Hamas: Coming to a School Board Near You?

By Patrick Poole

Exactly how did a known Hamas operative obtain an interview with and almost get appointed to the Columbus, Ohio Public School Board, which oversees one of the largest school districts in the country? And what does this incident tell us about the domestic terror threat and the process of radicalization happening right now in the US?

Those were the questions raised during my research for an article I recently wrote titled “Hamas in the House.” It revealed that a woman named Anisa Abd El Fattah was scheduled to speak at an “interfaith” event to be held in the atrium of the Ohio State Capitol later this month. Not only was Fattah past president of the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), an organization founded by Specially Designated Global Terrorist Mousa Abu Marzook and described by another convicted terror leader as “the political command for Hamas in the United States,” but she also co-authored two books with current Hamas spokesman Ahmed Yousef. Yousef fled the US in 2005 to avoid prosecution and immediately reappeared as one of the top leaders of Hamas. He has been described by one Middle Eastern newspaper as “The Smiling Face of Hamas.” CONTINUED