Georgetown University professor and supporter of the Global Muslim Brotherhood Dr. John Esposito has announced that he is stepping down from his current position as the Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding to become head of a new Islamophobia program. According to the announcement:
On 1993, I came to Georgetown University as Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, renamed in 2006, The Alwaleed Center…. I have decided to pass on the directorship and am delighted that my colleague Jonathan Brown is my successor. I will continue at Georgetown as University Professor, Professor of Religion & International Affairs and of Islamic Studies and Director of The Bridge Initiative: Protecting Pluralism —Ending Islamophobia Program.
Dr. Esposito fails to mention that according to the Bridge Initiative website, the organization is “housed” at the Georgetown Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and describes itself as follows:
Housed in Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), The Bridge Initiative is a multi-year research project that connects the academic study of Islamophobia with the public square.
Our Mission
To highlight the problem of Islamophobia, challenge the discourses that contribute to it, and offer an alternative narrative based on research accessible to public.Our VisionRecognition of Islamophobia as an obstacle to strong pluralistic societies and therefore a threat to human dignity and civil liberties.
Read the rest here.
The list of Bridge Initiative staff, consultants, advisory board, and steering committee contains numerous individuals tied to or supportive of the Global Muslim Brotherhood including:
- Ahmed Rehab ( director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations)
- Sherman Jackson (formerly with the Islamic Society of North America)
- Ingrid Mattson (former President of the Islamic Society of North America)
- Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (close to Islamist groups in the UK)
- Dahlia Mogahed (former Obama Administration Faith Advisor)
- Haroon Moghul (Institute for Social Policy & Understanding)
The Bridges Initiative appears to be another in a long history of Dr. Esposito’s attempts to support the Global Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. John Esposito is a Professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is also the director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. Esposito, a former U.S. State Department advisor, has espoused views consistent with Brotherhood doctrine and during the 1990’s was known for his claims that Islamic fundamentalism was, in fact, democratic and posed no threat to the U.S. Dr. Esposito has at least a dozen past or present affiliations with global Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas organizations including having served on the advisory board of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought in the U.K. headed by Azzam Tamimi, a leader in the U.K. Muslim Brotherhood and often described as a Hamas spokesman. Dr. Esposito has also served with global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi on the Steering Committee of the Circle of Tradition and Progress and enjoyed a close relationship with the United Association For Studies and Research (USAR), part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and part of the Hamas support infrastructure. In 2005, Saudi prince Alaweed bin Talal, a financial supporter of the global Muslim Brotherhood, donated $20 million to the Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown, headed by Dr. Esposito.
In February the GMBW reported that Dr. Esposito was scheduled to participate in a conference on “Islam and Democracy” sponsored by the UK Cordoba Foundation, headed by UK Muslim Brotherhood leader Anas Altikriti. Other scheduled participants included important Egyptian and Global Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
