 John Esposito has enjoyed substantial respect in his role as a Georgetown University professor of Religion and International Affairs, specializing in Islamic studies, as well as the founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service. But whether he deserves that respect is put in serious doubt when assessing his cozy ties with radical Islamists and his repeated defense of their ideology -- a relationship that is detailed in a newly issued report by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT). The report acknowledges Esposito's impressive pedigree as an award-winning professor, an author of more than 30 books, a consultant for the Gallup polling organization and an expert on Islam frequently called upon to brief government agencies including the State Department, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security and various branches of the military. But it determines that his "outspoken defense of radical Islam calls his reliability as an objective academic and impartial educator into question." Read more ...Source: IPT NewsJohn Esposito
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
 In the wake of news that Yale decided to leave the Mohammed cartoons out of a book on the topic, we discover that the university selected a daughter of a Global Muslim Brotherhood leader as a 2009 fellowArab News has reported that Muna Abu Sulayman, the daughter of a prominent global Muslim Brotherhood leader, was selected as a Yale University World Fellow for 2009. According to the report: Yale University selected Muna Abu Sulayman, general secretary of the charitable foundation of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, as a world fellow for 2009. The Yale World Fellow Program seeks to build a network of global decision makers who have a fundamental, mutual understanding born of common experience and information. The model naturally fosters collaboration and a commitment to shared success. Yale University President Richard C. Levin, said it is extremely useful to have an international team working on their leadership skills. Candidates for 2009 were selected from different sectors, like government, business, non-government organizations, the military, art and media. Participants from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, India, China and Russia, will be sharing their experiences and forging bridges among each other. Muna Abu Sulayman is a media icon in Saudi Arabia who was a co-host for seven years on a ladies show on MBC, rated as the No. 1 family program in the Arab world. Read more ... Source: The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report
 By Daniel Greenfield We are now seeing the third round of bailouts for Citigroup, after the US government already has taken a 36 percent stake in the bank. This makes the US government the largest shareholder of a bank, whose second largest shareholder is Saudi Prince Alaweed Bin Talal. Currently American taxpayers are in hock for 45 billion dollars to bailout Citigroup, while the Treasury, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve cover 90 percent of Citi’s 335 billion dollar losses. The numbers are scary and since most financial experts predict that the bailout isn’t done yet, is likely to only be the beginning. It’s unclear how much US taxpayer will have to go into debt in order to bail out Citigroup. But in bailing out Citigroup, the American taxpayer isn’t simply bailing out Prince Alaweed Bin Talal’s bank, who actually increased his stake at the end of 2008 when investors were jumping overboard, or protecting the investment of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. We’re also engaging in a 300 billion dollar plus bailout of Sharia finance. Because Citigroup’s Islamic Banking operation represents the world’s leading of Islamic loans and Sukuk bonds. Read more ...Source: Canada Free Press
  Prince Alwaleed bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, chairman of Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation, has funded the Centres for Islamic Studies at Cambridge & Edinburgh Universities through a $30 million endowment.
The endowment will be shared by the centres equally ($15 million for each university). They will carry out both research and public engagement designed to enhance understanding between the Muslim world and the West. They will also get new directors.
Cambridge University’s general board has approved the appointment of professor Yasir Suleiman as the first director of its centre.
The centre will enable the development of a constructive and critical awareness of the role of Islam in wider society, initially through research programs on Islam in the United Kingdom and Europe, and Islam and the media.
It will also run various public programs, such as public lectures, conferences and summer schools, designed to promote understanding of Islam in the wider world.
The centre at Edinburgh University will be headed by professor Hugh Goddard, professor of Christian-Muslim Relations from the University of Nottingham.
'It is paramount for both Islam and the West to reach mutual ground for pro-active dialogue, respect, acceptance and tolerance,' said Alwaleed.
'We are determined to continue building the bridge between Islam and the West for peace and humanity,' he added. Source: TradeArabia News Service
By Robert Spencer An announcement from Esposito's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University: Is There a Role for Shari'ah in Modern States? Oct 23 2008 9:30am-5pm Location Leavey Center GU Conference Center Access This event has been marked as open to the public.
Description
--- 9:30am ---
Opening and Welcome: John Esposito
Keynote: Noah Feldman
--- 10:45am ---
Panel 1: Rethinking Islam? Myths and Realities of Islamic Law
Asifa Quraishi, 'Women and Shari’ah in Modern Law' (TBC)
Sherman Jackson, 'Can Shari'ah be Reformed?'
