Coming August 31: 'Direct Access' Stimulus Grants for the Muslim Brotherhood Posted by <http://bigpeace.com/author/cbrim/> Christine Brim Aug 29th 2010 at 4:55 am in <http://bigpeace.com/category/cultureart/> Culture/Art, <http://bigpeace.com/category/economy/> Economy, <http://bigpeace.com/category/espionage/> Espionage, <http://bigpeace.com/category/featured-story/> Featured Story, <http://bigpeace.com/category/israel/> Israel, <http://bigpeace.com/category/justicelegal/> Justice/Legal, <http://bigpeace.com/category/media-criticism/> Media Criticism, <http://bigpeace.com/category/obama/> Obama, <http://bigpeace.com/category/politics/> Politics, <http://bigpeace.com/category/strategy/> Strategy, <http://bigpeace.com/category/ground-zero-mosque/> ground zero mosque, <http://bigpeace.com/category/sharia/> sharia | <http://bigpeace.com/cbrim/2010/08/29/coming-august-31-direct-access-stimulu s-grants-for-the-muslim-brotherhood/#idc-container> Comments (121) Think of it as ACORN reborn, with a slice of Jihad on the side. On August 31, this coming Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood-associated "Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations" (CCMO) will bring 25-30 Muslim leaders of 20 national Muslim groups to attend a special workshop presented by the White House and U.S. Government agencies (Agriculture, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services etc.) to provide the groups "funding, government assistance and resources." The workshop will apparently provide special access for these Muslim Brotherhood organizations: the organizers pledge to provide "direct access" and "cut through red tape." Government and Muslim groups will hold an Iftar dinner (breaking the fast of Ramadan) after the workshop. muslim brotherhood The event was announced in an email newsletter sent August 27 by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial, long associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the global Islamist network ( <http://www.currenttrends.org/research/detail/the-crisis-of-the-arab-brother hood> great backgrounder here from Hudson Institute). Here are three key paragraphs from the email (the entire article on the August 31 event from the ISNA email is pasted below this post as reference): This year, a phenomenal next step has been made where government iftars become coupled with workshops to provide resources and benefit the Muslim community. The US Department of Agriculture (DOA) and the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO) have paired the first of such events, scheduled for August 31, 2010. .Leaders from Muslim organizations around the nation, particularly social service organizations, are invited to a workshop with representatives from the DOA, Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Health and Human Services, the White House, Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, and more. Twenty five to thirty Muslim leaders representing 20 Muslim organizations are expected to attend the workshop. According to a representative of CCMO, this workshop is designed to clarify how Muslim nonprofits, mosques, Islamic centers, and social service organizations can strengthen their communities through more direct access to opportunities provided to social service agencies at the Federal level. "It will hopefully help cut through some of the red tape and shine light on the many opportunities for funding, government assistance, and resources that we just don't know about at the local level," said Elsanousi. The Problem: Your Money, redistributed to the Muslim Brotherhood This workshop constitutes an abdication of their professional responsibility by all government participants - and a taxpayer-funded government stimulus program for the attending Muslim Brotherhood-associated groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, is a global Islamist political movement dedicated to imposing Shariah law on all nations and institutions. Their credo is "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope." Why do we think some of these groups attending, possibly all, may be associated with the Muslim Brotherhood? Because the sponsoring organization - the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO), co-sponsoring with the Department of Agriculture - has a long history of associations with the Muslim Brotherhood. They also signed a 2009 American Muslim Task Force statement threatening to "suspend" relations with the FBI, because the FBI was investigating possible links to homegrown terrorism in mosques and other Muslim organizations. Not so evident on the current website, of course. This happens all the time with groups associated with the Muslim Brotherhood - the <http://www.ccmodc.org/> current CCMO website has a LOT less information than the older ones preserved at archive.org (aka "The Wayback Machine"). Here are the previous <http://web.archive.org/web/*/http:/www.ccmodc.org> websites for the CCMO from 2004-2008. The pre-whitewashed