Given the controversy surrounding Burson-Marsteller’s representation of the Ennahda political party, one wonders if Don Baer, CEO of the firm who’s widely seen as one of Hillary Clinton’s closest confidants is concerned of a possible backlash to Hillary. Sheikh Rachid al-Ghannouchi, the head of Tunisia’s controversial Islamist Ennahda Movement, is scheduled to speak on Tuesday afternoon at the Yale Law School – talk about opening doors quickly. Burson-Marsteller is one of the world’s most successful public relations firms.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that al-Ghannouchi is “a radical Tunisian sheik who has called for the murder of U.S. troops abroad and was banned from the United States for supporting the terror group Hamas.”
Al-Ghannouchi is the leading figure in Tunisia’s previously banned but hugely popular Islamist Ennahda (“Resistance”) political party, which despite being billed as “moderate” by many, has a history of violence inside and outside of Tunisia. Al-Ghannouchi was a founding trustee and board member of a group that signed onto a notorious 2004 fatwa endorsing the murder of U.S. troops in Iraq and has personally urged the Muslim world to “burn and destroy” U.S. interests across the globe. “We must wage unceasing war against the Americans until they leave the land of Islam, or we will burn and destroy all their interests across the entire Islamic world,” al-Ghannouchi was quoted as saying. “Muslim youth must be serious in their warning to the Americans that a blow to Iraq will be a license to strike American and Western interests throughout the Islamic world.”The sheik’s violent rhetoric, radical leanings, and endorsement of Hamas led him to be banned from entering the United States for a time.” There have been many comments on Facebook Burson Marsteller page here: https://www.facebook.com/BursonMarsteller At Everything PR, we intend to closely follow this issue. Please send us any details we may not be including.