Jonathan Brown, 'Shari'ah Meets Reality: Giving Fatwas in Egypt'
--- 12:15pm ---
Break for Lunch
--- 1:30pm ---
Panel 2: The Appeal of Shari'ah in Modern Muslim Politics & State Building
Clark Lombardi, 'Shari'ah and Constitution Making' (Egypt, Indonesia, and Afghanistan)
Intisar Rabb, 'The Shari'ah Clause in Modern Constitutions'
Nathan Brown, 'Shari’ah and Constitutional Reform' Read more ... Source: Dhimmi WatchJohn Esposito
Noah Feldman
Latest recipients of The Dhimmi Award
By Nina Shea Already dogged by a reputation for promoting religious extremism abroad and repression at home, the government of Saudi Arabia now faces growing resentment at the soaring price of oil. As is their custom, Saudi rulers have responded with a public relations campaign. It's a campaign built on deception. On May 8, Saudi royals placed a full-page ad in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Times of London, and other papers proclaiming that a charity founded by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud, a nephew of King Abdullah and the world's 13th-richest person, had been honored by the pope. Directly under a Koranic passage on tolerance, the headline declared: "Alwaleed bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation, representing Kingdom Foundation, awarded the Pontifical Medal by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican." Read more ...Source: The Weekly Standard
 CAMBRIDGE, Mass., 10 May 2008 - Prince Alwaleed bin Talal*, chairman of Kingdom Foundation, had endowed $20 million in 2005 to establish an Islamic Studies program at Harvard University. He was at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday to inaugurate the program. The program was named "Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program." Roy P. Mottahedeh, professor of history in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, had been appointed director of the program. Prince Alwaleed and the accompanying Kingdom Foundation delegation were briefed about the program. The program is building on Harvard's strong commitment to the study of the religious traditions of the world. It is also augmenting Harvard's existing strength by increasing the number of faculty focused on Islamic studies, providing additional support to graduate students, and making rare Islamic textual sources available in digital format. Read more ...Source: Arab NewsH/T: Shiariah Finance Watch* The same Alwaleed bin Talal whose $10 million check was rejected by Mayor Giuliani, the same Alwaleed bin Talal who donates millions of dollars to the families of homicide bombers. Wonder what the syllabus is?
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
By Richard Garner Two of the country's best known universities are to set up research centres aimed at promoting a better understanding of Islam. Cambridge and Edinburgh universities will share a £16m endowment from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz al-Saud, a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family and chairman of the Kingdom Foundation – a charitable and philanthropic foundation set up to alleviate suffering around the world. Read more ...Source: The Independent
 Bin Rashid Al-Makhtoum
CAIR Financier Alwaleed bin Talal
CAIR FinancierAl Maktoum is VP of the UAE, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai and involved in many of the Dubai/Saudi Shariah deals. Bin Talal controls close to 95% of Kingdom Holding Company, the largest company in Saudi Arabia…also the largest shareholder in Newscorp other than the Murdoch family. Only 5% of the company's shares are public, the rest is privately owned by the prince. We know that they both fund CAIR, an un indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land trial, and identified by the FBI as part of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee. Read more ...Source: Shariah Finance Watch
Cambridge University has been given £8 million by a Saudi Arabian prince to establish an Islamic studies centre. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, ranked in the top 20 richest men in the world, with a fortune of about £10 billion, has donated the cash to the university to fund a centre in his name for the study of the role of Islam in the Middle East and globally. Read more ...Source: TelegraphH/T: Atlas
By Erick Stakelbeck If you want to influence habits, experts will tell you to target young people. Current polls show that many Americans have a negative view of Muslims, especially since the 9/11 attacks. Now the Saudi royal family is trying to change that. They are going to visit some of America's top universities to get their message out. President Bush was all smiles during a traditional "sword dance" with members of the Saudi royal family in January. But the Bush administration has crossed swords with the Saudis in recent years over their support of radical Islam worldwide. The Saudis' image worldwide took a major beating when it was revealed that a majority of the 9/11 hijackers hailed from the royal kingdom. "Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of suicide bombers and terrorists in the history of humankind," said The Institute for Gulf Affairs' Ali Al-Ahmed. Read more ...Source: CBN News
A $20 million gift from a Saudi Arabian prince to a Georgetown University academic center has not affected its scholarly work, Georgetown's president said in response to questions from a U.S. congressman. Since receiving the $20 million from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in 2005, "all activities of the Center have been conducted in the most appropriate manner, and with no outside interference of any kind," Georgetown President John J. DeGioia wrote. U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), wrote to DeGioia Feb. 14, saying he was concerned about Prince Alwaleed's gift to Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (which was renamed in the prince's honor) and the affect it had on research. Has anyone at the Center conducted research critical of Saudi educational or human rights policies? Wolf also asked whether the money fueled any of the school's training of current and prospective U.S. Foreign Service personnel. Read more ...Source: The Investigative Project
