\n<\/p>\n
Hatem Fariz has quite a rap sheet.<\/p>\n
He served roughly three years in prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to provide material support to Iranian terror proxy Palestinian Islamic Jihad and for additional counts in a separate case involving a reported $1.4 million food stamp\u00a0scam<\/a>. He once bragged about assaulting a child he believed was \u201ccooperating with the Jews\u201d and laughed off a deadly bombing in Israel while helping raise funds for terror groups in the Middle East,\u00a0according<\/a> to the Tampa Bay Times.<\/p>\n But Fariz appears to have undergone a reinvention. Now he\u2019s best known as a pillar of Florida\u2019s Muslim community.<\/p>\n Fariz landed in Florida after his release from a federal prison in 2010, according to the Tampa Bay Times. While serving as the director of the Islamic Community of Tampa \u2014 also known as the Alqassam Mosque \u2014 Fariz has organized pro-Palestinian protests and become a prominent community member. The local police chief Kenneth Albano even called him \u201ca force for reason within the Muslim community,\u201d the Tampa Bay Times reported in 2024.<\/p>\n At the time, he was also characterized by his former attorney as the \u201cworker bee\u201d of another man convicted of supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the same case, Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor, the local news outlet reported<\/a>. The Tampa mosque run by Fariz was registered to Al-Arian\u2019s name in 1995,\u00a0according<\/a> to state records.<\/p>\n Al-Arian has since been\u00a0deported<\/a> to Turkey. But thanks to Fariz, he still appears to have a footprint in Florida.<\/p>\n A new report<\/a> from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) says that figures like Fariz are just a small part of a seemingly benign \u201cnetwork of nonprofit, religious, and advocacy organizations operating in and connected to Florida that show repeated documented overlap with individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses, designated under U.S. sanctions authorities, or publicly associated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and broader Iran-aligned influence ecosystems,\u201d according<\/a> to a new report from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI).<\/p>\n The report says that the Iran-aligned influence network is gaining a foothold in Florida, and the claims have caught the attention of Florida lawmakers. Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins told The Daily Wire he\u2019s \u201c100% serious\u201d about addressing the allegations made in NCRI\u2019s report.<\/p>\n Collins shared his concern that the \u201cdeceptive and slow insidious method\u201d of radical groups that entails \u201cembedding in communities and changing people\u2019s mindsets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe better understand that we have to get ahead of this now so this doesn\u2019t become a problem,\u201d said Collins, a candidate for Florida governor.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s current governor Ron DeSantis has already taken action on the issue. Just last week DeSantis signed a law<\/a> that would allow state authorities to designate groups as terrorist organizations, and even expel students attending local universities who support them.<\/p>\n Florida has also zeroed in on the influence of Council on American-Islamic Relations\u2019 (CAIR) in the state. In December, DeSantis signed an order designating CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization. CAIR has denied any connection to terrorism and has filed a lawsuit regarding the order.<\/p>\n The designation was based on the group\u2019s alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Florida also designated as a foreign terrorist organization.<\/p>\n \u201cCAIR was founded by persons connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and was created, in the words of persons affiliated with CAIR, as \u2018an official U.S. cover representing the Islamic community\u2019 to conceal ties to Islamic extremist groups,\u201d the state\u2019s order on the\u00a0designation<\/a> read.<\/p>\n Last month, the designation was blocked by a federal judge after CAIR\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n CAIR\u2019s Florida chapter has promoted both Al-Arian and Fariz, casting them as victims of political prosecution. Both have been close allies of CAIR in the state.<\/p>\n Fariz solicited donations for CAIR\u2019s galas in 2018 and 2019<\/a>, highlighting its \u201cgreat work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPlease donate generously for the great work that CAIR is doing and continue to do. Our goal through this post is $10k,\u201d Fariz\u00a0wrote<\/a> in one of the posts.<\/p>\n CAIR\u2019s Florida branch\u00a0listed<\/a> Fariz\u2019s Islamic Community of Tampa as \u201ca leading sponsor\u201d of its 2021 gala. The Islamic Community of Tampa was also\u00a0listed<\/a> as a co-sponsor of a community fundraiser advertised for March 2022. Fariz was listed as a contact<\/a> for CAIR Florida\u2019s \u201cWeek of Action\u201d in October 2023.<\/p>\n The organization\u2019s Tampa chapter organized a\u00a0showing<\/a> of Al-Arian\u2019s documentary in 2007. CAIR Florida said<\/a> the film focused on \u201cpost-Sept. 11 hysteria and the persecution of a Muslim, as well as the emotionally grinding devastation the prosecution brought to the Al-Arian family.\u201d<\/p>\n CAIR Florida featured<\/a> Al-Arian in a 2020 webinar on the experiences of \u201cpolitical prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n That same year, the group promoted Fariz\u2019s story during a webinar on \u201cpersecution in the United States.\u201d He was also\u00a0nominated<\/a> for a CAIR Florida \u201cProtect Award\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n A CAIR Florida 2021 fundraising video<\/a> featured Fariz hailing the organization for having \u201cprovided \u2026 relief\u201d during his case.<\/p>\n He also spoke at CAIR Florida\u2019s 2021 gala<\/a>, where he characterized his terrorism case as \u201cbaseless.\u201d<\/p>\n The Islamic Community of Tampa mosque received a $9,000 grant in 2021 from another organization tied to the pair of figures, the Coalition for Civil Freedoms, according<\/a> to a financial disclosure statement.<\/p>\n While behind bars, Al-Arian \u201cspent much of his time in prison drafting a vision for an organization that would support political prisoners and their families\u201d that eventually became the Coalition for Civil Freedoms,\u00a0according<\/a> to the organization\u2019s website.<\/p>\n The organization pays stipends to Muslim prisoners accused of terrorism and provides the \u201cmost vulnerable prisoners $100 each month,\u201d according<\/a> to its donation page.<\/p>\n Fariz is now listed as the chairman of the board, development director, and treasurer for the Coalition for Civil Freedoms. The group also has a branch registered in Florida under Fariz\u2019s name, according to state records.<\/p>\n In the Coalition for Civil Freedoms\u2019 latest annual\u00a0report<\/a>, CAIR\u2019s Florida chapter is listed as a member organization. Fariz also appears to have close connections with the group.<\/p>\n Al-Arian currently serves as the director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Zaim University in Turkey,\u00a0according<\/a> to his bio on the school\u2019s website.<\/p>\n CIGA has previously hosted terror-tied individuals.<\/p>\n In 2024, the center hosted Hamas official\u00a0Osama Hamdan<\/a>, who is sanctioned by the United States government. He was\u00a0billed<\/a> as a speaker on \u201cPalestinian resistance.\u201d During his remarks, Hamdan advocated for \u201ca new map\u201d of the Middle East that excludes Israel.<\/p>\n In February 2025, CIGA\u00a0hosted<\/a> Majed Al-Zeer for a seminar on his book months after he was\u00a0sanctioned<\/a> by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.<\/p>\n