Islamic Networks Group Statement on Anti-Semitic Flyers on UC Campuses: A Word of Caution

* I am indebted to the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Many of the links below are from IPT archives. A hat tip also to Campus Watch.

Recently, I reported on the discovery of anti-Jewish flyers that appeared on the campus of the University of California at Davis and Sacramento City College. In addition, such flyers also appeared on the campus of UC Berkeley. The flyers are attributed to  a white supremacist, anti-Jewish group/site called the Daily Stormer.

The Islamic Networks Group (ING) is a Muslim organization based in San Jose, California. They primarily send speakers out to schools and other venues to present a positive face of Islam. They have come out with a statement condemning the flyers.

On the surface, this is a commendable statement. However, it should be pointed out that the Islamic Networks Group has a history of very questionable affiliations  In addition, I would feel more positive about this declaration if the ING would be just as outspoken about anti-semitism on campuses that comes from Muslim quarters, such as the various chapters of the Muslim Student Association/Union and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

For example, where has the ING been when SJP/MSU  have routinely disrupted Jewish, pro-Israel events at UC Irvine, most recently in 2016 and 2017? When has ING ever condemned the anti-semitic campus rhetoric of people like Amir Abdel Malik Ali of the Masjid al-Islam mosque in Oakland, or the anti-Jewish rhetoric of Washington DC-based imam Mohammad al-Asi, who in 2001 told an audience at UC Irvine, “you can take the Jew out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the Jew”? Both of the above are adherents of the Sabiqun movement which advocates for a global Islamic caliphate. Where was the ING in May 2008, when the UC Irvine Muslim Student Union put up a stereotyped caricature of Ariel Sharon in the style of the old Nazi weekly, Der Stuermer on their mock “apartheid wall”? I was there. I photographed it.

But where was ING? I’ll tell you where they were. They were waiting patiently for a despicable group like the Daily Stormer to come along so they could cynically decry anti-semitism.  I also despise the Daily Stormer and other white supremacists, but they do not represent the major part of the worldwide anti-semitism today. That comes from Muslims (not all, of course) who are putting into practice what they have been taught by the Koran and the hadith. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been used as an excuse by pro-Palestinian students and faculty on campuses across the nation to bully and intimidate pro-Israel Jewish students. It is nothing more than Jew hatred disguised as a human rights movement.

But returning to the ING, they have a long history of questionable associations with radical Islamic organizations. In 1995, Maha El-Ghenaidi, the head of the ING, held a meeting with the Washington Post in an effort to improve the media’s representation of Muslims. Also at that meeting was Salaam Al Marayati, CEO of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization. Even more importantly, also attending was Abdurahman Alamoudi, then head of American Muslim  Council (AMC-also with links to the Muslim Brotherhood, and now a convicted terrorist.)

The Investigative Project on Terrorism has obtained an article written by El-Ghenaidi in the now defunct  The Minaret, in which she discourages Muslims from talking to the FBI. She advises Muslims, if contacted by the FBI, to contact either the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the AMC, or MPAC, again all with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and/or other Middle East radical organizations.

In 1999, ING co-sponsored an Al Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem) conference in Santa Clara, California. Other co-sponsors were the AMC, Islamic Society of North America, the Islamic Circle of North America, (both linked to the Muslim Brotherhood), the Holy Land Foundation, and the aforementioned Masjid al-Islam Mosque of Oakland, home of Amir Abdel Malik Ali. In addition, one of the featured speakers was future UC Berkeley professor and SJP co-founder, Hatem Bazian, who has a long history of anti-semitic statements on his record. One might ask if ING really stood in solidarity with their Jewish neighbors in the face of anti-semitic attacks why they would co-host a conference with the likes of the Masjid Al Islam of Oakland among others?

To sum up, the ING statement says all the right things, but would mean more if they also condemned expressions of anti-semitism from Muslim quarters. To be fair, I cannot state with 100% certainty, they have never condemned any of the incidents I listed above or other similar incidents. If someone wants to send me documentation showing they have, I will gratefully acknowledge it. I would be surprised, however.