U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations

The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) was founded in March of 2014 as an umbrella organization to unify the approach, agenda and vision of the Muslim community .[1]

Formation

USCMO officially announced its formation on March 12, 2014 at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The organizations that participated in the launch include The Mosque Cares, Muslim American Society (MAS), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), and Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA).[2]

At the formation announcement, key Muslim leaders spoke about USCMO. Speakers included:[1]

Leadership

USCMO is led by the following individuals:[3]

USCMO’s board is composed of the following people:[3]

Positions

In public statements, USCMO has also called for increased transparency in the Freddie Gray investigations in Baltimore. Additionally, they called on republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, to drop an advisor of one of his PACs due to his long history of anti-Muslim activism.[4] They also suggested that further investigation is required about claims that Turkey carried out the 1915 Armenian Genocide.[5]

USCMO has condemned acts of violence worldwide including the November 2015 Paris attacks and Charlie Hebdo attacks, Chattanooga killings, Chapel Hill murders, murder of James Foley, and Boko Haram’s Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping.[6]

Extremist connections

Several of USCMO member organizations and leaders have alleged ties to extremist groups or have supported the activities of extremist groups.

USCMO founding member organization, Muslim American Society, has been described by federal prosecutors as the “overt arm” of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.[7] In November 2014, MAS was designated as a terrorist organization by the UAE.[8] Mazen Mokhtar, a USCMO board member and executive director of the Muslim American Society, was identified in U.S. federal court documents as having established websites to raise money for the Taliban and Chechen jihadists. His websites were an exact replica of those created by Babar Ahmad, who was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for supporting terrorism.[9]

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the other founding members of the USCMO has a long list of extremist allegations against it. CAIR was listed in May 2007 as one of the unindicted co-conspirators in the trial against the Holy Land Foundation, which was one of the largest terrorism finance trials in U.S. history, and accused those involved with funding Hamas.[10] CAIR was also designated as a terrorist organization by the UAE in 2014.[11]

The Islamic Circle of North America was also identified as a front organization for the Muslim Brotherhood during the Holy Land Trials.[1] The president of the ICNA sits on the board of the USCMO.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Genesis of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations Muslim Brotherhood Political Party". Center for Security Policy. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  2. ↑ "AMP joins U.S. Muslim Groups to Launch New Council with Political Census" (Press release). American Muslims for Palestine. 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  3. 1 2 "Board Members — USCMO". U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  4. ↑ "National Muslim Groups Call on Jeb Bush to Drop Anti-Muslim Activist as PAC Advisor". U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  5. ↑ Shenkman, Rick (2015-04-22). "Largest Muslim organization in the US lambasted for refusing to face up to the Armenian Genocide". History News Network. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  6. ↑ "PRESS RELEASES — USCMO". U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  7. ↑ United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Sabri Benkahla, Defendant-Appellant. In the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. No. 07-4778. Republished on the website of The Investigative Project. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  8. ↑ "UAE Includes 2 US Muslim Groups on Terror List". Voice of America. 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  9. ↑ Shideler, Kyle (2015-04-15). "Kyle Shideler: Why is the former Webmaster of a Taliban Funding Website on Capitol Hill?". Shariah Finance Watch. Center for Security Policy. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  10. ↑ "Holy Land Foundation Terror-Financing Trial - Documents". The Clarion Project. Washington, D.C. 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  11. ↑ Chiaramonte, Perry (2014-11-17). "US group CAIR named terrorist organization by United Arab Emirates". Fox News. Retrieved 2015-12-18.

External links

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