According to the Associated Press, the Islamic Circle of North America has now put up dozens of billboards all over the United States proclaiming the beauty of Islam. The billboards, which explain that “Mohammed believed in peace, social justice, women’s rights” and “Muhammed always taught love, not hate; peace, not violence,” may not be historically accurate, but they’re going up in San Diego, New York, Boston, Phoenix, Memphis and other cities around America just the same.
Sadly, the pro-Islam statements come from a group that has been linked with terrorism before. In its original iteration, ICNA reportedly stated that it sought “the pleasure of Allah…through the…establishment of the Islamic system of life as spelled out in the Qur’an and the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammed.” Now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated in 1996 that groups with ties to Hamas were also tied with ICNA. Analyst Steven Emerson says, “The ICNA openly supports militant Islamic fundamentalist organizations, praises terror attacks, issues incendiary attacks on western values and policies, and supports the imposition of Sharia [Islamic law].”
According to The Investigative Project on Terrorism:
ICNA’s magazine has featured interviews with terrorist leaders in Pakistan, called on youth to fight abroad in Kashmir, and honored like-minded extremist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood and South Asia’s Jamaat-e-Islami. Concerns have also been expressed about 5 young members of the group’s Virginia mosque, who were arrested and convicted on terrorism charges after attempting to link up with and fight for Pakistani terror groups in December 2009.
The Anti-Defamation League has repeatedly linked ICNA with anti-Semitism; at one ICNA-endorsed rally in 2009, protesters chanted, “Palestine is our Land, the Jews are our Dogs.”