Two U.S. congressmen are asking the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission to reveal the details of its investigation into the April 2019 video of Muslim children from a Philadelphia mosque performing anti-Semitic skits and singing violent songs.
The shocking video was presented by the Muslim American Society Islamic Center and Masjid A-Hidaya Mosque in Philadelphia in celebration of “Ummah Day.” As reported at the time by The Daily Wire, the video featured Muslim children singing,
We will chop off their heads … we will lead the army of Allah fulfilling his promise, we will subject them to eternal torture … we will defend the land of divine guidance with our bodies … sacrifice our souls without hesitation.
Following multiple press articles, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations announced an investigation into the event.
But more than five months have elapsed — with no follow-up from the Commission regarding its findings. Recently, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) sent a letter to the Commission’s executive director, Rue Landau, requesting an update of its findings and asking whether further investigation needs to be made by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The letter also informed Landau of the Muslim American Society’s (MAS) role as an “overt arm” of the Muslim Brotherhood and notes that “several senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood are designated as terrorists.” Perry and Zeldin also noted that, given the Muslim American Society has 50 chapters throughout the United States, the results of the Philadelphia investigation are of national importance in trying to understand the role played by the organization and similar groups in indoctrinating American Muslims children towards extremist Islamism.
Contacted about the letter, Landau did not respond.
The disturbing video received both local and national attention at the time, but why is there only continuing interest in the results of the Commission’s investigation from a congressman from New York and a congressman from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania?
Where are the voices coming from lawmakers in Philadelphia — or the voices from local Muslim organizations purporting to be advocates for human rights?
The Philadelphia City Council has not taken action, either. While Philadelphia Councilman Curtis Jones prepared a city council resolution in outrage over Pennsylvania Representative Delegate Stephanie Borowicz’s references to Jesus in a State House invocation during the swearing-in of Muslim State Representative Movita Johnson-Harrell, there has been no similar resolutions or outrage over the Muslim American Society’s promotion of songs about beheading Jews. Calls and emails to Jones and other councilmen asking if they too would add their voices in requesting an update from the Commission were ignored.
The Masjid Al-Hidaya Mosque, where the video was filmed, sits in the congressional district of Congressman Brendan Boyle and neighbors the district covered by Congressman Dwight Evans. Calls to each congressman’s local office revealed no awareness of the Zeldin/Perry letter, although staffers suggested they would investigate the matter further.
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)’s Philadelphia chapter responded to MAS’ head-chopping video with a press release at the time: “Muslim Community Condemns Anti-Semitism.” CAIR-Philadelphia executive director Jacob Bender was careful to add: “We should be careful, however, not to conflate criticism of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians with anti-Semitism. Thousands of American and Israeli Jews like myself are critical of the oppressive policies of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.”
The CAIR-PA’s weak response is a reminder of the historic relationship between MAS and CAIR. As federal prosecutors have previously argued:
CAIR and MAS omit reference to a shared background that limits their membership to those of a particular political bent, and undercuts their credibility. The Muslim Brotherhood is a generally covert international organization whose credo is ‘Allah is our goal; the Qur’an is our constitution; the Prophet is our leader; Struggle is our way; and death in the path of Allah is our highest aspiration.’
CAIR-Philadelphia has a history of running substantial campaigns whenever they wish to highlight issues of concern to them. That includes a recent effort targeting Starbucks over the name on a Muslim man’s coffee cup. But they have issued no apparent follow-up regarding the MAS video — or the remedial training CAIR was supposed to have provided to following the incident.
The Zeldin/Perry letter seeking disclosure of the Commission’s findings regarding MAS is a worthwhile effort. It’s a shame that local officials do not seem nearly as motivated in responding to an incident that has tarred Philadelphia’s reputation and raised serious questions about growing levels of Islamist anti-Semitism in the City of Brotherly Love.
Leonard Getz, CPA, is an associate in Philadelphia for the Counter-Islamist Grid (CIG) and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The American Thinker, The Algemeiner, PJMedia, Lifestyles Magazine, Nostalgia Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and elsewhere.