CCMO websites are highly revealing. They expose the degree to which this Administration intends to direct taxpayer money (and "reduced red tape") to Muslim Brotherhood-associated organizations in the U.S. The Administration has not revealed which 20 groups and 25-30 leaders will attend the special workshop, but if they include the <http://web.archive.org/web/20070607154526/www.ccmodc.org/Content.asp?ID=13> 41 CCMO members listed in 2007, the attendees could include the following groups , which I've linked to descriptions published by The Investigative Project (please <https://www.investigativeproject.org/contribute.php> support their work): The <http://www.investigativeproject.org/profile/178> Islamic Society of North America, an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Terrorism Finance trial, and the source of Friday's email promoting this CCMO/Department of Agriculture Event; The <http://www.investigativeproject.org/profile/172> Council on American Islamic Relations, shunned by the FBI, several of its leaders indicted or convicted for terrorism, a possible violator of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, sued for fraud by Muslim, Hispanic and African-American families, named as an unindicted co-conspirator ( <http://web.archive.org/web/20040605034050/www.ccmodc.org/Calendar/CalendarE vent.asp?EventID=96> CAIR fundraiser advertised at the CCMO site); The <http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/233574/international-institute-islamic -thought-and-muslim-brotherhood-andy-mccarthy> International Institute of Islamic Thought , the "think tank" of the Muslim Brotherhood, described at that link by <http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Jihad-Islam-Sabotage-America/dp/1594033773/ref= sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282958395&sr=8-1> The Grand Jihad author and former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy. One of the current and longest serving officers of CCMO is <http://bigpeace.com/files/2010/08/BIO-Iqbal_UNUS-2.pdf> Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, founder of the educational arm of IIIT, the Fairfax Institute and the Director of Outreach Program for Dar-ul Hijrah "Terror" Mosque - more on him below. The <http://www.investigativeproject.org/profile/181> Muslim Public Affairs Committee , exposed in that linked 88-page IPT report particularly for their defense of terrorists and terrorist financers. MPAC <http://web.archive.org/web/20040506002824/www.ccmodc.org/Calendar/CalendarE vent.asp?EventID=101> advertised here at the CCMO site for an event co-sponsored by <http://sperryfiles.com/documents.shtml> Islamic Free Market Institute, the latter described in Paul Sperry's pathbreaking book <http://www.amazon.com/Infiltration-Muslim-Subversives-Penetrated-Washington /dp/1595552480/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282959051&sr=1-1> Infiltration) The <http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/417> Dar al Hijrah Mosque (known as the "Terror Mosque" in Northern Virginia for its <http://biggovernment.com/fgaffney/2010/02/14/february-fundraiser-for-convic ted-terrorist-supporter-in-al-awlakis-mosque/#more-74774> links to imprisoned, indicted or wanted terrorists as vividly described by Frank Gaffney), <http://web.archive.org/web/20040629025458/http:/www.ccmodc.org/Jumas/Defaul t.asp?JumaLocationID=13> advertised here at the CCMO site. The <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/85.pdf> Muslim American Society "Freedom Foundation" run by <http://www.investigativeproject.org/profile/112> three-time felon Mahdi Bray ( <http://web.archive.org/web/20040506003210/www.ccmodc.org/Calendar/CalendarE vent.asp?EventID=95> MASFF Fundraiser advertised at the CCMO site). The Muslim American Society was originally founded as the U.S. branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. MAS leader <http://web.archive.org/web/20040505031944/http:/www.ccmodc.org/> Mahdi Bray was elected on September 7, 2003 to the Executive Committee by over 40 CCMO member organizations. I suggest that the Administration knows these groups are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. They think that's a good thing. This isn't incompetence; it's intentional. The CCMO Officers: Muslim Brotherhood Leaders These are not just your garden-variety Muslim Brotherhood operatives. The CCMO officers include leading national and international figures in the Muslim Brotherhood, settled in the Washington DC suburbs to enjoy "direct access" to the Administration and Congress. CCMO is a major U.S. node in the loosely coordinated Muslim Brotherhood network. Just the fellows to give your tax dollars as stimulus money! CCMO appears to have started as an umbrella organization in the late 1980s, when so many Muslim Brotherhood organizations were expanding. According to this 2005 article at <http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com/index.php/community-news/community-news/200- Sister%20Asma%20Hanif%20will%20replace%20Johari%20Abdul-Malik%20to%20lead%20 