Monday, October 2, 2023

Qatar Royal Family Continues ‘Sportwashing’ Campaign to Improve Image

Benjamin Weinthal -
In an attempt to help Qatar build on the publicity it enjoyed from hosting the 2022 FIFA world cup, a prominent member of that country’s royal family is trying to purchase one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world. Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad...

Islamist Outpost in Capital? D.C.-Area Mosque Targeted for Takeover, Members Allege

Dexter Van Zile -
Senior members of a mosque in Arlington, Virginia have accused supporters of an extremist Islamist organization of trying to turn the institution they lead into an outpost for Islamism. They allege that the activists are trying to turn Baitul Mukarram Mosque into a beachhead...

Why has the Islamic Relief Franchise Lost the Support of Western Governments?

Sam Westrop -
The flagship institution of Islamic Relief, the wealthiest Islamist charitable franchise in the West, has largely lost the support of Western governments, its latest...

In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams Amplifies the Islamists

Sam Westrop -
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, alongside NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban, announced at a press conference on August 29th that mosques in the...

Why did the Turkish President Address Pakistani Doctors Meeting in Dallas?

Sam Westrop -
In the United States, the Turkish regime is working to coopt South Asian Islamists as proxies for Ankara’s global ideological designs. In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took time out of his busy schedule to...

Qatar Continues to Support Islamism Abroad; Germany’s Bungling Response

Benjamin Weinthal -
German citizens have good reason to wonder if their leaders are working effectively to protect the Federal Republic from Qatari influence operations. Officials acknowledge numerous media reports about Qatari support for Islamist institutions in their...
 

Islam: a 1400-year-old faith that includes a great range of sects and movements.

 

Islamism: a century-old utopian political ideology that seeks to return to past glories by imposing medieval religious laws.

Islamist Dissent

What Next for American Islamism (And Its Opponents)?

Sam Westrop -
In July, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) joined conservatives to oppose the perceived imposition of “LGBT” teachings at schools in Maryland’s Montgomery County. As Susannah Johnston has reported at FWI, this was quite a dramatic change for an Islamist-founded organization that has spent...

Muted Islamist Reactions to Death of Kamal El-Helbawy

Sam Westrop -
Kamal El-Helbawy, a leading figure behind the spread of Islamism in the West, has died in London, according to a social media post by his son. Once a leading member of the Ikhwan Al-Muslimeen (better known as the Muslim Brotherhood), Helbawy left the movement in...

Opinion

Crocodile Tears from Jailed Muslim Brotherhood Cleric Earns Sympathy from Congress

Benjamin Baird -
Arguing that one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s most doggedly anti-Semitic preachers has experienced a sudden change of heart following years of violent and conspiratorial rhetoric aimed at Jews, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) has joined Democratic efforts to free Salah Soltan, a former legal resident of...

In-Depth Analysis

Why Türkiye Sponsors a Fake Academic Report on ‘Islamophobia’

Soeren Kern -
An annual report on “Islamophobia” in Europe is being published under the name of a fictitious organization, presumably to conceal the report’s close links to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Security experts say the report — which greatly exaggerates anti-Muslim bigotry in Europe — is a key element of...

Islamists Commandeer Muslim Vote to Sweep Midterm Elections

Benjamin Baird -
A tight network of politically active Islamist organizations have employed sophisticated electioneering techniques to multiply their political power and play a major role in the outcome of U.S. elections. Aligned with the far left, these so-called Muslim civic action groups seek to create a consolidated Muslim voter bloc that...
News in Brief

Boston DA Stonewalling on Review of Farrakhan Supporter Who Remains on Payroll

Dexter Van Zile -
A member of a black supremacist organization that promotes hostility toward white people and Jews remains on the payroll of the district attorney’s office...
Investigations

Businesses and Bonyads: How Pistachios Finance Pro-Iran Radicalism in the United States

Kara Hashemi and Sam Westrop -
Since the revolution, the fate of the Iranian pistachio has shadowed the vacillations of Western diplomacy with Tehran. From the 1979 revolution to the...

Iranian Regime-Supporting Princeton Professor Pressures FWI to Mislead Public

News Susannah Johnston -
Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a “Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy Specialist at the Program on Science and Global Security” at Princeton University, has sought...

Government Suspends Grant to UK Mosque after FWI Outcry

Government Funding of Islamism Hannah Baldock -
The British government has suspended a grant of £2.2 million ($2.8 million) to a radical mosque in Birmingham, after FWI alerted authorities to the...

