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Muslim Arab Youth Association
Formation 1970s by Muslim Students Association members; incorporated in 1989
Headquarters Plainfield, Indiana
Remarks Identified by federal prosecutors as part of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism trial.[1]

The Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) was created in the 1970s by religious Muslim Students Association (MSA) members who had recently arrived in the US and Canada from Arab countries in the Persian Gulf; it finally incorporated in 1989, in Plainfield, Indiana. It had the avowed purpose of setting up Muslim youth conferences to discuss issues such as Islamic law, culture, and marriage and their implications for their lives.[2][3][4] MAYA is funded by Saudi Arabia.[5][6]

Contents

Maya constitution

The preface to MAYA's constitution states: "In the heart of America, in the depths of corruption and ruin and moral deprivation, an elite of Muslim youth is holding fast to the teachings of Allah."[7]

History

MAYA has held conferences featuring Hamas leaders who called for the destruction of Israel, and printed and has distributed anti-Semitic material (such as a pamphlet entitled America's Greatest Enemy: The Jew!).[8][9] Similarly, it held conventions featuring as speakers Rashid Gannuchi (leader of the militant Tunisian Al Nahda movement, who was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in terrorist attacks), Mustafa Mash'shur (Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Supreme Guide), Muharram al-Arifi (Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood), Yousef al-Quardawi (Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood), Musa Abu Marzuk (top Hamas leader), Assaf al-Qattan (Hamas), Sheik Ahmed Noufal (Hamas), and Ibrahim Gousha (Hamas).[10][11][12][13]

In December 1994, about 5,000 people at an annual MAYA meeting were interrupted midway through the meeting by an announcement from the a speaker that a Palestinian had bombed a Jerusalem bus, killing himself and wounding 12 Israelis. "Allah Akhbar," roared the crowd, offering spontaneous praise.[14][15]

The foundation denied it had ties to Hamas, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disagreed. An internal memo revealed in 2001 said at a MAYA conference at a Los Angeles hotel in the mid-1990s, Sheik Muhammed Siyam, head of operations for the Hamas military wing, gave a keynote address. "Finish off the Israelis. Kill them all. Exterminate them. No peace ever," Siyam told the crowd.[16][17]

Writing in 1997, Judith Miller identified MAYA as an unofficial umbrella group for Islamic militants in America and various arms of the Muslim Brotherhood.[18] Similarly, at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims in the US Congress on "Terrorist Threats to the United States," on January 26, 2000, in a prepared statement Steven Emerson, Executive Director of Terrorism Newswire, said that MAYA is an Islamic group "that supports the positions of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas in the United States".[19]

