page_title: Muslim supporters of Israel
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Muslim supporters of Israel / Notable non-Israeli Muslim supporters of Israel / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: American journalist, Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, is pictured at the Cafe Trieste in San Francisco in early 2013.
context_page_description: Muslim supporters of Israel are Muslims who support self-determination for the Jewish people, and a homeland for them in the State of Israel.
  Some Muslim clerics, such as Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, and Imam Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini believe that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of Israel, are in accordance with teachings of Islam. Some Muslim supporters of Israel consider themselves Muslim Zionists. Notable people with a Muslim background who publicly support Zionism include ex-Muslim Nemat Sadat, former radical Islamist Ed Husain, Dr. Tawfik Hamid, Tashbih Sayyed, a Pakistani-American scholar, journalist, and author, and the journalist Salah Choudhury. Additional Muslim people who voiced public support for Israel included figures such as Irshad Manji, Salim Mansur, Abdurrahman Wahid, Mithal al-Alusi, Kasim Hafeez, Abdullah Saad Al-Hadlaq, Zuhdi Jasser, Khaleel Mohammed, Noor Dahri and Farooq Haider Khan.
  In the Muslim world, support of Israel is a minority orientation, and supporters of Israel have faced opposition and violence.
context_section_description: The American-Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) was formed in March 2003. The group advocates a liberal Islam, compatible with democracy and American values. The AIFD publicly supports Israel, stating "it is necessary to make a foundational position statement regarding the state of Israel. We stand in support of the existing unqualified recognition of the state of Israel behind internationally recognized borders".
  The group's founder, M. Zuhdi Jasser, a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy, said that Muslims need to recognize Israel as a state, to stand against radical Islamist groups by name, not by theory, tactic, or condemning terrorism, but by name—Hamas, Al Qaeda and other groups. Jasser calls political Islamism "the root cause of Islamist terrorism" and a matter on which it is "time to take sides." An outspoken supporter of Israel, Jasser warned against what he sees as the increasing threats of Radical Islam to the West: "Israel has always been a canary in the coal mine, dealing with the threat of radical Islam. Now each country is going to have to deal with it".
  During the 2006 Lebanon War, Jasser defended Israel's actions, and wrote  "I have no reason to believe that Israel is not doing anything but just protecting itself from forces that are using homes north of it to bomb northern Israel". Afdhere Jama, an American-Muslim writer and editor of the Huriyah magazine, added, "My main difference with the majority of Muslims is the belief that a Jewish homeland is an important progress for all of us, especially one in their ancestral land of Israel". He continued, "Muslims in the United States must decide whether they see groups like Hamas and Hizbullah as legitimate resistance or the cause of Muslim troubles in the region".
  Khaleel Mohammed, an associate professor of Religion at San Diego State University (SDSU), attracted attention for a 2004 interview in which he stated that based on the Qur'an, Israel belongs to the Jews. Mohammed said that the Qur'an never mentions Jerusalem as a holy city, and added, "It's in the Muslim consciousness that the land first belonged to the Jews. It doesn't matter if the Jews were exiled 500 years or 2000 years, the Holy Land, as mentioned in Quran belongs to Moses and his people, the Jews."
  Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, an American Muslim author, and adherent of the Hanafi school of Islam, contends that Israel is the historic, sacred land of the Jews, given to the Jews by god "as their eternal home".
  Dr. Qanta A. Ahmed, a British-born Pakistani Muslim who today lives in New York, is a staunch defender of Israel, who has been accused by her critics of being a "Zionist in a Muslim guise". She is firmly opposed to the boycott against Israel, saying that the movement attempts to vilify Israel in almost every argument. While opposing the continued occupation of the Palestinian Territories, Ahmed admits that she doesn't know how Israel can currently relinquish control over a region hosting "a virulent Jihadist ideology" and leaders calling for her own destruction.
  Amna Farooqi, a Muslim-American of Pakistani descent, serves as the president of J Street U, a pro-Israel campus organization. "I fell in love with Zionism, because Zionism became about taking ownership over the story of one’s people", she says. According to Gideon Aronoff, who leads the Zionist organization Ameinu, the election of Farooqi demonstrates that Muslim progressives can be strong Zionists, and that one does not have to be Jewish or an evangelical Christian in order to appreciate Israel or care about its future.
caption: Stephen Suleyman Schwartz, an American Muslim author,  contends that Israel is the historic, sacred land of the Jews, given to the Jews by God "as their eternal home".[119]
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