An imam of an organization affiliated with an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror case is scheduled to be part of a roundtable discussion at the American Jewish Committee’s annual global forum in Washington, D.C., which will take place from June 2 to June 4.
Mohamed Magid, born in Sudan in 1965 and who arrived in the United States in 1987 after studying in Saudi Arabia, is the current iman of the Virginia-based All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center (ADAMS), which is affiliated with the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror case that proved connections to the terrorist group Hamas and other radical Islamic entities.
ADAMS is a network of mosques and Islamic community centers in Washington area.
The United States designated the Holy Land Foundation as a terrorist group in 2001 and became defunct. The case resulted in 108 guilty verdicts and several years later, five of its leaders were convicted and sentenced to decades in federal prison.
Magid was ISNA’s East Zone representative, then as vice president, and finally as president. The U.S. government listed ISNA in the Holy Land case as among “individuals/entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.”
He was “the Obama administration’s go-to guy for Muslim outreach and advised on international affairs and counterterrorism.” He was “a regular visitor to the White House (even when the administration wants to conceal it)” and involved in other aspects of the administration, such as playing a crucial role in the Department of Homeland Security, according to PJ Media.
Magid is scheduled to be part of the “Rabbis Roundtable Breakfast” on Monday in a discussion titled “Building a Golden Age of Muslim-Jewish Relations: Overcoming Challenges and Seizing Opportunities.”
The session is only open to rabbinic participants at the conference.
AJC spokesperson Kenneth Bandler defended the organization’s decision to include Magid, saying that the imam has a long history of condemning anti-Semitism and fostering positive Muslim-Jewish relations, including leading trips of Muslim leaders to Auschwitz.
“Imam Majid is a steadfast friend of the Jewish people and an opponent of terrorism and extremism in all its forms. He regularly teaches this and speaks out publicly against extremism and violence done in the name of Islam,” he said.
“AJC has long pioneered in interreligious relations, and in recent years has stepped up efforts to advance Muslim-Jewish relations in the U.S. and around the world. Imam Majid is one of our Muslim partners, has served on the Muslim Jewish Advisory Council since we launched the group in November 2016. And he came to New York for the signing last month of the historic Memorandum of Understanding between AJC and the Muslim World League, that, as a first step, will bring the most senior Islamic delegation ever to visit Auschwitz on the 75th anniversary of its liberation,” Bandler said.