DC%20area%20coordinating%20council.html> Washington, DC's Muslim Link Newspaper, CCMO was 18 years old in that year, making the start date around 1987. Who are these CCMO officers? We could write a book on each of them; their personal biographies are the tale of the Muslim Brotherhood's ongoing "Project" to bring Shariah Law to America. Here are brief sketches on a few (Mahdi Bray, previously a CCMO officer and linked above, is not on the current CCMO board): Dr. Iqbal Unus <http://bigpeace.com/files/2010/08/Iqbal_UNUS.jpg> Iqbal_UNUS Unus, like fellow CCMO officer Anwar Haddam below, holds the position currently of <http://www.ccmodc.org/getpage.php?id=3> "Member at Large" on the CCMO board. <http://www.meforum.org/pipes/4612/islamists-in-the-courtroom> Daniel Pipes notes that Unus unsuccessfully sued anti-terrorism researcher Rita Katz, and that his house was searched in the Green Quest investigation. He's a leader in an alphabet soup of groups named as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial, or known to be associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Just review his <http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQFjAB&url=http %3A%2F%2Fwww.islamophobiaconference.org%2Fcv%2FBIO-Iqbal_UNUS.doc&rct=j&q=%2 2International%20Institute%20of%20Islamic%20thought%22%20%22CCMO%22&ei=9GR4T NzvCoOBlAf0kPSvCg&usg=AFQjCNETlZ2nT0IMvouUtGoK_MJGz5O3Rw&cad=rja> published biography ( <http://bigpeace.com/files/2010/08/BIO-Iqbal_UNUS-2.pdf> pdf ) from a 2007 "Islamophobia Conference" in Turkey (here's the conference <http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&; eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamophobiaconference.org%2Findex.php%3Fpage%3Dsy mposium_program&sl=tr&tl=en> program in Google translation to English). Several of the organizations he directs are listed in "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America," the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial's <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/20.pdf> most famous document (p. 32), which I noted in brackets below in Unus' bio below: Dr. Iqbal Unus is director of The Fairfax Institute (TFI), the instructional division of <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/20.pdf> International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) [listed on p. 32], located near Washington, D.C., U.S.A., where he has also served as director of human development and director of administration since 1989. Between 1995 and 1998, he taught and worked at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences as dean of students and registrar. Prior to joining IIIT, Dr. Unus served as secretary general of <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/20.pdf> Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) [listed on p. 32] after having worked as director of administration and assistant secretary general since 1977. Between 1980 and 1982, Dr. Unus taught in the applied sciences and nuclear engineering departments at King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Iqbal Unus has had a wide ranging volunteer service experience in the Muslim community in the United States for over 37 years. Some of the prominent offices he has held include president of the <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/20.pdf> Muslim Students Association [listed on p. 32] of the United States and Canada (1975), several offices including president of the <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/20.pdf> Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE) [listed on p. 32], member of <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/20.pdf> Majls ash Shura of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) [listed on p. 32], trustee of Amana Mutual Funds Trust, working committee member of International Council of Awqaf and Non-Governmental Organizations (ICANO), board member of Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations in Washington Area (CCMO), and trustee of All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS). In his <http://www.islamophobiaconference.org/abstracts/ABSTRACT-Iqbal_UNUS.doc> lecture at the 2007 Islamophobia conference, Unus stated, "Western academic institutions must reevaluate their curriculum on all levels and purge material that may encourage or promote violence or hatred towards others through Islamophobia and xenophobia." Why this is important: the Department of Education will attend the August 31 workshop to provide "direct access" to grants. Americans have a right to know if the DoE will be talking to Unus on August 31 about funding projects to purge school curricula according to Unus' standards. Johari Abdul-Malik <http://bigpeace.com/files/2010/08/Johari-at-CAIR-Press-Conference.jpg> Johari at CAIR Press Conference Johari is a convert to Islam; he was formerly <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_Abdul-Malik> Winslow Seale