John Esposito, founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) at Georgetown University, has signed an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron opposing his invitation to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Britain this week for talks. The letter stipulates that:
While not necessarily supporting deposed President [Mohamed] Morsi or the policies of his Freedom and Justice party, we note that he was democratically elected, and that his removal from office was effected by means of a military coup led by Sisi.
However, in 2012, Esposito happily appeared alongside members of the Peace and Justice Party, the political wing of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, for an ACMCU-hosted panel discussion at Georgetown. At the time, he and other Middle East studies academics were instrumental in whitewashing the Muslim Brotherhood, downplaying its Islamic supremacist agenda, and encouraging—with great success—U.S. government cooperation.
This renders Esposito’s objections to al-Sisi’s visit suspect, much like his sudden antipathy towards “repressive and authoritarian” regimes, given that ACMCU has been bankrolled to the tune of $20 million by a member of the Saudi Royal Family, who rank among the most oppressive rulers on earth.
Esposito had the audacity to complain about “philanthropic support for Islamophobic authors and websites” in a recent interview with OnIslam (read Robert Spencer’s response here). He directs the Bridge Initiative, an ACMCU project that, like its UC Berkeley predecessor, the Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project, is dedicated to promulgating the myth of a shadowy “Islamophobic network” fueling the “anti-Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry” that it claims has “increased exponentially in the United States and Europe.” Esposito labels his work at the Bridge “protecting pluralism” from the “forces of evil,” but, in reality, such apologias serve only to protect the evils of Islamic supremacism from legitimate criticism.
Is it any wonder then that Esposito and his ilk condemn al-Sisi, who, while remaining a strongman, has been one of the few Middle Eastern leaders to call for reform within Islam, to reach out to his country’s Christian minority, and to fight Islamic terrorism? By Esposito’s reckoning, that makes him a certified “Islamophobe.”
Cinnamon Stillwell is the West Coast representative for Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. She can be reached at stillwell@meforum.org.
Cross-posted from Campus Watch.
Angemon says
What John “Disingenuous” Esposito conveniently leaves out is the number of Egyptians who protested in the streets for the removal of Morsi from power. He also leaves out that Al-Sisi *won* the elections last year, so he is a democratically elected leader.
JawsV says
He’s Egyptian. It’s el-Sisi, not al. Just letting you know.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdel_Fattah_el-Sisi
As for esposito, he’s a nutcase. El-nutcase.
Angemon says
Thank you for the correction, JawsV. I’ll try to keep that in mind from now on.
JawsV says
No prob.
Karen says
John Esposito takes a pay check from the Saudi Royal family, which runs an entire nation dedicated to quashing everything non-Islamic, and calls himself a champion of pluralism. He is beneath contempt……
Sam says
These liberals hate the western civilization, don’t they. Their hate is so great they can not see the truth about Islam. If someone is so delusional, can he tell what is reality and what is not. I don’t think you can trust any liberal or Muslim nowadays on any subject.
Jay Boo says
John Esposito likely polls well with Toga party potheads and dimwit NPR contributors.
jihad3tracker says
John Esposito, like CAIR, obsessively reads everything Robert posts here at JW, so perhaps he can use this opportunity to reflect on how the Georgetown faculty (who actually have a backbone and who love the U.S. even though we are far from perfect) hold him and the ACMCU staff in utter contempt.
Prince Alwaleed’s “interfaith outreach” is an obvious sham — and those who walk by its office or spend their days on campus — would probably like to spit on Esposito and his pals, having sold their lives for money. How much lower in the well of human slime could a person go ???
Plutarchus7 says
F*CK JOHN ESPOSITO!
We need to get a petition going urging Paul Ryan to invite President al Sisi to address Congress like Netanyahu did. Either that or send him a message on Twitter or Face/book-do both.
https://twitter.com/pryan
https://www.facebook.com/paulryanwi/
Westman says
Based on the Islamophilia world’s logic and application of the term “Islamophobia”, Jesus Christ would have been exhibiting “Satanophobia”
Linde Barrera says
Hi everyone, I am proud of myself. I just sent an email to Professor Esposito telling him why I don’t like Islam and why it is not good. It was polite, the way I always am. But my message was very clear. Let’s hear it for Jihad Watch, for always disseminating the truth about Islam. And remember, it is not Islamophobia (an irrational fear of Islam) when adherents of Islam really want to kill you.
