International ANSWER’s slogan is “Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.” Like most activist mission statements, their claim has been proven false many times. That doesn’t stop them from repeating it.

Their claim to be ‘anti-war’ was most notably when their connection to the World Worker’s Party and to the supporters of Kim Jong Il was exposed.

ANSWER/WWP’s supporters, and their history, including their “love affair with Slobodan Milosevic” and their description of reports of Serb atrocities against Muslims as “imperialist lies.” caused a split within the anti-war movement. On December 12th United For Peace and Justice, announced their decision “not to coordinate work with ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) again on a national level.”

According to Lennie Brenner’s Jan. 2006 article, published in NYC indemedia and Counterpunch, titled: The War Within the Antiwar Movement: Not Dealing with Zionism is Like a King Kong Movie Without the Ape:

[United for Peace and Justice's] national committee complained that ANSWER reneged on the organizations’ plan for structuring the demo. But beyond proclaiming that “the souring of the political atmosphere is largely due to ANSWER, which, in our experience, consistently substitutes labels (‘racist,’ ‘anti-unity’) and mischaracterization of others’ views for substantive political debate or problem solving,” UFPJ gave us nothing substantial re the coalitions’ political differences.

In the article, Leslie Cagan, UFPJ’s national coordinator, receives the harshest of criticism – implications that her “political differences” with ANSWER are a form of collaboration:

“Leslie is dedicated to peace. But if she is to retain her reputation, she must be able to justify UFPJ’s position, now, when she knows that the Israeli ambassador is happy because it refuses to work with ANSWER.”

Brenner notes that both ANSWER and United for Peace and Justice are both silent on the issue of Saudi Arabia:

I’ve asked Leslie if UFPJ has a position on US money & weapons to Saudi Arabia: “Perhaps we need to develop one?” ANSWER also doesn’t say much about Saudia. Now high oil prices, awareness that it was Al-Qaeda’s breeding ground, & total subjugation of women, make it the most unpopular US ally. Muslims bow 5 times a day in the direction of Mecca. But Wall Street bows once a second towards Saudi Arabia. The antiwar movement should get those wonderful April photos of Bush & Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah holding hands at the Texas ranch & put them up everywhere. The 3 classic goals for progressives are get the people mobilized, organized & educated. Wars, exploitation, oppression make folks begin to think & we can mobilize some in the streets. But the antiwar split proves that we haven’t gotten our act together organizationally. The reason? Precisely because neither UFPJ or ANSWER is into serious education.

ANSWER may not be into serious education about Saudi Arabia because apparently they’re receiving some serious Saudi money.

Saudi donations to the Stalinist Left follow an old path, through terrorism’s financial center, the group the Christian Science monitor calls “a popular social and political group that wants rule by Islamic law” – the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to International Assessment and Strategy Center’s report: The Little Explored Offshore Empire of the International Muslim Brotherhood

Almost from the inception of the modern Islamic banking structure (early 1980s), the international Muslim Brotherhood set up a parallel and far-flung offshore structure that has become an integral part of its ability to hide and move money around the world. This network is little understood and has, so far, garnered little attention from the intelligence and law enforcement communities tracking terrorist financial structures.

The fundamental premise of the Brotherhood in setting up this structure was that it is necessary to build a clandestine structure that was hidden from non-Muslims and even Muslims who do not share the Brotherhood’s fundamental objective of recreating the Islamic caliphate and spreading Islam, by force and persuasion, across the globe…

…In 2003 Richard Clarke said “the issue of terrorist financing in the United States is a fundamental example of the shared infrastructure levered by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda, all of which enjoy a significant degree of cooperation and coordination within our borders. The common link here is the extremist Muslim Brotherhood—all these organizations are descendants of the membership and ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood.”[5] However, this understanding has not taken root in the intelligence, law enforcement and policy communities, nor has the financial network of the Brotherhood come under intense scrutiny.

Public records show the Brotherhood’s financial network of holding companies, subsidiaries, shell banks and real financial institutions stretches to Panama, Liberia, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Cyprus, Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and beyond. Many of the entities are in the names of individuals who, like Nada, Nasreddin, al-Qaradawi and Himmat, have publicly identified themselves as Brotherhood leaders.

A senior U.S. government official estimates the total assets of the international Brotherhood to be between $5 billion and $10 billion.

Although they are apparently ‘stateless’, terrorism’s military and support structure is similar to any other army. The armed, trained soldiers are one branch, the political spokesmen and leaders are another branch and the financial supporters are another branch. All are part of the same organization, and all are working together to wage war.