of Brooklyn New York. Johari is currently CCMO Treasurer, and he has previously been Chairman of CCMO. He is the Director of Outreach at the <http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/417> Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center near Washington DC. Dar al Hijrah is exposed in this report from the <http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/417> Investigative Project, in which the Department of Treasury's Enforcement Communications System (TECS) records describe it as "a mosque operating as a front for Hamas operatives in U.S.," "is associated with Islamic extremists," "has been under numerous investigations for financing and proving aid and comfort to bad orgs and members," has "been linked to numerous individuals linked to terrorism financing," and "has also been associated with encouraging fraudulent marriages." Furthermore, his <http://www.investigativeproject.org/1521/dar-al-hijrah-officials-deception- on-awlaki> history of statements defending terrorist recruiter and trainer Al-Awlaki, <http://www.investigativeproject.org/1850/virginia-house-opens-to-radical-cl eric> promoting violence against Israel, and <http://www.investigativeproject.org/243/johari-islam-will-be-usas-first-rel igion> claiming that Islam will be the "first religion" in America are standard Muslim Brotherhood doctrine. His advocacy of terrorism against Israel in 2001 was particularly troublesome: he enthuses over specific acts of terrorism, with a passing nod to avoiding civilian casualties, almost as murderous as the violent guerrilla warfare in Algeria endorsed by CCMO officer Anwar Haddam (see below): I am gonna teach you now. You can blow up bridges, but you cannot kill people who are innocent on their way to work. You can blow up power supplies. the water supply, you can do all forms of sabotage and let the world know that we are doing it like this because they have a respect for the lives of innocent people. In the last two months, after highly critical media exposure on the radicalism of the Dar al Hijra Mosque, Johari has suddenly modified his behavior. On <http://imamjohari.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/imam-johari-resigns-from-the-sev eral-non-profit-boards/> June 8, 2010, Johari announced his resignation from a variety of openly- Muslim Brotherhood-connected organizations, remaining as a representative of those interests on interfaith boards. He resigned from: 1. Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) 2. Muslim Council of America (MCA) 3. American Muslim Task-Force (Representative of MANA) 4. MELD/EVEN START 5. North American Imams Federation (Founding Board member) 6. Georgetown U - Chaplain Advisory board 7. University of MD-Chaplain Board Also to his credit, on June 20, he <http://imamjohari.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/guarding-against-the-slippery-sl ope-al-awlaki-then-now/> published a post urging the removal from Islamic store Halalco.com (also his neighborhood store) of two sets of publications or recordings: 1) those by Dar al-Hijrah's previous Imam, terrorist Al -Awlaki, and 2) the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Christian Broadcasting Network had just exposed the Halalco.com bookstore for carrying radicalizing materials. Whether Johari's statements reveal a tactical retreat, in the face of public exposure of the Muslim Brotherhood associations of his prior directorships, or a genuine rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood ideology, remains to be determined, since he retained his leadership positions in CCMO and Dar al Hijrah. This administration reportedly has favored Dar al Hijrah previously with a <http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2010/05/census-bureau-rents-space -at-terrorist-supporting-dar-alhijrah-mosque.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FN4OYM51%2Fright_truth+%28Right+Tr uth%29> government contract from the U.S. Census Bureau costing taxpayers $23,000/month since November 2008, and serious questions should be asked about how much "direct access" Dar al Hijrah will have at the August 31 workshop. Anwar N. Haddam <http://bigpeace.com/files/2010/08/bio_AnwarNHaddam.jpg> bio_AnwarNHaddam Haddam is listed at the CCMO website as <http://www.ccmodc.org/getpage.php?id=4> Member-At-Large on the Board (a title held earlier by Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation head Mahdi Bray). Prominently displayed in the menu of the CCMO websites from 2004-2008 (but whitewashed from the current site) is this report - <http://web.archive.org/web/20050129074637/ccmodc.org/Documents/Documents/AM TFReport6x9.pdf> First Impressions: American Muslim Perspectives on the 9/11 Commission Report - sponsored by CCMO, published by IIIT (see above) and edited and authored by another coalition of Muslim Brotherhood-associated groups, the <http://www.americanmuslimtaskforce.net/> American Muslim Task Force. Of the several authors for the Report, one to