Two major U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organizations have posted statements praising President Obama and the U.S. government for the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. According to a statement by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA):
(May 2, 2011) The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) joins all Americans in thanking President Obama for fulfilling his promise to bring Osama Bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, and perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks, to justice. We hope his death will bring some relief to all the families, of every faith and walk of life, who lost loved ones on 9/11 and in every other terrorist attack orchestrated at the hands of Osama Bin Laden. Over the past decade, ISNA has stood firm on our stance that ISNA and Muslims in America condemn the actions of Bin Laden on 9/11 and all acts of terror at the hands of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and all others who spread fear and hate through violence. We have repeatedly condemned the calls of Bin Laden and others like him for mass bloodshed and the attacking of innocent lives across the world. As the President pointed out in his address to the nation, the ideology of Bin Laden is incompatible with Islam: ‘Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.’ President Obama marked his hope that today, Americans will ‘think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11’ and remember that ‘on that day, no matter what God we prayed to, we were united as one American family.’ ‘ISNA joins President Obama and prays that as the nation continues to heal from the devastation inflicted upon them at the hands of Bin Laden, we will turn to each other today, united, and emerge tomorrow with an even stronger resolve to take every action necessary to protect the precious ideals of our nation that Bin Laden attempted to destroy on 9/11: peace, tolerance, respect, and freedom for all,’ said ISNA President Imam Magid. “
According to a statement by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC):
The Muslim Public Affairs Council tonight greeted the news of the death of Osama bin Laden with an immense sense of relief. This is a time when our country must stand together, and turn the page on a decade of terror led by bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. MPAC also commends the service of President Obama and his national security team, who have made bringing bin Laden to justice a top priority. ‘We hope this is a turning point away from the dark period of the last decade, in which bin Laden symbolized the evil face of global terrorism,’ said MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati. ‘His actions and those of Al-Qaeda have violated the sacred Islamic teachings upholding the sanctity of all human life. His acts of senseless terror have been met with moral outrage by Muslims worldwide at every turn in the past decade.’ The mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and the founder of Al-Qaeda, bin Laden represented the global menacing face of violent extremism and his death represents a defining moment in the fight against terrorism. ‘We support President Obama’s statement that bin Laden was ‘not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims,” said MPAC Senior Adviser Dr. Maher Hathout. ‘We stand together with all Americans and all peace-loving people around the world in remaining vigilant against any and all threats against our country.’ In light of the widespread democratic protests sweeping the Middle East which have demonstrated the power and effectiveness of peaceful protests to enact political change and realize the aspirations of the people, bin Laden and Al-Qaeda’s pro-violence messages have been exposed as bankrupt and misguided. “
A Hudson Institute report identifies both ISNA and MPAC as parts of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.
Contrary to its claim that ISNA has a “long record of fighting hate, extremism, and bigotry, including anti-Semitism”, the organization actually 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 as a result of what the government called “ISNA’s and NAIT’s intimate relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestine Committee, and the defendants in this case.” Although it is true that 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 of support for terrorism. Also, as the Hudson Institute report observes, almost all of the ISNA founders remain active in the organization and ISNA maintains close relations with all other components of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. A previous post discussed the ties between the ISNA Secretary-General, a former leader of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago chapter, and an Illinois school with close links to the Mosque Foundation, itself tied to fundraising for Hamas.
MPAC, headquartered in Southern California, 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.