Elements of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood have reported meeting with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to express their concerns about the mayor’s comments on the Gaza crisis that were supportive of Israel. According to an announcement by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC):
Today, the Muslim Public Affairs Council – New York City (MPAC-NYC), together with other community groups, met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg to express their concerns about the mayor’s “uncritical” support of Israel’s recent attacks on Gaza. “In the interest of representing all New Yorkers, including Muslim and Arab American communities, we urged Mayor Bloomberg to avoid making unbalanced foreign policy statements,” said Dalia Mahmoud, MPAC-NYC Board Member. “Such statements serve to alienate many New Yorkers at a time when the city should be seeking to foster unity.” “Community input is imperative when the mayor claims to speak on behalf of all New Yorkers,” said CAIR-NY Community Affairs Director Faiza N. Ali, who also took part in today’s meeting. “We look forward to future open and frank conversations that yield concrete solutions and benefit our city’s diverse population.” Other groups participating in the meeting included the Salam Arabic Lutheran Church, Network of Arab-American Professionals of New York, the Arab Muslim American Federation, the Islamic Circle of North America and the Association of Muslim American Lawyers. The groups called for the establishment of a task force that would provide consultation on issues affecting the New York Muslim and Arab American communities.
MPAC was established in the mid 1980’s by individuals whose backgrounds are likely rooted in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and since its inception has acted in concert with the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. The organization, like other U.S. Brotherhood organizations, has a long history of fundamentalism, anti-Semitism, and support for terrorism. The organization has long enjoyed generally good relations with the U.S. government and functions essentially as the political lobbying arm of the U.S. Brotherhood.
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is a less well-known part of the Muslim Brotherhood network in the U.S., generally thought to be closely tied to the Jamaat-e-Islami organization of Southeast Asia, itself known to be allied with the Muslim Brotherhood. ICNA is particularly close to the Muslim American Society and the two organizations have been holding joint annual conventions for many years.