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Cuppa Joe or Cup of Jihad: Caribou
Coffee’s Terrorist Ties
By Debbie Schlussel
[email protected]
You’d be surprised that your morning cup
of coffee is tied to terrorism.
But for Americans who buy coffee—or anything else—at Caribou Coffee, their
“Cuppa Joe” is tied to the Muslim brotherhood, the Muslim boycott of the
West, and a bunch of Saudi Sheiks.
Caribou is closely tied to a prominent religious Muslim leader, Dr. Yusuf (a/k/a
Youssef) Abdullah Al-Qaradawi, who said, “Now we see our brothers and children
in Al-Aqsa and the blessed
Caribou Coffee Company, Inc., the large Minnesota-based chain of premium
coffeehouses trying to compete with Starbucks, describes itself as “a classic
American growth company” with “the look and feel of an Alaskan lodge.”
But, in fact, Caribou is not “classic American.” It is owned by the
Bahrain-based First Islamic Investment Bank—to the tune of 87.8%.
First Islamic’s officers and Board of Directors consist primarily of Saudis,
and its key religious advisor is Al-Qaradawi, spiritual advisor to the terrorist
group, the Muslim Brotherhood, according to one of Daniel Pearl’s last Wall
Street Journal articles. Al-Qaradawi’s association with the Muslim
Brotherhood—home to Mohammed Atta and Bin-Laden boss Ayman Al-Zawahiri--is the
reason Al-Qaradawi was imprisoned for several years in Egypt and was banned from
preaching in Cairo mosques. In addition to praising homicide bombers, Al-Qaradawi
has issued numerous anti-American and anti-Semitic fatwas, including a boycott
of American and
In an official statement released by Caribou, the company denies all ties to Al-Qaradawi,
and in fact, do not even mention him by name, referring to him only as “an
outside advisor.” In an interview, Caribou Coffee CEO Don Dempsey told
me, “He has nothing to do with our company. Nothing!” Caribou
also claims that “Our ownership . . . is 100% opposed to terrorism of any
kind, anywhere – period.” Dempsey told me that the only statements
he’s seen that Al-Qaradawi has made were in opposition to the terrorist events
of 9/11. He told me. “I don’t have time to look up his
statements. He doesn’t work for our company.”
Caribou’s denials are understandable, as Dempsey admitted that a large portion
of Caribou’s customers are Jewish, and many of its stores, like the two stores
in West Bloomfield, Michigan (suburban Detroit), are near primarily Jewish
neighborhoods.
But, actually, Al Qaradawi is a key advisor to First Islamic, whose website
states, “First Islamic is guided by the following principles in conducting its
activities: Above all, ensuring that all activities conform to Islamic
Shari’ah (religious law).”
Until last week, when a damaging e-mail made its way around the Internet, First
Islamic’s website featured a Shari’ah Supervisory Board, listing its
chairman as “Dr. Yusuf Abdullah Al-Qaradawi, Chairman, Seerah & Sunnah
Center, Qatar University; Professor, Faculty of Shari’ah, Qatar University.”
The beauty of the Internet is that, even though First Islamic does not want you
to read this, the page can still be accessed because it has been cached by the
Google.com search engine.
First Islamic’s website states, “The Bank’s Shari’ah and legal teams,
with the active involvement of the Shari’ah Supervisory Board, work
closely with the direct investment, real estate and asset management teams to
develop the Bank’s ground-breaking Islamic investment and financing
structures. To ensure rigorous compliance with Shari’ah requirements,
the Shari’ah and legal teams, and through them the Shari’ah Supervisory
Board, are involved in the key phases of each new transaction. After a
transaction closes, it is continuously monitored to ensure ongoing Shari’ah
compliance.”
Caribou’s press statement would only say “We . . . understand that this
relationship [with Al-Qaradawi] is under review.” Would, say, a K-mart
“relationship” with David Duke remain under review, or would he be fired
instantly? When I asked Caribou CEO Dempsey why the organization would not
immediately sever all ties with Al-Qaradawi, he continued to state that “this
person” had condemned 9/11 and that this was the only statement of Al-Qaradawi’s
he’d seen and didn’t see what was wrong with it.
But in Al-Qaradawi’s official fatwa on the attacks, released by his own Islam
Online and several Muslim news agencies on September 13, Al Qaradawi used the
9/11 attacks to attack Israel and Jews, emphasizing “our strong opposition to
the American biased policy towards Israel.” Moreover, he implied that
Arab Muslims are much more afflicted than American victims of 9/11. “We
Arab Muslims are the most affected by the grave consequences of hostile
attack on man and life. We share the suffering experienced by innocent
Palestinians at the hands of the tyrannical Jewish entity.”
In a December 2001 article in Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram Weekly, Al-Qaradawi
was described as “the Arab world’s most famous and certainly most popular
Islamic scholar.” In that article, Al-Qaradawi’s decrees were
summarized. “Instead of putting money into building a mosque or go[ing]
on the haj (religious pilgrimage to
In another fatwa, Al-Qaradawi wrote, “It is Jihad to liberate the Islamic
lands from those who attack or conquer them. These are the enemies of
Islam. This Jihad is an absolute obligation and a sacred duty. . . .
All the Muslims of the world must assist.
Since Al-Qaradawi decreed, “Muslims in
Americans should take just a smidgeon of Al-Qaradawi’s advice and boycott the
“American” company with which he is associated, Caribou Coffee.
Why spend money with a company whose key advisor supports terrorism, and
approves of terrorism? To Al-Qaradawi, spilling of innocent blood—not
drinking coffee—is good to the last drop.
Debbie Schlussel is a political commentator and attorney. Join her fan club or discussion group.
Views expressed are those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Political
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