The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) has expressed its approval of a meeting held last week between “Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian American community leaders” and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. According to an ISNA press release:
In a meeting with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday to discuss joint efforts against domestic violent extremists, Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian American community leaders welcomed commitments by the Secretary to promote meaningful, positive and authentic dialogue. Leaders from national and local organizations representing these communities expressed concern about DHS policies, such as racial, ethnic, and religious profiling at airports and the border, that have eroded the government’s trust and credibility with the communities. The commitments Secretary Napolitano made to these community leaders include:
-Community participation in an anti-violent extremism task force of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which reports to the Secretary
-Regular, quarterly meetings with the Secretary;
-Education and training for DHS leadership to promote understanding of the Muslim, Arab, Sikh & South Asian American communities and their concerns; and-
-An honest and full discussion of legitimate grievances from members of these communities about DHS policies that are ineffective and have a deleterious, humiliating impact on Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian American communities.
Community leaders believe that fulfilling these commitments would be a step forward in establishing meaningful, open and authentic dialogue between DHS and the Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian American communities. In addition, these leaders have called for changes to DHS policies that are ineffective and discriminate based on race, ethnicity or religion, including:
-Rescinding a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directive targeting travelers from or through 13 predominantly Muslim nations, plus Cuba.-
-Revising a TSA directive on religious headwear, such as turbans and headscarves.-Setting limits on interrogations and searches by Customs and Border Protection agents that probe an American’s faith, politics, finances or associations, as well as cell phones, laptops and electronic devices, without any evidence of wrongdoing.
Although it is not confirmed, the press release contains a list of media contacts including leaders from ISNA, the Muslim Public Affair Council (MPAC) and the Muslim American Society (MAS) suggesting that the Muslim “community leaders” were in fact representatives of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.
A report by the Hudson Institute has identified ISNA as a major part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. The organization has a long history of fundamentalism, anti-semitism, and support for terrorism and during the recent Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial, ISNA was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. Although recently ISNA has issued condemnations of terrorism which for the first time identify Hamas and Hezbollah by name, there is no indication that the organization has ever addressed or acknowledged its history.
MPAC was established initially in 1986 as the Political Action Committee of the Islamic Center of Southern California whose key leaders likely had their origins in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Since that time, MPAC has functioned as the political lobbying arm of the U.S. Brotherhood. MPAC has opposed virtually every count-terror initiative undertaken or proposed by the U.S. government. At times this opposition was said to be on civil-rights grounds but, just as often, MPAC claimed that U.S. counter-terror efforts were aimed at the U.S. Muslim community itself. MPAC has constructed and consistently espoused an elaborate ideology defending the use of violence by Islamists and Islamist organizations.
The MAS was identified in the Hudson Institute report as a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and closely tied to the Egyptian organization. The organization is notable for its extensive grassroots organization and its ties to far-left organizations.