(Coral Springs, FL) Americans Against Hate (AAH) is calling on the Mayor of Lansing, Michigan, Virg Bernero, to rescind a “special recognition” award he had given to the Executive Director of CAIR-Michigan, Dawud Walid. The award was presented to Walid, on September 27, 2007. A photo of Walid holding the award, while posing with Mayor Bernero, is currently found on every page of Walid’s blog

Shortly before the award was given, in July of 2007, Walid had told his website viewers that it was okay to donate money to Islamic charities connected to terrorism that had been raided by the FBI. The charities included Al-Mabarrat, which is tied to the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, Sayyid Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, and Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), which has been a “partner” to various groups connected to Hamas and Al-Qaeda.

Walid stated, “Al Mabarrat is still open for business like LIFE. [sic] Unfortantely, these charities may continue to have suspicion cast over them, and may never get their days in court to clear their names from suspicion. I repeat that it is still LEGAL to donate to Al-Mabarrat as well as LIFE.”

In addition, Walid, during a June 2007 speech he had made at the American Moslem Society (a.k.a. Masjid Dearborn), told the mosque’s congregants that it was okay to disobey the law. He stated, “We should obey the laws of the United States of America, except when those laws bar us from those things that are obligations [of] our religion.”

Furthermore, the award was given to Walid, while a federal terror trial was taking place which named CAIR as a co-conspirator to the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas.

In an e-mail sent to Mayor Bernero, dated March 17, 2008, AAH Chairman Joe Kaufman wrote, “[W]e ask that you move to rescind Walid's award immediately. Previously, our organization had asked Senator Barbara Boxer to do the same, when her office had granted an award to the Executive Director of CAIR-Sacramento, Basim Elkarra. Senator Boxer rescinded the award and spoke out against CAIR, and we praised her for this. We hope that you do the same, as we're sure you would never want to be seen as being a supporter of a group with ties to terrorism.”

Mayor Bernero has not responded to the e-mail.

For more information on this, see ‘Hate and Terror Awarded,’ published in FrontPage Magazine.

Joe Kaufman is available for interview. E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .