The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, has announced that its representatives attended an interfaith event sponsored by the new Tony Blair Faith Foundation which was opened by former President Clinton. According to the ISNA announcement :
On May 30, 2008, leaders of different religious groups were hosted at the Time Warner Center in New York for a presentation by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the creation of “a new foundation dedicated to interfaith understanding…” According to an article by the Associated Press (AP), The Tony Blair Faith Foundation will help “fight extremism, organize faith groups against poverty and illness, and educate people worldwide about religions other than their own.” “There is a new reality,” said Mr. Blair to the audience of interfaith leaders. “…We have to come to terms with it. And it implies, at its fundamentals, peaceful coexistence or catastrophe…If faith becomes a countervailing force, pulling people apart, then it becomes destructive and indeed dangerous…”The Blair Foundation event was opened by former United States President Bill Clinton and among its attendees were Dr. Sayyid Syeed and Dr. Ingrid Mattson of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). The AP article noted that Dr. Syeed, “a national leader of the Islamic Society of North America and a veteran of interfaith outreach, said it is possible to find common ground without watering down religious teachings if the work is based on sound scholarship about each faith.” “It has been done in the past and can be done again,” Dr. Syeed was quoted as saying in the Associated Press article
ISNA was founded in 1981 by members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and the organization has an extensive history of fundamentalism, antisemitism, and support for terrorism. ISNA has recently made strides in forming a relationship with a major organization representing Reform Judaism.