After 9/11 the US government placed MAYA on its list of organizations to be investigated because they purportedly "finance terrorism or perpetuate violence".[20] Federal prosecutors identified MAYA as part of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism trial.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Lefkowitz, Josh, "The 1993 Philadelphia Meeting; Roadmap for Future Muslim Brotherhood Actions in the U.S.", The NEFA Foundation, November 15, 2007, accessed December 11, 2009
  2. ^ Muslim Families in North America, p. 134, Earle H. Waugh, Sharon McIrvin Abu-Laban, and Regula Qureshi, University of Alberta, 1991, ISBN 0888642253, 9780888642257, accessed December 11, 2009
  3. ^ The North American Muslim resource guide: Muslim community life in the United States and Canada, p. 65, Mohamed Nimer, Taylor & Francis, 2002, ISBN 0415937280, 9780415937283, accessed December 11, 2009
  4. ^ Islam in America, p. 123, Jane I. Smith, Columbia University Press, 1999, ISBN 0231109679, 9780231109673, accessed December 11, 2009
  5. ^ Islam outside the Arab world, p. 437, David Westerlund, Ingvar Svanberg, Palgrave Macmillan, 1999, ISBN 0312226918, 9780312226916, accessed December 11, 2009
  6. ^ The broken crescent: the "threat" of militant Islamic fundamentalism, p. 152, Fereydoun Hoveyda, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0275979024, 9780275979027, accessed December 11, 2009
  7. ^ "''Encyclopaedia of international terrorism, Volume 4'', pp. 503–05, Giriraj Shah, Anmol Publications, 2002, ISBN 8126110449, 9788126110445, accessed December 11, 2009". Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=KuGcW3v7NCMC&pg=PA503&dq=%22Muslim+Arab+Youth+Association%22&lr=lang_en&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=3&ei=WLYiS9WxH4viyATXl_TkBg&cd=32#v=onepage&q=%22Muslim%20Arab%20Youth%20Association%22&f=false. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  8. ^ Profiles in terror: the guide to Middle East terrorist organizations, p. 130, Aaron Mannes, Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, ISBN 0742535258, 9780742535251, accessed December 11, 2009
  9. ^ "''Antisemitism: a historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution, Volume 1'', p. 360, Richard S. Levy, ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 1851094393, 9781851094394, accessed December 11, 2009". Books.google.com. January 30, 1939. http://books.google.com/books?id=Tdn6FFZklkcC&pg=PT422&dq=%22Muslim+Arab+Youth+Association%22&lr=lang_en&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=3&ei=WLYiS9WxH4viyATXl_TkBg&cd=17#v=onepage&q=%22Muslim%20Arab%20Youth%20Association%22&f=false. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  10. ^ "''The future of terrorism: violence in the new millennium'', Harvey W. Kushner, SAGE, 1998, ISBN 0761908692, 9780761908692, accessed December 11, 2009". Books.google.com. September 11, 2001. http://books.google.com/books?id=5h6SJ1iWdvgC&pg=PA46&dq=%22Muslim+Arab+Youth+Association%22&lr=lang_en&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=3&ei=6CEiS-TuLYOIywSeu8WECw&cd=16#v=onepage&q=%22Muslim%20Arab%20Youth%20Association%22&f=false. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  11. ^ Showdown: confronting bias, lies, and the special interests that divide America, Larry Elder, Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0312301790, 9780312301798, accessed December 11, 2009
  12. ^ Al Qaeda in its own words, p. 313, Gilles Kepel, Jean-Pierre Milelli, Pascale Ghazaleh, Harvard University Press, 2008, ISBN 067402804X, 9780674028043, accessed December 11, 2009
  13. ^ "''Arabs speak frankly on the Arab-Israeli conflict: with original documents and comments by world leaders and writers'', p. 93, Naomi Comay, Miracles Limited, 2005, ISBN 0955031206, 9780955031205, accessed December 11, 2009". Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=UiyPVPnDkJkC&pg=PA93&dq=%22Muslim+Arab+Youth+Association%22&lr=lang_en&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=3&ei=WLYiS9WxH4viyATXl_TkBg&cd=33#v=onepage&q=%22Muslim%20Arab%20Youth%20Association%22&f=false. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  14. ^ Brooke, James, and Scialino, Elaine, "Bread or Bullets: Money for Hamas; U.S. Muslims Say Their Aid Pays for Charity, Not Terror", The New York Times, August 16, 1995, accessed December 11, 2009
  15. ^ Family and gender among American Muslims: issues facing Middle Eastern immigrants and their descendants, p. 131, Barbara C. Aswad, Barbara Bilgé, Temple University Press, 1996, ISBN 1566394430, 9781566394437, accessed December 11, 2009
  16. ^ Martinez, Jose, "Firms Recoil as Feds Rip Foundation," The New York Daily News, December 7, 2001, accessed December 11, 2009
  17. ^ Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism Around the World, Stewart Bell, John Wiley and Sons, 2007, ISBN 0470840560, 9780470840566, accessed December 11, 2009
  18. ^ God has ninety-nine names: reporting from a militant Middle East, p. 385, Judith Miller, Simon and Schuster, 1997, ISBN 0684832283, 9780684832289, accessed December 11, 2009
  19. ^ "''Terrorist Threats to the United States: Congressional Hearing'', p. 24, DIANE Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0756717256, 9780756717254, accessed December 11, 2009". Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=VmB-8ZWpaywC&pg=PA27&dq=%22Muslim+Arab+Youth+Association%22&lr=lang_en&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=3&ei=6CEiS-TuLYOIywSeu8WECw&cd=4#v=onepage&q=%22Muslim%20Arab%20Youth%20Association%22&f=false. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  20. ^ The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption, Kamal Saleem, Lynn Vincent, Simon and Schuster, 2009, ISBN 1416577807, 9781416577805

External links








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