The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) has issued a statement condemning the killing of protestors by the Egyptian military which it labels a “massacre”. According to the ISNA statement:
August 14, 2013, The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is shocked at the violence unleashed in Egypt and strongly condemns the killing of innocent protesters.
‘We call for the protection of human life and freedom of expression for all Egyptians,’ said Imam Mohamed Magid, president of ISNA. ‘All Egyptians should have the right to express their views peacefully and without fear for their lives,’ he added.
ISNA shares the sentiments of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who has condemned in the strongest terms the violence that occurred when Egyptian security services used force to clear sit-ins and demonstrations. ‘The Secretary-General regrets that Egyptian authorities chose instead to use force to respond to the ongoing demonstrations,’ his spokesperson said in a statement.
We join Mr. Ban in extending our condolences to the families of those killed, and wish those injured full and speedy recovery.
We note that the White House has also condemned the violence in Egypt, as well as the imposition of emergency law, warning Egypt’s military-backed interim government that ‘the world is watching.’
ISNA calls upon all governments and people of conscience to bring pressure upon the Egyptian authorities to immediately suspend all operations that kill and maim innocent citizens.
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) describes itself as “an independent, open and transparent membership organization that strives to be an exemplary and unifying Islamic organization in North America by contributing to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large. ISNA emerged out of the early U.S. Muslim Brotherhood infrastructure and documents discovered in the course of the the terrorism trial of the Holy Land Foundation confirmed that the organization was part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. ISNA was named as a Holy Land unindicted co-conspirator as a result of what the US Justice Department called the organization’s ” intimate relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestine Committee, and the defendants in this case.” In 2009, a US federal judge ruled “The Government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA and NAIT with HLF, the Islamic Association for Palestine (“IAP”), and with Hamas.” ISNA has had a long history of fundamentalism, anti-semitism, and support for terrorism. ISNA of late. Clearly considered to be “rehabilitated” by the Obama administration, ISNA has more recently issued robust condemnations of terrorism beginning with this 2008 ISNA statement that although denying culpability in the Holy Land terrorism financing case, for the first time condemned terrorism while identifying Hamas and Hezbollah by name. ISNA has also been engaged in an active program of interfaith cooperation that has included partnerships with Jewish organizations and visits to concentration camp sites in Europe. Yet despite these new efforts, ISNA continues maintain strong ties to both the US and Global Muslim Brotherhood and has failed to date to acknowledge any aspect of its actual origins or its history of fundamentalism, anti-semitism, and support for terrorism. For these reasons, the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch concludes that ISNA remains, as it always has been, an integral part of the US Muslim Brotherhood.
For a detailed analysis of ISNA and its recent history, go here.