According to this Department of Treasury Report:

Bank Al Taqwa, for which Nasreddin is a director, was established in 1988 with significant
backing from the Muslim Brotherhood. They have been involved in financing radical groups
such as the Palestinian Hamas, Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front and Armed Islamic Group,
Tunisia’s An-Nahda, and Usama bin Laden and his Al Qaida organization. Bank Al Taqwa was
established in the Bahamas and is a close affiliate of the Al Taqwa Management Organization,
which changed its name in the spring of 2000 to the Nada Management Organization. In 1997, it
was reported that the $60 million collected annually for Hamas was moved to Bank Al Taqwa
accounts. As of October 2000, Bank Al Taqwa appeared to be providing a clandestine line of
credit to a close associate of Usama bin Laden and as of late September 2001, Usama bin Laden
and his Al Qaida organization received financial assistance from Youssef M. Nada

The Muslim Brotherhood’s front in the United States is called The Muslim American Society (MAS).

The Muslim Brotherhood-led and Saudi-financed activities:

…effect a wide range of affairs, from daily minutia to public policy. Consider these examples:

• On June 6, 2006, a Minnesota Muslim American Society (MAS) fatwa ordered Muslim drivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport not to transport passengers carrying alcohol, to avoid “cooperating in sin.” Most Muslim drivers there originate from Somalia, where carrying alcohol in a bag was never a problem. But by August 2006, some 77 passengers per month, carrying duty-free bags containing sealed alcoholic drinks were refused by Muslim cab drivers complying with the MAS fatwa. At first, Minnesota’s Metropolitan Airports Commission considered their demands and offered two-tier taxi system; one for alcohol carriers and a second for the others. Only public outrage forced the Commission to kill their proposal…

The Muslim Brotherhood/Muslim American Society calls itself “a charitable, religious, social, cultural, and educational, not-for-profit organization..a pioneering Islamic organization, an Islamic revival, and reform movement that uplifts the individual, family, and society.”

Given their mission statement, and given their supposed support of Muslim groups, including the Muslims in Bosnia, their reaction to United for Peace and Justice’s rift with ANSWER is odd:

(Washington, DC) – Over one hundred prominent Muslim leaders and National organizations have indicated that there is only one rally and march in Washington, DC, on September 24. And it will not be the “Segregation” March proposed by United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ). Responding to what has been categorized as a patronizing elitist and separation agenda that has long been a divisive issue in the anti-war and peace movement, prominent leaders in the Muslim and Arab community made it clear that they will not allow groups like the United for Peace and Justice set the agenda for American Muslim involvement in the peace movement. Thus the idea that UFPJ will attempt to hold a separate March and Rally on September 24 in Washington, DC, and not join in principle the September 24 National Coalition for the March on Washington is viewed by many as a “segregationist counter-rally”. Why? The answer is simple. It is all about having a principle position on Palestine. When it is all said and done UFPJ has paid mere lip service to the Palestine issue and struggle as being part and parcel of the American Peace Movement. They have ignored the insistence of authentic voices in the Muslim and Arab community that ending the occupation of Palestine and other regions of the world should not be decoupled from ending the occupation in Iraq.

Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, MAS Freedom Foundation stated, “The days when a few elitists with a few surrogate persons of color can stymie the hope and aspirations of millions of American Muslims concerning a principle agenda and response to what takes place in the Muslim world is over. Let’s get real here, UFPJ called for a segregated March in DC after the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition made the initial call. They listed all kinds of excuses why they can’t join a unity effort.

Not coincidentally, Mahdi Bray’s MAS Freedom Foundation, has been working very closely with ANSWER for years. The Muslim Brotherhood’s English language site, ikhwan.tv, proudly describes one of these co-sponsored marches:

The National Emergency March on Washington is co-sponsored by the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition and the National
Council of Arab Americans (NCA).

Your support is vital! Send your generous donations today addressed
to:

MAS FREEDOM FOUNDATION
1050 17th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “For every day the sun rises, (God grants a reward to) the one who establishes justice among people.” Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Hadith 870.

ANSWER, (“Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.”), which is financed by one of the most racist regimes in the Middle East, has another petrodollar-funded ‘anti-war’ march scheduled for March 17th. They’ll be marching with the Muslim Brotherhood’s corporate-petrodollar-funded “not-for-profit organization”, the Muslim American society. They’ll be working together to “challenge the system that is addicted to war and global domination!”, to free Mumia, help the poor and to “reform and uplift the individual, family, and society.”

They’ll also reconfirm the fact that for many ‘anti-war’ organizations Orwell’s 1984 was a how-to guide. Lies are truth, the Arab war against Israel is peace…

..oh, and no blood for oil!