The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has announced that it will be co-hosting a briefing on “violent extremism” together with the the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and that will include a representative from the Office of the Chairwoman of the Intelligence Subcommittee in the House Committee on Homeland Security. According to the announcement:
Join MPAC & ISPU for Capitol Hill Briefing on Countering Violent Extremism JUNE 16, 2010 On Thursday, June 17, the Muslim Public Affairs Council will be co-hosting a policy briefing on Capitol Hill with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding entitled “Perspectives on Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization.” A diverse set of panelists will explore the drivers of violent extremism, and how to counter them by building strong community and law enforcement ties and fostering healthy civic and religious identities.
Speakers will include:
-A representative from the Office of Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Intelligence Subcommittee in the House Committee on Homeland Security
– Alejandro J. Beutel, Government Liaison and National Security Policy Analyst, author of MPAC’s countering violent extremism strategy paper, “Building Bridges to Strengthen America: Forging an Effective Counterterrorism Enterprise between Muslim Americans and Law Enforcement”
– Azeem Ibrahim, Fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and a Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
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 consistently supported and facilitated terrorism by supporting terrorist organizations and, more broadly, constructing an elaborate ideology defending the use of violence by Islamists and Islamist organizations. More than any other U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organization, MPAC has developed extensive relationships with the U.S. government which have included numerous meetings with the Department of Justice and the FBI. A previous post reported that MPAC recently participated in a White House meeting with President Obama and cabinet officials to announce the President’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Another post reported that MPAC recently met with the new Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The Institute For Social Policy And Understanding (ISPU) is a MIchigan think tank whose scholars and advisers include the following individuals with ties to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood:
- Akbar Ahmed (long association with the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS)
- Ihsan Bagby (Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Fiqh Council of North America)
- Muneer Fareed (ISNA Secretary-General)
- Sherman Jackson (NAIT, ISNA)
- Sulayman Nyang (Howard University, frequent speaker at ISNA and CAIR events)
Other individuals of interested affiliated with ISPU include John Esposito , a Georgetown University academic and longtime Brotherhood supporter and Graham Fuller, former Vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA and member of the Advisory Board of the Conflicts Forum headed by former MI6 agent Alistair Crooke, described in a media report as secretly one of Britain’s leading intermediaries with militant groups.
Another well-known member of the ISPU board of director is Mazen Asbahi who then candidate Obama appointed as his campaign Muslim outreach advisor. Asbahi was a former MSA leader who resigned his position after less than two weeks on the job when the GMBDW detailed his ties to the USMB.