#FreeRaif: To Liberty-Minded Muslims, Treatment of Saudi Blogger is Personal by M. Zuhdi Jasser  •  June 11, 2015 at 3:00 pm While American Muslims raise their voices in collective indignant outrage over Tahera Ahmad's accusation that she was denied a can of Diet Coke on an airplane, Raif Badawi languishes in prison, effectively sentenced to death by lashing. American Muslim organizations, such as CAIR, ISNA and others have not spoken out in support of a man who is being persecuted for questioning the Wahhabi religious establishment. If these organizations didn't regularly comment on the status of Muslims abroad, this would be perhaps less notable -- but they do, and thus their silence is deafening even as their hypocrisy is predictable. The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) calls on President Obama and his administration to appeal to Saudi authorities on behalf of Raif Badawi. One of the enormous barriers to justice for Raif Badawi is Saudi Arabia's refusal to allow him adequate legal representation. In fact, his lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, has been sentenced to fifteen years in prison, charged with the "crimes" of "inflating public opinion" and "distorting the Kingdom's reputation." Badawi's and Abu al-Khair's names should be uttered from the mouth of President Barack Obama every day from the bully pulpit of the White House until they are freed. Raif Badawi (left) and his lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair. For two years, I have been campaigning alongside my fellow liberty-minded Muslims at the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (the nonprofit organization I founded to combat Islamism) for the release of the courageous Saudi blogger Raif Badawi -- and for two years, the mainstream Muslim community and the Obama administration have remained relatively silent on his case. Continue Reading Article To subscribe to the this mailing list, go to http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/list_subscribe.php Gatestone Institute 14 East 60 St., Suite 1001, New York, NY 10022