Honest Reporting: Muslim Association of Canada Rescinds Invitation to Anti-Semitic Imam

News FWI -
On August 24, HonestReporting Canada published an important alert informing the news media and the general public, about statements seen as antisemitic by one featured speaker,...

Prominent UK Islamists Pay Homage to Taliban in Afghanistan, Face Condemnation from Fellow Muslims

Investigations Hannah Baldock -
A group of Islamist imams and activists from the United Kingdom met with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan in late July in an apparent effort...

Bangladeshi Islamists Import Hatred of ‘Enemies of Islam’ into United States

News Dexter Van Zile -
The global campaign to vilify and silence a prominent human rights activist who fled Bangladesh in 2019 has spread to the United States. Two...

Foreign Manipulation in Our Midst: Qatar and the Legal Gambit to Silence Americans 

Opinion & Interview Gregg Roman -
Qatar and the lawyers on its payroll—specifically powerhouse law firms Covington & Burling and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman—directed counsel for a U.S. citizen defendant...

New Documents Indicate Qatari Conspiracy to Hide Materials from U.S. Courts

News Sam Westrop -
A Washington D.C. court has ruled that the State of Qatar and its representatives must submit its documents and activities to court scrutiny. The...

Western Islamists Mourn Death of Islamist War Criminal

News Susannah Johnston -
Islamists in the United States and Great Britain are mourning the death of Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the vice-president of the violent South Asian Islamist...

German Government Produces Report About ‘Anti-Muslim Hostility’ – With Islamist Help

News Soeren Kern -
A new report about “anti-Muslim hostility” commissioned by the German government has faced a barrage of criticism after it was revealed that Islamist groups...

Islamists in France and UK Call for Murder of FWI Contributor

News Dexter Van Zile -
Two social media influencers currently living in England and France have taken to the internet to call for the murder of a leading human...

Iran’s Pistachio Proxies

Investigations Kara Hashemi and Sam Westrop -
Executive Summary The Amin family is among the leading pistachio producers in America, controlling farms, processing plants and a variety of other businesses in...

Bangladeshi Fury After U.S. Visa Granted to Dangerous Hate Preacher

News Sam Westrop -
Bangladeshi American and other Bengali activists have condemned a decision by U.S. border authorities to admit extremist preacher, Mizanur Rahman Azhari, into the United...

Western Islamists Lionize Muslim Brotherhood Leader in Tunisian Prison

News Susannah Johnston -
In response to his arrest, conviction, and imprisonment on charges of incitement, Western Islamists are lauding Muslim Brotherhood leader Rached Ghannouchi, one of the...

Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative Opposes Free Speech

Opinion A.J. Caschetta -
The Bridge Initiative is a quasi-academic, quasi-activist organization based at the Washington, D.C., campus of Georgetown University and sponsored by the Prince Alwaleed bin...

Iowa Senator Investigating World Vision for Terror Finance

News Susannah Johnston -
A prominent lawmaker is asking one of the largest relief and development charities in the world to release information about its operations in the...

Islamists Taking New Approach to Qur’an Burnings

News Dexter Van Zile -
Europe is witnessing the all too predictable expressions of outrage and appeasement in the aftermath of Qur’an burnings in Sweden and Denmark, but astonishingly...

Former Ohio Mosque Director Sentenced for Embezzling, Fraud

News Susannah Johnston -
News in Brief On Thursday, a U.S. District Court sentenced the former director of an Ohio mosque for embezzling and fraud. According to Department of Justice...

Maryland Legislators Boast of Securing Taxpayer Funding for Hostile Turkish Regime Institution

News Sam Westrop -
Several Islamist institutions in Maryland, including the overseas arm of the Turkish regime’s religious directorate, are to receive hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars,...

Islamists Legitimize Terror-Supporting Charity in South Florida Schools

News Joe Kaufman -
Last month, ICNA Relief, the social services division of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), visited Islamic children’s schools throughout South Florida. While...

Scandinavia Prepares to Submit to Blasphemy Bullying

News Soeren Kern -
Denmark and Sweden, under growing pressure from Muslim countries, are contemplating free speech restrictions that would outlaw burning copies of the Quran. Recent Quran-burnings...