 By Patrick Poole In December 2005, Georgetown University announced receipt of a $20 million gift to endow the school's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, after whom the Center was renamed. The Center's director, John Esposito, has been known for his vigorous apologetics for Islamic extremism, authoring several books prior to the endowment's announcement dismissing the global influence of extremist Islamic ideology. Under Esposito's oversight, the Center has also developed questionable ties to individuals and organizations directly involved in Islamic terrorism. One example of these ties is the joint conference held by the Center with the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR) in July 2000. By that time, UASR had long been identified as the political command for HAMAS in the United States, and Esposito's co-chair for the conference was then-UASR executive director Ahmed Yousef, who fled the country in 2005 to avoid prosecution and currently serves as the spokesman for the HAMAS terrorist organization in Gaza. Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
 Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, center, is seen with Georgetown president John J. DeGioia and John Esposito in this 2005 photograph. The prince gave Esposito's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding $20 million.By Steven Emerson A U.S. congressman is asking Georgetown University about its academic scrutiny of Saudi Arabia and its use of $20 million donated by a Saudi prince in 2005. U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) wrote to Georgetown President John DeGioia Thursday, saying he was concerned about how the money was being spent at the university's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Of particular concern, Wolf said, was the university's role in training current and prospective U.S. foreign service personnel. "The Saudi government continues to permit textbooks to contain inflammatory language about other religions," Wolf wrote. "Restrictions on civil society and political activists continue to be pervasive. No changes have been made to the underlying legal authority relating to non-Muslim worship that the Saudis have relied on to enforce these rules. The Saudis have cleansed their own country of religious liberties by severely restricting public religious expression to their interpretation and enforcement of wahhabism." Wolf's letter seeks assurances the Georgetown center "maintains the impartiality and integrity of scholarship that befits so distinguished a university as Georgetown." Read more ... Source: IPT News
The stock market is undergoing a dizzying correction. The subprime mortgage mess has forced credit markets to dry up and has hammered U.S. securities. Fears of recession recently sparked one of the worst stock sell-offs in years. But the worst may be yet to come. While Americans are selling their positions in U.S. companies, Middle Easterners flush with petrodollars are aggressively gobbling up these stocks at fire sale prices. Moreover, as American financial institutions report the losses that forced them to deplete their cash reserves, CEOs are begging for loans from oil-rich Middle East nations that have benefited from the rise in oil prices in recent years from $30 to nearly $100 per barrel. As one former Wall Street executive lamented, U.S. business leaders are "lining up to kiss the ring." Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
By Julia Duin Dalia Mogahed and Ingrid Mattson attended the symposium on the state of Islamic-Western relations held in October in the Copley Formal Lounge at Georgetown University. Two years ago this month, a Saudi prince caused a media splash - and raised eyebrows - when he donated $20 million each to Georgetown and Harvard universities to fund Islamic studies. Although few details have been released about how the money has been spent, at Georgetown, the money helped pay for a recent symposium on Islamic-Western relations held in the university's Copley Formal Lounge. The event attracted about 120 persons: students, Catholic priests, men in business suits and several women in colorful head scarves who all came to hear religion experts from several American universities, as well as from Bosnia, Ireland and Malaysia. A member of the Norwegian royal family said he flew in just for the event. "I just came here to learn the language scholars are using about these things," Prince Haakon of Norway said. Some call the Saudi gift Arab generosity and gratitude for the years American universities have educated the elite of the Arab world. Others say the sheer size of the donations amounts to buying influence and creating bastions of noncritical pro-Islamic scholarship within academia. "There's a possibility these campuses aren't getting gifts, they're getting investments," said Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "Departments on Middle Eastern studies tend to be dominated by professors tuned to the concerns of Arab and Muslim rulers. It's very difficult for scholars who don't follow this line to get jobs and tenure on college campuses. "The relationship between these departments and the money that pours in is hard to establish, but like campaign finance reform, sometimes money is a bribe. Sometimes it's a tip." Read more ...Source: Snuffy Smith's BlogH/T: The Intelligence Summit
Muslims Against Sharia applaud P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas for signing an anti-money laundering decree, that would hamper transfer funds to Hamas. Muslims Against Sharia call for complete international isolation of the terrorist group Hamas and crackdown on all of its sponsors, including Iran, CAIR, HLF, Alwaleed bin Talal, etc. Source: AP
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