity with the people of Palestine to ease the effects of the blockade imposed by the occupying forces and in support of their steadfastness.

All the participating charitable organisations have agreed to form the Coalition of Charities which will co-operate and co-ordinate to support and fund relief, rehabilitation and development projects implemented by charities in Palestine to ease the effects of the sanction.

Certainly the statements that Al-Aqsa Intifada "is the latest of a long line of affliction faced by the people of Palestine," that Palestinians were "massacred" at Deir Yassin, and that Palestine has been "illegally occupied" since 1948 would be hotly contested by many pro-Israel groups, but it's hardly surprising to find a pro-Palestinian focus on the web site of a Middle Eastern-based Palestinian relief organization. Perhaps some of us believe that all charitable groups should be apolitical (and those that aren't should be avoided), but the reality is that many charitable organizations are decidedly partisan. (For the record, the Union for Good is not on the USA's list of organizations that support terrorism.)

However, Dr. Al-Qaradawi "has certainly said he does not think acts of violence against Israeli citizens is terrorism," and he is noted for his virulently anti-American stance and other viewpoints that many westerners find abhorrent:

An Egyptian-born theologian, Sheik Yusuf Abdullah al-Qaradawi, with a history of anti-American militancy even longer than Sheik Fadlallah's, expresses a similar view. From his base in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, the 75-year-old sheik has issued Islamic fatwas, or decrees, on issues like the need for Muslims to boycott McDonald's restaurants, and on husbands' right to beat their wives as long as they do not draw blood.1

Granted, Dr. Al-Qaradawi's views were made as a private citizen rather than as an office of Caribou (and we've discussed on other pages that what a corporate board member does as a private citizen and what he does in his official capacity as an officer of corporation are two very different things), so the political stance of a First Islamic Investment Bank advisory board member is not necessarily reflective of the bank's corporate policies. But given the nature of the Islamic Shari'ah, issues of business, politics, and religion are inextricably intertwined, and Dr. Al-Qaradawi did have a "significant association" with Caribou's banker, First Islamic.2

In July 2002, the First Islamic Investment Bank announced that they had severed all ties with Dr. Al-Qaradawi, so the issue is now moot. First Islamic also hired Washington, D.C., law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to review its charitable donations, and they have certified that no charitable contributions from Caribou's coffers go to groups banned under U.S. law.

Last updated: 17 July 2002

[varon]

Not an English-speaker in the bunch.

Isn't diversity wonderful? ;-)

[veronica]

Excellent work by everyone, including Debbie Schlussel. She's amazing.

[varon]

Our enemies can benefit from the very free society they're sworn to destroy.

Yes and many in our leadership will protect their right to do so (benefit & destroy)!

[Velveeta]

Jihad Java ping.