In line with its other past statement on the Gaza conflict, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) has issued a relatively restrained statement on the current violence. The ISNA statement begins:
Islamic Society of North America
7/15/14 Plainfield, IN The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the largest and oldest American Muslim umbrella organization, calls on President Obama and his Administration to demand that both Israelis and Palestinians to accept the Egyptian-proposed cease fire. This latest cycle of violence was prompted by the murder of three Israeli teenagers and revenge killing of a Palestinian youth.
Israel since last week, has been relentlessly bombing and shelling the Gaza strip, claiming the lives of nearly 200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and more than 1,100 wounded. Israel has reported two civilian injuries following hundreds rockets fired from Gaza. Both actions according to human rights organizations, constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law.
News reports indicate that Israel may be preparing for a large ground incursion into the Gaza strip. Efforts must be made to prevent this escalation at all costs. Peace cannot be negotiated as long as violence ensues, and the region has already suffered far too much bloodshed. Provocation on one side only leads to retaliation from the other, and all efforts must be made to prevent further devastation on either side.
In a statement, ISNA President Imam Mohamed Magid said:
The GMBDW reported during the December 2008 Gaza-Israeli conflict, ISNA had issued one of the less inflammatory statements on the crisis. A September 2012 statement on Gaza was also relatively restrained.
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.