note is <https://www.csidonline.org/annual-conference/10th-annual-conference/speaker s/125-speakers/484-anwar-n-haddam-movement-for-liberty-and-justice-algeria> Anwar N. Haddam. According to his bio in the "First Impressions" book, Haddam is a long-time and currently listed board member of CCMO, "elected to the Algerian Parliament in December 1991. currently Advisor to the <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Salvation_Front> Islamic Front for Salvation (FIS-Algeria). involved with the Algerian Islamic Movement." What the bio doesn't mention is that the Clinton Administration kept Haddam detained for four years, based on classified evidence. He had already been banned from Algeria. In late 2000, in spite of efforts to prevent his release from detention by Attorney General Janet Reno and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), he was granted asylum in the U.S. by the Board of Immigration Appeals. That decision, according to an <http://livedialogue.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Guestcv.asp?hGuest ID=K8U2Mx> assessment at Sheikh Qaradawi's islamonline.net, was due to "political pressure from the Muslim community in Europe and the US, as well as from members of the US Congress." Earlier, in 1996, Daniel Pipes and Patrick Clawson had conducted an extraordinary in-depth interview with Haddam, <http://www.meforum.org/316/anwar-n-haddam-an-islamist-vision-for-algeria> published in the Middle East Quarterly, which exposes his absolute dedication to imposing an Islamist State in Algeria based on Shariah law, regardless of the costs in human life or liberties. Haddam himself wrote a revealing <http://www.scribd.com/doc/27709436/The-Algerian-Islamic-Movement-and-Politi cal-Islam-An-Insider-s-Perspective-Anwar-N-Haddam> memoir of his leadership of the banned Islamic Front for Salvation. Algeria is an example of what happens when a somewhat secular Muslim-majority country is targeted by the Muslim Brotherhood - in this case, Haddam's Islamic Front for Salvation - to force it to become an Islamic state. Decades of civil war, over 200,000 dead - and under this administration, a remorseless leader invited to the White House for "direct access" to grants using your money. Here's the <https://www.csidonline.org/annual-conference/10th-annual-conference/abstrac ts/126-abstracts/492-the-obama-administration-engaging-the-muslim-world-with -a-new-mindset-challenges-and-opportunities-> abstract of a speech Haddam made in 2009, in which he describes himself (and the nature of his political party) in words relevant for the August 31 meeting: "The author of this paper - who has been in charge of the international relations of one of the first contemporary political parties of Islamic obedience." Just to drive the point home here, that means he considers himself in the U.S. in official capacity (detained or not), representing a political party that is a leader in creating the Islamist state: "political parties of Islamic obedience." And to connect the dots, that would be the same "Shariah-Compliant State" - also known as a state of "Islamic obedience" - that Ground Zero Mosque Imam Rauf is promoting for the U.S. and worldwide through his Shariah Index Project. Congress should ask: will CCMO be given "financial assistance" to help further Haddam's political goals for Algeria, working among the expatriate community here in the U.S. - or his goals for America? Faizul Khan Faizul Khan is Assistant Secretary-Treasurer for CCMO. He was the imam, recently replaced, at the Maryland Muslim Community Center Mosque attended for years by Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan, until Hasan moved to Texas and shortly after killed thirteen people and wounded dozens. (He also reportedly attended services at CCMO-related Dar al Hijra Mosque in northern Virginia.) Khan is also <http://www.isna.net/ISNAHQ/pages/Faizul-Khan.aspx> on the board of ISNA, an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial. In interviews after the shootings, Imam Feizul Khan referred to Hasan as "very devout." This is, to say the least, an understatement. In fact, it's not unlike another CCMO officer (and Dar al Hijrah spokesman) Johar minimizing the radicalism of al-Awlaki when the latter attended Dar al Hijrah. Somehow, terrorists Hasan and al-Awlaki were merely devout in these two CCMO-related mosques right before they went completely jihadist on America. Stephen Schwartz exposed the radical associations of Khan's mosque in November 2009 in <http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/item_tqVGxjbLxWz8SV5tnp mV2N> this article in the NY Post. Schwartz found that Faizul's Mosque website advertises for the Shariah Compliant "Amana Mutual Fund" which he states is still under investigation by the FBI. Faizul's Maryland mosque also "hosted at least four talks by Enver Masud, the founder of The Wisdom Fund, the main Muslim 'truther' group in America." So, what is to be done between now and Tuesday, August 31? Let's