By Debbie Schlussel

The next time you hear about the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, know that the name is phony.  The organization–which is behind phonies like Mohammed Zuhdi Jasser and his false ideas that “true Islam” and “most Muslims” are peaceful–quickly folded to the empty threats of an admitted, convicted Hezbollah spy’s lawyer.  The organization would be better called “Cracking Foundation for the Defense of Democracies Until a Lawyer Sends Us a Letter and We Immediately Cave.”

Cowards: Clifford May, Walid Phares Give in to Hezbo Spy’s Lawyer Mark Zaid

As I told you the other day, Hezbollah spy and convicted felon, Nada Nadim Prouty, is doing the media rounds, boo-hooing, and otherwise whining about how she’s a woman done wrong.  And, as I also noted, her new lawyer, Mark Zaid is threatening lawsuits and sending letters.  The one person to whom he’s not sent one of his empty threats is me.  While I was out for Passover, Zaid admitted on his FaceBook Page that he won’t sue me.  That’s because he knows full well he doesn’t have a case. It’s a case he’ll not only lose, but I and my lawyers would have fun with it, along with a certain counter-suit.  Zaid’s client, Nada Nadim Prouty, admitted her crimes in a signed plea agreement, and now she’s trying to take advantage of her absurd freedom by cashing in.  She won’t get a dime from me, nor a retraction of the truth.

But look who gave in.  “Fighters” against Islamic terrorism–the same people who criticize liberals and the Obama administration (but not so much the equally wimpy Bush administration before that) for wimping out on terrorism, immediately wimped out because a lawyer’s secretary typed a baseless letter and put a stamp on it.

A lawyer is warning TV commentators, bloggers and Web sites that they could face defamation lawsuits if they continue calling his client, Nada Prouty, a terrorist spy. . . .

Zaid also sent letters to Dr. Walid Phares, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies.

Phares, a terrorism expert, is a senior fellow at the foundation and prolific author. The foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based policy institute that fights ideologies that threaten democracy.

The center is an Alexandria, Va.-based training group.

Zaid said the two organizations in January published a Phares article implying that Prouty was a Hizballah mole at the CIA and FBI.

Phares could not be reached and the foundation would not comment.

The center said it decided to remove the article from its Web site.

Yup, if these people were in your foxhole on the battlefield, you’d be dead.

I’m not surprised at the instant capitulation of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies or the two-faced Phares. Founded and headed by former New York Times reporter Cliff May–a recovering liberal who really never recovered–the organization is tireless in promoting the myth of moderate Islam. The organization sits on millions in donations from largely wealthy Jewish conservative philanthropists, who actually believe May’s fertilizer that he’s fighting the Islamic threat on America (through such things as instant cowering over a Hezbollah spy’s lawyer’s letter).

May and his organization, along with Frank Gaffney and Daniel Pipes, are big-time behind the creation of this character, known as “M. Zuhdi Jasser,” and his organization of “moderate Muslims” made up of mostly Jewish and Christian members. The “M.” stands for Mohammed (which, like everything else about himself, he’s trying to obscure), and I’ve discussed, at length on this site, what a fraud Jasser is and how he’s attacked Israel, embraced a terrorist Imam who recruited young Somalians to become homicide bombers in Africa, and otherwise lied about Islam.

And then there’s Phares. The Maronite Christian from Lebanon cannot go back to his native because he reportedly worked with the Israelis. But here in America, he’s played people like a fiddle and also cowered immediately for a buck. Phares was the key prosecution witness in the Detroit Terror Cell trial. But when politically-motivated, Islamo-friendly feds, themselves, overturned the conviction of Al-Qaeda terrorists and went on a witch-hunt against prosecutor Richard Convertino, Phares played both sides. Privately, he sent me unsolicited e-mails (which I was never asked nor did I agree to keep confidential) filled with fake tears over the horrible fate Convertino faced (and eventually beat), noting that these were, indeed, Islamic terrorists.

But, publicly, Phares–the TV personality intent on keeping his perch ‘cuz he has books to sell–said nothing about the case and quietly cooperated with prosecutors in their successful efforts to free the Al-Qaeda terrorists and their unsuccessful but harrowing attempt to prosecute Convertino.  He did nothing to do the right thing and help Convertino, under fire for actually convicting Islamic terrorists who planned to blow up Disneyland, sites in Las Vegas, and an Air Force base, from which US and Israeli planes took off.  Hey, he had some moola to protect. Phares gets paid by the hour to testify as an expert witness in Islamic terrorism trials . . . and he didn’t want to give that up to stand up for a man he privately declared was innocent.

If I were trapped in a pit with a venomous cobra and Mr. Phares, I’d have to rely on the cobra to rescue me from the more poisonous snake.

If this is an example of how Clifford May engages in the “Defense of Democracies,” it’s time for him to close up shop.  Epic failure here.  But no shocker to anyone in the know.