Karen says
Always and forever grateful for Jihad Watch, and the other new, alternative media dedicated to the truth, and freedom of speech. I barely notice the Old School media any more; increasingly irrelevant, IMHO.
mortimer says
Grateful to you, Linde, for telling him what troubles you about Islam.
Esposito has a disconnect switch somewhere in his thinking with respect to all the terrorist groups that use Islam’s violent source texts. It’s hard to fathom what would create such an enormous capacity of DENIAL in him.
Only the Ahmadi sect has found a way out of the violence through a ‘new-improved’ version of Islam, a ‘New Koran’ delivered by reincarnated prophets.
Linde Barrera says
To mortimer- Thank you for your kind acknowledgement to me, as per your post of 10:27 pm Nov 5, 2015. It is my opinion that any individual who likes Islam is a person who tolerates and endorses injustice, brutality and deceptive practices. I love reading all your posts, mortimer, so please keep ’em coming.
Linde Barrera says
I just got an acknowledgement email from Professor Esposito stating that he is on research leave until Fall 2017, and that he gets so much email, he can’t respond to every single one. But he reads them all. And his assistant Aamina, also reads them.
Karen says
Out of the office until 2017……great work if you can get it!
Well done Linde Barrera.
mortimer says
Hopefully, Esposito will discover the connection between jihad and Islam and learn how you can’t have one without the other.
Hopefully, Esposito will discover what Mohammed taught: jihad is the ‘original religion’ of Islam.
He is presently in denial.
Linde Barrera says
To Karen- Thank you for your sweet compliment to me, dated Nov 5, 2015, 4:26 pm. Good to read your posts too.
quotha raven says
Linde Rivera, who sez “… he is on research leave until Fall 2017…” Geez. TWO YEARS (minimum) of sabbatical? What a racket. Cheers! quotha raven
gravenimage says
And his assistant Aamina, also reads them.
……………………..
Linde, that would be Aamina Shaikh. She is swathed in a slave rag Hijab in her picture at the grotesquely-named “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding” site.
awake says
The response back should be, “Dear Professor Esposito. Go pound sand!”
Angemon says
With his armpits.
Tom says
With sympathy for the great Americans working in our oil industry, one of the benefits of the collapse in oil prices is that Saudi Arabia and the other terrorism-supporting emirates are operating on borrowed time. If demand/prices stay where they are or decline further, the economic-political model that is Saudi Arabia will collapse before the West does. Nature/reality has a way of catching up with tyrants.
ich says
one can only hope tom
but these losers dont seem to need much
its unreal we cant even beat these punks
mortimer says
Let’s use hydrogen from now on.
mortimer says
Agree with Robert Spencer: Esposito was hired “to protect the evils of Islamic supremacism from legitimate criticism”.
Count your money, Esposito, then take a shower…over and over and over…
Westman says
Don’t forget the Lysol..
Robert Spencer says
Thanks, but I didn’t write this. Cinnamon Stillwell did.
KrazyKafir says
Wonderful to see Cinnamon here.
mortimer says
Thanks, Cinnamon. Would like to know what Esposito is up to discovering ‘peaceful Islam’, the unicorn and the tooth fairy.
Wellington says
Esposito is despicable. He covers for (and is paid by) forces which would destroy liberty in America if only such forces are given the chance.
He defends a religion which persecutes anyone who dares openly criticizes that religion. This is both wretched and parasitical of him. I don’t know how he sleeps at night. The only way he could is if he has lied to himself about himself or actually supports the Islamic totalitarian crushing of liberty and is OK with that.
The man’s life has been a waste since he has shilled for the forces of repression, mendacity and malevolence. Better that he had never been born, such a waste of life has been his.
mortimer says
Thanks for this finally worded critique of this enemy of freedom. He’s a 21st century Lord Ha Ha.
gravenimage says
Yes, Wellington–he reminds me, as Mortimer notes, of the repulsive shills who whitewashed Fascism and Stalinism.