Jamaat-e-Islami in the Spotlight

Over the past two weeks, three articles on the activities and influence of the U.S. branch of Jamaat-e-Islami, a powerful South Asian Islamist movement, have been syndicated 79 times by dozens of newspapers and TV stations around the world.

The first, published on March 31, relies on data first gathered by IW about American Islamist political activism against India, conducted by Jamaat-e-Islami proxy organizations such as the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD).

Another, published on April 4, follows up on MEF’s 2018 investigation that found HHRD has openly partnered with Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani terrorist organization responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

A final piece, published today – April 15 – reveals that a taxpayer-funded umbrella organization, InterAction, has been lobbying Congress on behalf of ICNA, HHRD, and other terror connected charities. Outlets that published a copy of this final article include Bhaskar Live and Times Now, both of which are among the largest media outlets in India.

For decades, Jamaat-e-Islami’s branches in the U.S. have operated with impunity. That’s starting to change.

Sam Westrop has headed Islamist Watch since March 2017, when MEF absorbed the counter-extremism unit of Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT), where he was the research director. Before that, he ran Stand for Peace, a London-based counter-extremism organization monitoring Islamists throughout the UK.
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