An Internet social media news portal is reporting that the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Media Program has announced the launch of a new version of its Global Expert Finder. According to the report:
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Media Program announced the launch of a new version of its Global Expert Finder, an online resource aimed at connecting journalists, editors, and producers with experts on political, religious, and cultural issues and crises.The UN Alliance said Global Expert Finder offers commentary and analysis on topics including politics, terrorism, human rights, women’s rights, globalization, religion, and culture, allowing users to search experts based on areas of expertise, location, and language, as well as to sign up for media alerts. Podcasts and video interviews were also added to the site. Among experts contributing to Global Expert Finder: Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University economist and fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations; Karen Armstrong, British religious scholar, author and TED prize winner in 2008; Kjell Magne Bondevik, former prime minister of Norway; Gareth Evans, former foreign minister of Australia; Ken Roth, director of Human Rights Watch; Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; Richard Barrett, coordinator of the UN Al Qaeda and Taliban Monitoring Unit; and Andre Azoulay, chief adviser to His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
A search of the new Expert Finder under the categories of religion and terrorism reveals that it list numerous individuals either tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood or highly supportive of the global Brotherhood including:
- John Esposito (US AOC rep, Georgetown University academic and long-time global Brotherhood supporter)
- Karen Armstrong (US APC rep. religion writer with strong ties to the USMB (see below)
- Dahlia Mogahed (Obama Administration faith adviser with family ties to the Global Muslim Brotherhood, Esposito colleague)
- Alistair Crooke (former UK intelligence operative, Head of Conflicts Forum and author of books raising Hamas and Hezbollah)
- Oliver McTernan (supportive of INTERPAL, the UK Good member organization)
- Abdulaziz Sachedina (Center for the Study of Islamic and Democracy (CSID)
- Sara Silvestri (UK academic favorable toward Global Muslim Brotherhood)
- Joel Beinin (far-left Stanford academic, supported Sami Al-Arian, the Islamic JIhad leader in the US)
- Abdeslam Maghraoui (United States Institute of Peace, participant in 2006 meeting in Belgium with US and European Muslim Brotherhood)
- Abdallah Schleifer (Center for the Study of Islamic and Democracy (CSID)
- Asma Afsaruddin (Center for the Study of Islamic and Democracy (CSID)
It should be noted that the Alliance of Civilizations (AOC) Expert Finder does contain the name of several individuals who would likely be critical of the Global Muslim Brotherhood including French journalist Caroline Fourest, French academic Gilles Kepel, and French Islamic scholar Mohammed Arkoun, they are far outnumbered by the individuals listed above and all from one country.
As discussed in an earlier post, the Obama administration was preparing to join the AOC which is represented in the US and Europe by individuals sympathetic to the global Muslim Brotherhood including two listed above:
- Prof. John Esposito (United States)
- Rabbi Arthur Schneier (United States)
- Hubert Védrine (France)
- Karen Armstrong (United Kingdom)
As discussed in an earlier post, the AOC itself has taken positions consistent with those of the Global Muslim Brotherhood and lauded the work of three organizations tied to the global Brotherhood. As that post noted, the AOC has cited the work of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), an organization initiated by Dr. Esposito in 1998 and also tied to the global Brotherhood. As identified above, several of the AOC experts are affiliated with CSID.