London Analyst: Iran Regime Commanders Tell UK Students to ‘Fight and Kill Jews’

News in Brief Susannah Johnston -
Writing for the London-based Jewish Chronicle, David Rose reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is using a British student organization to call...

Turkey’s Islamist Rulers Expand Influence Operations in U.S.

External Abdullah Bozkurt -
The following article was originally published in the Nordic Monitor on Aug. 3, 2023. Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is rooted in...

Congressmen Call for Investigation of Iranian Regime Control of Mosques in U.S.

News Susannah Johnston -
Lawmakers have called on the Biden Administration to investigate four Shi’a mosques in the United States they believe are working on behalf of Iran's...

CAIR’s Support for Parents Opposed to ‘LGBT’ Curriculum Reflects Move Away from Fake Progressive Stance

News Susannah Johnston -
After years of allowing its branches to collaborate with leftists on issues related to sexuality, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is standing with...

U.S. Taxpayers Donated $391K to Terrorist-Defending Imam’s Two Organizations

Government Funding of Islamism Dexter Van Zile -
American taxpayers have, over the past two years, given almost $400,000 to two non-profits led by a radical imam in Boston. Imam Abdullah Faaruuq...

California Assembly Looks to Honor State’s Most Radical Islamists

News Benjamin Baird -
On July 13, the California State Assembly introduced a resolution commemorating August as “American Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month.”  House Resolution No.52 (HR 52)...

France Bans CAGE Director as ‘threat to public order’

News in Brief Susannah Johnston -
Last week France banned the director of a London-based Islamist organization from the country. The organization in question, CAGE, presents itself as an advocate of...

UK Newspaper: ‘Anti-Hate’ Activist Promotes Hamas Propaganda

News in Brief Dexter Van Zile -
A prominent newspaper in England has documented antisemitic comments on the Facebook account of an activist associated with an “anti-hate” organization headquartered in London....

Belgium Welcomes ‘Butcher of Tehran’ to Summit, Sparking Outrage

News Majid Mohammadi -
A high-ranking official in the Belgian government has resigned in the face of outrage over his decision to allow the Islamist mayor of Tehran...

Canada’s ‘Islamophobia’ Witch Hunt Will Soon Come to an End

Opinion Dexter Van Zile -
A coalition of liberal politicians and Muslim activists who ginned-up an accusation of “Islamophobia” to end the career of a well-regarded lawyer in Canada...

London Analyst: ‘A New Blasphemy Battle’ Looms

News in Brief FWI -
Writing in UnHerd, London-based writer Liam Duffy warns about the ongoing and growing threat to free speech in Western democracies posed by what he...

Lawsuit Filed against Philadelphia Islamist School, Alleging ‘Overt’ Anti-Black Racism

News Sam Westrop -
A teacher fired from Philadelphia’s Al-Aqsa Islamic Academy has filed a civil suit against the school and its principal, alleging extraordinary anti-black racism at...

Senate Dems Ram Through Islamist-Linked Biden Nominee After 2-year Blockade

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
Following two years of opposition from Republican lawmakers, the U.S. Senate has voted to confirm President Joe Biden’s pick to the second-highest post at...

Erdogan’s Shills Lobby US Congress

News Susannah Johnston -
In mid-June, an umbrella group of US-Islamist non-profits heavily influenced by Türkiye organized a lobbying day in the U.S. Capitol. he elephant in the room...

NIAC Alumni Promote Tehran’s Agenda

Opinion Majid Mohammadi -
The National Iranian American Council, long accused of being a front for the Islamic Republic of Iran, has worked tirelessly to silence critics of...

Terror-tied American Islamist Charities Operate with Impunity in India

Opinion Sam Westrop -
On May 4, India’s National Investigation Agency raided 16 locations in Jammu and Kashmir, reportedly as part of a crackdown on terror financing networks...

Britain Opens its Door to Bangladesh’s Most Dangerous Preacher

Opinion Asad Noor -
On June 16, 2023, a violently extreme Islamist preacher from Bangladesh named Dr. Anayetullah Abbasi announced he was in the United Kingdom, declaring his...

Investigative Project on Terrorism’s New Book Exposes CAIR’s Long Antisemitic Track Record

Opinion Steven Emerson -
A virulently antisemitic terror-tied group has managed to convince media and politicians that it has been magically transformed into a respectable legitimate “civil rights...

