Islamic media is reporting on the relationship between a Democratic-leaning U.S. national security affairs group and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. According to an OnIslam report:
Monday, 12 November 2012 00:00 CAIRO – A Muslim activist is winning the admiration of Americans for his efforts to tackle issues that stoke tension between Muslims and non-Muslims and energize younger generations to balance between their faith and the western life. ‘What I like about working with Haris and MPAC is that they understand both the needs of their community and the way Washington works,’ Heather Hurlburt, director of the nonprofit National Security Network, told The Washington Post. Hulburt’s group cooperated with Haris Tarin, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) in Washington to hold a series of hearings on extremism in the US. MPAC… Busting America’s Islam Myths US Muslim Footballer Balances Faith, Life ‘It’s an incredible challenge for a Muslim group to emerge as an advocate in the national security area, and they are really impressive.’ Tarin has won praise in the US for his efforts to tackle issues that stoke sentiments against US Muslims as extremism. ‘We want to ensure that American Muslims are seen as an integral part of the American fabric, that they feel comfortable with both their faith and their American identity,’ Tarin said. ‘We want to be seen as partners, not suspects.’ Born to a former Afghan diplomat, Tarin grew up in Los Angeles and earned a BA at California State University, Northridge. He taught Islamic and social studies at a Muslim school, before moving to a job at MPAC, the publicity arm of the Islamic Center of Southern California, to promote Islam in line with progressive, peaceful and nonsectarian values. Over the span of past week only, the dynamic young Muslim showed a role model for active Muslim youth. He spoke at a Washington panel on how the next US president can combat extremism without using security solutions. Later on, he delivered a guest sermon for `Eid al-Adha, one of the two main Islamic occasions, in Alexandria, during which he wore casual Western clothes but recited prayers in perfect Arabic. Tarin also hosted an election night party and discussion in Great Falls. ‘We have a civic duty to engage in our society. If you don’t make your voice heard, someone else will,’ he told the Muslim audience.
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A post from earlier this month reported that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was the main feature at a May 2012 fundraising event that included important leaders of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) who sat at the same table with Pelosi. A subsequent post also reported on the formation of a National Muslim Democratic Council.
The website for the National Security Network (NSN) describes itself as “founded in June 2006 to revitalize America’s national security policy, bringing cohesion and strategic focus to the progressive national security community. A Washington Post article reported that the NSN’s advisory board “reads as a who’s who of major left-leaning defense and security experts.” The NSN Advisory Council includes the following individuals of interest:
- Leslie H. Gelb (Chairman, President of the Council on Foreign Relations)
- Stanley S. Arkin (Chairman of a private intelligence group)
- Samuel R. Berger (U.S. National Security Advisor, under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001)
- Richard Clarke (former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism)
- Gen. Wesley Clark (retired Army General, former Democratic Presidential candidate)
- Dr. Gail Furman (major Democratic donor)
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. Although proclaiming a love for the Jewish people and engaging in interfaith dialog, MPAC has made frequent anti-Semitic statements that assert or imply an organized Jewish campaign to defame and exclude U.S. Muslims. MPAC has also gone beyond criticism of Israel, engaging in demonization of the Jewish state. Such demonization includes accusations of “rape of the Palestinians” in regard to the Al-Aqsa mosque, comparisons with Nazis, accusation of apartheid and genocide, accusations of “butchery”, and suggestions that Israel is seeking the eradication of Islam from its territories. 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.