review. CCMO - the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations - is co-sponsoring the August 31 event with the Department of Agriculture. CCMO has deep and broad ties, possibly dating since 1987, to the Muslim Brotherhood. The issue: If the Obama administration is preferencing one religion over others for special workshops, "direct access" and cutting red tape for financial assistance, that's not only wrong, it may be unconstitutional; combining the funding workshop with an Iftar dinner just makes it worse. One solution: Cancel this meeting, and schedule one for all religious organizations. If government grants are to be given to religious groups (a policy some question, but set that aside here), then all grant applicants of all religions, including Muslims should be treated equally. And if Muslim social service groups attend, they should be ones without ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist groups dedicated to imposing Shariah law in the U.S. An alternate solution: Keep the event as currently planned - apparently arranged and dominated by CCMO - but open it up to the media (including network, cable, radio, Big Peace, bloggers, etc.) as well as organizations with expertise on the Muslim Brotherhood, like the Investigative Project, the Middle East Forum, NEFA Foundation, Hudson Institute, the Center for Security Policy and many others. Let the sunshine in. After all, surely this administration - and CCMO - have nothing to hide? ---------- Here's the email in entirety: Iftar with Our Government: Serving up Resources for American Muslim Communities In celebration of Ramadan, ISNA leadership and staff have been busy attending iftars hosted by the White House, State Department, Federal and State Agencies, Embassies, elected officials and interfaith partners. "These iftars are a place to celebrate the diversity of America with our partners in the government and interfaith communities," said ISNA Director for the Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances Dr. Sayyid Syeed. He adds, "They are also evidence that Muslims and our traditions are more regularly incorporated into the mosaic of cultures and traditions that form the foundation of American life." Although these iftars are important symbols of the transition of Muslims into mainstream American culture, according to ISNA Director of Community Outreach Mohamed Elsanousi, they are also a very important place for brainstorming and the development of practical ideas to help the Muslim community. "Muslim community members have been asking for more from these iftars for years now. They have contacted ISNA and requested that we work with our partners in government to make the dinners more useful to our communities at the local levels," said ISNA Director of Community Outreach Mohamed Elsanousi. This year, a phenomenal next step has been made where government iftars become coupled with workshops to provide resources and benefit the Muslim community. The US Department of Agriculture (DOA) and the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO) have paired the first of such events, scheduled for August 31, 2010. "ISNA is happy to join other nation-wide Muslim organizations and participate in this workshop. We absolutely expect that there will be more of these paired iftars and workshops in future Ramadans," said Elsanousi. The Workshop: So what exactly is this workshop, you may ask. Leaders from Muslim organizations around the nation, particularly social service organizations, are invited to a workshop with representatives from the DOA, Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Health and Human Services, the White House, Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, and more. Twenty five to thirty Muslim leaders representing 20 Muslim organizations are expected to attend the workshop. According to a representative of CCMO, this workshop is designed to clarify how Muslim nonprofits, mosques, Islamic centers, and social service organizations can strengthen their communities through more direct access to opportunities provided to social service agencies at the Federal level. "It will hopefully help cut through some of the red tape and shine light on the many opportunities for funding, government assistance, and resources that we just don't know about at the local level," said Elsanousi. The Iftar: Following the workshop, the DOA will host an Iftar to acknowledge and thank Muslim employees for their dedication and to the DOA. Keynote speakers will discuss the issues of increasing access to healthy foods for all communities and the powerful communal and sacred aspects of food. In addition to the DOA employees and representatives of various Muslim organizations, the DOA also invited Muslim employees from various other government agencies. The Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture is also scheduled to attend. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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