Broward Mayor Responds to Criticism about His Speech at Radical, Terror-Supporting Mosque

News Joe Kaufman -
Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher has responded defensively to a challenge regarding his recent speech at the Islamic Center of South Florida (ICOSF), a...

Voice of America Reverses Course on Khomeinist Regime ‘Lobby’ Broadcast

News Susannah Johnston -
In a surprise reversal, the Voice of America (VOA) has reposted a lightly edited version of an episode it had previously taken down about...

Assessing the Dubious European Islamophobia Report

Research Soeren Kern -
The latest edition of an annual “Islamophobia” report falsely claims that Muslim persecution in Europe is ubiquitous, and incorrectly portrays Europe as unsafe for...

Pro-Tehran Activists Condemn UK Charity Commission for Doing Job

News Potkin Azarmehr -
In an apparent attempt to demonstrate their continued relevance and influence, UK-based supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran have condemned the British Government’s...

Islamist Charity Silences its Critics in Canada, the Fight Continues

Opinion Dexter Van Zile -
Islamic Relief Canada (IRC), a steady contributor of funds to the Islamist charity, Islamic Worldwide Relief (IRW), scored a victory in its ongoing effort...

CAIR Resorts to Misinformation in Fight to End Terrorist Watchlist

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
Islamists are fuming after one of their own, a long-serving mayor from Prospect Park, New Jersey, was unceremoniously disinvited from a May 1 White...

Islamist to Be Ousted from School Board Posts After Radicalism Exposed

News Joe Kaufman -
A prominent educator and activist in South Florida will be removed from two committees associated with the Broward County School Board, after officials learned...

UK Reports Blames Islamists — Not Britain — for Manchester Bombing

News Hannah Baldock -
Countering the “foreign policy blowback” narrative that some commentators offered in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena terror attack that killed 22 people and...

Unregistered Muslim Marriages Undermine Women’s Rights in UK

News Susanna Lukacs -
According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, the Muslim population in England and Wales has seen a significant increase in recent years, with Muslims...

European Appeasers Fail to Confront the Iranian Islamists of the IRGC

Opinion Majid Mohammadi -
It’s time for European politicians to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. That became manifestly clear and urgent on March...

Shills for Iranian Islamism Ousted from Board of UK Charity

News Potkin Azarmehr -
Iranian expats in the UK who oppose the religious dictatorship in Iran enjoyed a small victory after officials sacked the trustees of a charity...

Maryland Legislature Funds Pro-Iran Mosque Entangled in Terror Trials

Government Funding of Islamism Benjamin Baird -
While Iranians continue to take to the streets, risking their lives in a women-led uprising to topple the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Maryland...

UK Limiting Islamist Books in Prisons Raises Questions

News Hannah Baldock -
The UK’s Ministry of Justice has imposed new rules aimed at curbing the spread of Islamist ideology in prisons. The measures, announced in late...

Did the Voice of America Cave to Iran’s ‘Lobby’?

News Susannah Johnston -
Voice of America (VOA), a U.S government-funded public broadcaster, has expunged a video from its website after the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) announced...

Tariq Ramadan, Islamist Scholar, Acquitted of Rape Charges

News in Brief FWI Staff -
Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Islamic scholar and grandson of Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, has been acquitted of rape charges in...

German Capital Lifts Hijab Ban on Public School Teachers

News Soeren Kern -
Muslim teachers in Berlin, the German capital, have been authorized to wear Islamic headscarves in the classroom after a court determined that the city’s...

LA City Council Set to Pay Terror-Linked Group to Fight Deportations

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
On April 17, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to pay a dangerous Islamist organization to provide legal representation to immigrants facing deportation.  The...

Iran’s Poorly Attended Quds Day Rallies in the West

News Susannah Johnston -
Supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran gathered in cities around the world to call for the destruction of Israel, the US, and the...

Muslim Mayor with Links to Al Qaeda Cries ‘Islamophobia’ after White House Snubbing

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
A Muslim American mayor from Prospect Park, New Jersey, was recently denied access to a White House celebration marking the end of Ramadan, prompting...

Federal Government Handed Almost $2 Million to Domestic Islamist Organizations in 2022

Government Funding of Islamism Sam Westrop -
The federal government handed almost $2 million to domestic radical Islamic organizations in 2022, Focus on Western Islamism has found. Upon cross-referencing 10,000 names against...

Crisis in France: Author Writes on Islamism, Needs Police Protection

News Soeren Kern -
Islamists have leveled death threats at an influential French academic, forcing her to live under police protection after writing a hard-hitting book about the...

