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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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May 8, 2019
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IPT
Exclusive: MAS Lied About School in Jihad Video Being a "Separate
Entity"
by Steven Emerson
IPT News
May 8, 2019
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 The Muslim
American Society (MAS) Philadelphia chapter had a clear message after a shocking
video showed up on its Facebook page last month showing school children
lip-syncing to a pro-jihad song that called for beheading and torturing
Israelis.
We have nothing to do with it, MAS-Philadelphia said
in a statement condemning the video's content.
Even though the school is called MAS Leaders Academy, and even though it
was among many school videos posted on MAS social media outlets, the
statement described it as "a separate entity renting space from MAS
Philadelphia."
Pennsylvania corporate records tell another story.
MAS-Philadelphia has existed at least since 2003, records obtained by
the Investigative Project on Terrorism show. But it filed
new articles of incorporation April 25 under the name Muslim American
Society of Phila, Inc.
Those records and the Leaders
Academy corporate records were filed by the same person, an accountant
named Amro Azazi. MAS-Philadelphia and the Leaders Academy share the same
mailing address. They also share at least two officers. Naser Khatib and
Jehad Salem are listed on last month's MAS filing, the records show. And they
were listed on the Leaders Academy's 2017 corporate records.
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MAS-Philadelphia
incorporators from articles filed April 25.
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The names listed in 2017
as Leaders Academy incorporators.
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Khatib was listed as treasurer in the MAS-Philadelphia 2003
corporate record.
In addition, Rimah Hasan, another person listed on the MAS Leaders
Academy articles of incorporation, self identifies as a past
MAS employee on her Facebook page.
MAS' desire to distance itself from the video is understandable. First
reported by the IPT, it showed "Ummah Day" videos featuring
elementary school aged Leaders Academy students. Ummah generally refers to
the overall Muslim community. The children lip-synced to a song which
included verses saying, "The blood of the martyrs is calling us."
Elsewhere, the children continued acting out the song with light
choreography, even when
it promised Israelis that revolutionaries would "chop off their
heads ... and we will subject them to eternal torture."
The song was produced by "Birds of Paradise," which makes popular
children's songs, which often
carry disturbing messages about martyrdom for Palestine.
The video's appearance on MAS social media pages was another fluke, the
MAS-Philadelphia statement said.
"Unfortunately, the video from the school was uploaded to the
chapter's Facebook page without verifying the content of the video for
appropriateness and making sure it conforms to our hate-free policy and
values. The chapter will take further steps in assuring strict adherence to
publishing and posting policies."
MAS, meanwhile, is acting like it has something to hide. Not only did it
take down the Ummah Day video, it took down all MAS Leaders Academy videos,
including a graduation ceremony. The entire
MAS-Philadelphia Facebook page was down Wednesday.
MAS was formed by Muslim Brotherhood members in the United States, who
debated whether to be open or secretive about their affiliation, the Chicago
Tribune reported in 2004, after interviewing MAS founders. The
Brotherhood, based in Egypt, is devoted to Israel's destruction. The original
Hamas charter acknowledges that it was created by the Brotherhood to be
"of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the confrontation with the
Zionist invasion."
In that light, the songs in the Ummah Day video are not wildly out of
step with a Brotherhood-linked group.
As we noted Monday, pro-jihad rhetoric – especially involving Palestinians
– has been repeatedly invoked by MAS officials and speakers at its conferences.
Past president Esam Omeish praised "our Brothers and Sisters in
[Palestine] ..." during a 2000 speech, for "you have known that
the Jihad way is the way to liberate your land."
This came during the height of the second intifada, which was dominated
by a wave of suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians.
Years later, MAS hosted radical Egyptian cleric Ragheb Elsergany at its
annual conference co-organized by the Islamic Circle of North America
(ICNA) after Elsergany told a previous conference that it's a
duty "for all Muslims to liberate all of Palestine from the North
to the South, from Al Quds to the sea, it's a duty for all Muslims to
liberate one complete full land of Palestine. It's not just about
liberating Al Quds. It's all occupied!"
This history becomes even more relevant when MAS seems to be actively
misleading the public about MAS Leaders Academy being "a separate
entity."
MAS leaders need to do more than condemn the Birds of Paradise song
performed by schoolchildren at the Ummah Day event. They should restore all
the videos to determine whether this really was a failure by one staffer,
whom they claim was fired.
Research Analyst Teri Blumenfeld contributed to this report
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The IPT accepts no funding from
outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or
religious institutions. Your support of The Investigative Project on
Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All
donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate online. The
Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3
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