By Sandy Eller – VIN News
A newly graduated FDNY firefighter whose father was convicted for plotting to kill Jewish civilians has, ironically, been assigned to a fire station in Borough Park.
The New York Post (http://nyp.st/2yvbqWJ) reported that Omar Ahmed Sattar graduated the FDNY Fire Academy in October.
His father, Ahmed Abel Sattar, is serving a 24 year prison sentence after being convicted in 2005 of “soliciting crimes of violence” which specifically included targeting Jews. According to the federal charges brought against the elder Sattar, he and a co-conspirator issued a call in the name of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, mastermind of the 1993 terror attack on the World Trade Center, to kill Jews in 2000.
A website established in Sattar’s defense described him as a victim of “the Zionists in New York” and a letter written by the younger Sattar asking for leniency in his father’s sentencing said that his father’s opinions were “just that and nothing more.”
30 year old Omar Sattar was one of 279 newly graduated firefighters in a class that also included the son of a firefighter whose father died at Ground Zero in the 9/11 terror attack.
According to FDNY spokesperson Frank Dwyer, it was unclear whether the department was aware of Sattar’s father’s history when they assigned him to Engine Co. 282 located on 12th Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets. Dwyer noted that all potential firefighters are subject to comprehensive background checks.
Retired NYPD sergeant Joseph Giacalone, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that while Sattar’s appointment may mark the first time the city has hired someone with a family background of terrorism, the fact that he passed the mandatory background check qualified him to serve as a firefighter.
“We can’t hold him accountable for the sins of the father,” said Giacolone. “You gotta give this kid a fair shot.”
As a firefighter, Sattar would have relatively free access to hospitals, crime scenes and other official sites, a fact that had some FDNY members expressing incredulity about Sattar’s appointment.
“They should hire Osama bin Laden’s son and put him in the same firehouse,” said one FDNY employee.
An FDNY Facebook post written this evening showed a picture of a smiling Sattar in his fire department attire, saying that becoming a firefighter had been a lifelong dream.
The post quoted Sattar, who has been with city’s Department of Sanitation for three years, as saying “I respect FDNY members and I am humbled to have this opportunity to have this opportunity to be a part of this incredible Department. The FDNY is a family that always supports each other and now I am living it. It means the world to me to be here.”
enough said
There’s a great difference between being non judgmental and being careful. Arabs are known that they can be your best friend for 40 years and one day stab you and personally know people that happened to. This Arab is not to be trusted not because of his father but rather the nature of the nation. It is a smart way for the terror organizations to get inside information while showing they’re the best of human kind. In the U.S many don’t really understand what an Arab is They can kill their own child/sibling in a dispute or if they embarrass… Read more »
Where is the foresight? The terrorists on 9/11 were trained pilots. This Arab does not belong in a Jewish community. Firefighter could c”v be a cover up.
This man’s father has been sitting in prison for close to 2 decades.
He chose a different path in life, could have been assigned to little Italy or Chinatown, or Harlem, but was willing to run into a burning building to save the lives of strangers, and perhaps lose his life doing so. And nobody would have cared.
But now that he’s willing to run into a burning bldg in BP, his father’s sins are being blamed on him. Totally disgusting.
Omar has passed all the psychological testing.
Leave him alone.
That’s very true. The home someone grows up in, the parent or parents and those who they are raised by has a profound effect on who they become.
I hear that Osama bin Laden Son is joining the fire department and crown Heights
תרח עשה תשובה שכתוב ואתה תבא אל אבותיך בשלום, ואם תרח לא היה עושה תשובה לא היה אומר לו הקב”ה לאברהם שיבא אל אבותיו בשלום
BS”D The wisest thing is toerr on the side of caution, if you are wrong big deal, he didn’t get a job if not the alternative is not speakable chas v Sholem
I understand what you are feeling, but let me ask you…. Can you always trust a Jew? I know Goyim whom I trust and Jews I do not. That being said, I say err on the side of caution. Why invite insecure feelings? Ask the department to make a transfer and at least honor the sensitivity of those who are afraid. No harm, no fowl.
