• Campus organization of Muslim students
• Opposed Hillel's invitation of pro-Israel speaker Nonie Darwish to address Brown's student body in 2006
• Condemns "Zionist imperialism"
• Laments Palestinian suffering at the hands of Israeli "aggression"
• Characterizes Israel's anti-terrorism barrier as an "apartheid wall"
• Commonly invites anti-Israel speakers to its events

Founded in 1990, the Muslim Students Association of Brown University (MSA BU) seeks to "raise awareness of Islam" on campus by means of "lectures, open houses, social programming, [and] communication with other groups."

MSA BU has participated several times in MSA National's "Ramadan Fast-a-Thon" along with nearly 280 fellow Muslim organizations (mostly chapters of MSA). The purpose of this event is to raise, through temporary fasting, public awareness of hunger and homelessness in Muslim communities. Recent endorsers of the Fast-a-Thon include:

• Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah, former President of the Islamic Society of North America and currently a member of the Shari'a Scholars Association of North America
• Sheikh Abdullah Idris Ali, former President of the Islamic Society of North America and currently a Board of Advisors member of the American Muslim Council
• Imam Zaid Shakir, Yale University's former Muslim chaplain who has expressed his desire to see the United States eventually become "a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law"
• Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, who has supported the terrorist mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman and the convicted cop-killer Jamil Al-Amin (aka H. Rap Brown)

In late November 2006, Brown's campus Jewish organization, Hillel, invited Nonie Darwish to give a lecture in defense of Israel and its excellent human rights record, relative to the Islamic world. The Egyptian-born, Gaza-raised Darwish immigrated to the United States in 1978, became a U.S. citizen, and converted from Islam to evangelical Christianity because she objected to the radical, jihadist message to which she was exposed even in American mosques. After 9/11, Darwish began writing columns critical of radical Islam, and in 2006 she authored the book Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror. In addition, she founded the organization Arabs for Israel, which pledges "respect and support the State of Israel," calls for a "peaceful and diverse Middle East," rejects "suicide/homicide terrorism as a form of Jihad," and encourages "constructive self-criticism and reform" in the Islamic world.

When Hillel announced its decision to invite Darwish to speak, MSA BU, which consistently condems what it terms "Zionist imperialism," promptly demanded that the invitation be rescinded on grounds that Darwish was "too controversial." Hillel, citing a "desire to maintain constructive relationships" with the Muslim Students Association, complied.

In 2006, MSA BU organized a "Palestinian Solidarity Week" that featured displays of prominent posters and pictures depicting Palestinian suffering at the hands of Israeli "aggression." It also featured an "apartheid" wall on the campus' Main Green to protest Israel's recent construction of a security fence -- which MSA BU characterized as an assault on Palestinian human rights.

MSA BU designated March 2007 as "Islam Awareness Month" (IAM), whose aim was to educate students about Islamic traditions and beliefs, and to dispel negative stereotypes about the Muslim faith.

A featured presentation of IAM was titled "Censorship in Islam: Where is the Freedom?" This talk was given by Salam Al-Marayati, Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. In the past, the passionately anti-Israel Al-Marayati had publicly accused Israelis of carrying out the 9/11 attacks; had called for the U.S. government to unfreeze the assets of two terrorism-funding Islamic charities, the Global Relief Foundation and the Holy Land Foundation; had refused to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist group; and had justified Hamas' existence as a political entity by asserting that it promotes social programs and "educational operations."

Another IAM presentation was a screening of the documentary film, The Road to Guantanamo: How Far Will We Go in the Name of Security?  The MSA BU website offered the following background for this film: "In 2001, four Pakistani Britons ... travel to Pakistan for a wedding. In an exploratory mood and assured that the Americans would not bomb Afghanistan, the four drive into Afghanistan only to get caught up in the most chaotic, and painful experience any of them ever had or probably would have experienced in a lifetime...." Clearly the message was that American troops had taken a group of innocent men into custody and sent them to the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The joining implication was that this is a regular occurrence.

The IAM festivities also featured "Women in Islam: Respect or Repression?" -- a talk given by Hadia Mubarak, former president of the national Muslim Students Association, and currently a national board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Among Mubarek's notable past actions are the following: (a) In March 2004, she was the contact for the "Rachel Corrie Day of Remembrance," a Washington, D.C. event sponsored by the anti-Israel group, End the Occupation; (b) In September of that same year, Mubarek exhorted all North American MSA chapters to demand the reinstatement of Tariq Ramadan's visa to the United States, which had been revoked by the U.S. government because of his connections to Islamic terrorism; (c) In the aftermath of 9/11, Mubarek derided Americans for allegedly carrying out large numbers of "random hate crimes" against innocent Muslims; she complained that her religion had been "put on trial" by media that unjustifiably saw "the prime suspects" as "'Islamic militants' and 'Muslim terrorists'"; (d) In July 2006 she called America a land of "religious bigotry," "hatred," and "intolerance" -- a place where Muslims are "the closest targets for bigots and extremists"; (e) In July 2007 she accused the United States of having "unjustly invaded [the] sovereign country" of Iraq.

Another IAM presentation, titled "Guantanamo Exposed," was given by Captain James Yee, a former U.S. Army chaplain who was once suspected of espionage (though the charges against him were later dropped). According to Yee, most of the Guantanamo Bay detainees are either (a) low-level foot soldiers who have little value to American intelligence officials; or (b), innocent of any terror-related charges. "The people down in Guántanamo probably know as much about Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda as any private in the military would know what's going on inside the Pentagon," says Yee.

IAM also sponsored a seminar titled "Under Muslim Rule: A Palestinian Christian's Perspective­. The presenter, Mazin Qumsiyeh, was a founder of Al-Awda; he has frequently characterized Israel as an apartheid state; he is known to believe that a Jewish "cabal" manipulates American foreign policy; and he occasionally serves as a guest speaker for the anti-Israel organization Wheels of Justice.

In April 2007 the Brown University Middle East Studies Department, with the support of MSA BU, organized an "academic" conference called "The Study of the Middle East and Islam: Challenges after 9-11" -- whose purpose ostensibly was to "foster a greater understanding in this country of the Middle East and Muslim world." The conference featured such guest speakers as University of Michigan professor Juan Cole (known for branding Zionism as "racist" and "fascist") and Harvard professor Stephen Walt (who has established a reputation for condemning Israel and the "Israel lobby" while overlooking the transgressions of Arab nations. There were no pro-Israel speakers at the conference.