Meet Hamza Sodagar, Tehran’s American Mouthpiece

Investigations Susannah Johnston -
The Islamist regime in Iran does not lack for spokesmen willing to promote its brutal ideology in the West. In Britain, the regime spreads...

Indiana Congressman Praises Muslim Brotherhood Group He Once Rejected

News in Brief Benjamin Baird -
Back in 2015, U.S. Rep. Andre Carson’s (D-IN) was forced to drop out of a panel and renounce ties with an Islamist organization that...

Tarek Fatah a Beacon of Courage for Counter-Islamists Everywhere

News Dexter Van Zile -
Tarek Fatah, a founding giant of the global counter-Islamist movement and a leading figure in the effort to update the practice of Islam in...

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan Courts Pakistani Terror Ambassador

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
City of Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan’s first two years in office were clouded by controversies involving her relationship with foreign governments. In her latest...

Florida Mayor Goes Silent about Sponsoring Islamist Bigots

News Joe Kaufman -
Frank Ortis, who since 2004 has served as mayor of Pembroke Pines – a city of 171,000 located in Broward County, Florida – has...

Biden Staffs White House with Another Islamist

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
President Joe Biden has appointed a new liaison who will act as the White House spokesperson to the Muslim American community. Mazen Basrawi will...

Islamic Call to Prayer Now Part of Minneapolis Soundscape

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
Residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota, will soon hear the Islamic call to prayer broadcasted over loudspeakers at area mosques five times a day, thanks to...

CAIR Forces Apology from Texas Legislator Who Recalls Violence of Ramadan 

Islamism in Politics Benjamin Baird -
On Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously for a resolution recognizing “the holy month of Ramadan 2023” as a period of...

UK Islamist Group CAGE Justifies Murder of British-Israeli Family

News Susannah Johnston -
A British advocacy organization has justified the murder of two British-Israeli civilians, one of them a minor. The two, Rina and Maia Dee, aged...

Al-Quds Rally in Berlin Cancelled; Iran Regime Supporters Face Growing Pushback

News Majid Mohammadi -
Officials in the German capital of Berlin have brought about the cancellation of this year’s celebration of Al-Quds Day, an annual rally organized by...

Hamline U Prez Lays Down Her ‘Islamophobia’ Badge

News Dexter Van Zile -
The “Islamophobia” brigade suffered a high-profile casualty last week when Fayneese Miller announced her retirement in mid-2024 as president of Hamline University in St....

American Islamism’s Malaysian Prime Minister

Government Funding of Islamism Sam Westrop -
Under Islamist Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia now serves as a testing ground for the ideas and ambitions of a powerful American Islamist network...

U.S. Taxpayers: You Are Funding a Pro-Iran Mosque in NYC

Government Funding of Islamism Majid Mohammadi -
American taxpayers subsidize a Shia mosque in New York City that serves as a gathering point for Iranian diplomats and other supporters of the...

Erdoğan Builds Another Mega-Mosque, This Time in Germany

News Soeren Kern -
The City Council of Wuppertal, a municipality in western Germany with a substantial Muslim population, has voted to approve the construction of a controversial...

How Tehran Builds Its ‘Soft War’ in the UK

Investigations Potkin Azarmehr -
Iranian and pro-Iran regime operatives working in Western democracies are recruiting activists to participate in training sessions in the Islamic Republic. Upon completing their...

Germany’s Leftist Government Spurns Tools to Tackle Islamist Threats

News Soeren Kern -
Germany’s parliament has rejected two legislative proposals aimed at clamping down on political Islam in Germany. The sponsors of the proposed bills argued that...

World Vision, Prominent U.S. Evangelical Charity, Caught Funding Jihadis

News Susannah Johnston -
Since 2016, World Vision (WV), an international aid organization supported by evangelicals in the United States, has engaged in a propaganda campaign to portray...

Wokeness, fear of criticizing Islam Threaten Muslim Progress

Opinion Abdulrahman Bindamnan -
In higher education institutions in the United ‎States, there is a fear of subjecting ‎Islam to criticism. This fear is particularly manifest in the...

Austria’s Mosques Work Against Muslim Integration 

News Soeren Kern -
Viennese mosques are promoting Islamic separatism and actively obstructing the integration of Muslims into Austrian society, according to a new report about mosques and...