The mishna doesn’t say to judge every jew favorably, והוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות. A lot of the above comments are appalling, though unfortunately not shocking. He hasn’t done anything wrong and he’s being made out to be a terrible person.
Every human being deserves a chance to prove themselves regardless of their background. No one should be defined by the actions of their parents. However, we need to be cautious and suspect that perhaps a son may have the same values as a parent in whose home he grew up in, and we must take appropriate measures to keep ourselves safe.
about the one G-d, when he went to fight against the 4 kings his army consisted of only Eliezer and himself. Doesn’t that explain something??
spoken like a true stupid liberal. you talk like this until something happens to you.
This guy is going the complete opposite direction of his father! His father wanted to take lives, this guy wants to save them! Yeah, his background is unfortunate, but you don’t choose who your parents are! Give him a fair shot!
PLEASE ….
Did he plan to kill Jews? Did he sit behind bars?
What a comparison!!
This is Scary, to think a terrorist’s son will be taking care of our dear ones on fateful days!!
Do you think that’s an intelligent statement to post on a public website?
I must deal regularly with goyim and my experience has proved to me that maybe 1 out of 35 or 40 is really trustworthy. Sorry but that’s from years of experience. They do exist but they’re not plentiful. Good Luck to you if you feel otherwise, this is really golus.
he should be considered a security risk, nu? He did Not come out in fact & condemn his father’s actions. It was more than just an opinion of his father, it was his actions! Sorry but this decision should have much more serious consideration.
American’s don’t get it.
some middle eastern ppl do have very messed up ideology.
FDNY, what better place for a sleeper cell, g-d forbid.
i’d need to know that he really is a man with truly peaceful intentions.
smell the the stinking coffee.
He should be assigned to his neighborhood not ours.
I think you should rephrase that (never trust a goy), Arabs have a different culture and act very different from Western society, besides for their ideologies, so obviously you have to be careful. I’m assuming you do not know too many respectable non-Jews, however, there are many good hearted and well meaning non-Jews in the world who would give their lives for their Jewish friends.
And dangerous
This, at best gross insensitivity, would not be perpetrated in any community other than a religious Jewish community. Intentionally placing him in the midst of one of the few almost totally Jewish neighborhoods is just what I would expect of the city.
specially when he have this type of back-round.
everything with them (this back-round) is a big plan.
You can see the latest attacks in Israel with Israeli-Arabs that they were “regular” civilians with no intention of harming anyone, and bum, they were the ones performing the attacks.
Lets not be silly, we have to keep a BIG eye on this matter.
I hope all the nay sayers apply all of the same standards to themselves.
The father may be a monster but if the son is willing to put his life on the line to help other people and save lives I would give him the complete benefit of the doubt and would say he’s probably a pretty decent human. How many of you would be wiling to become firefighters? it’s a really hard job and when a firefighter leaves their house they wonder if it’s the last time. I totally agree with what #2 said.
let him be a firefighter I guess, but definitely not in a predominately Jewish neighborhood. He’s not guilty necessarily by association, but he hasn’t proved himself to be innocent either, by not completely condemning his father’s actions!
was a mobster.
Would you want him babysitting your kids?
Would you want to rely on him of doing whatever he can to get your kids to safety if C”V a fire broke out?
Yes, a person is influenced majorly by how he grew up and by what he hears growing up! (Molesters and criminals don’t talk about it, never mind openly and in public all the time)
Just saying..
Do you REALLY lack the clarity to differenciate?.This is a massive concern.He has to be transferred to Dearborn,Michigan.Rachmana Litzlan,how besides the difficult lasts seconds of golus,we are living in,is the denial, and lalalalalalala land,all of YOU are living in.
Only if he was raised by a different parent there would be no concern, but if he was raised by a terrorist than that is risky.
It is so disgusting to place all the father sins on the children. Imagine if we would have a policy that we ostracized children of molestors, of criminals, etc. And published it across the world.
somehow I’m very concerned