Islamic Society of Bay Ridge

Connections to Terrorism

The Islamic Society of Bay Ridge (ISBR) has been linked to multiple actual or potential terrorist attacks. ^{3 2 4 5}

In a 2006 New York Times profile, then-ISBR imam Sheik Reda Shata said that he opposed terrorism and promoted cooperation with law enforcement among his congregation, which was corroborated by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) counterterrorism officials in New York City. ² However, a leaked New York Police Department intelligence strategy report that same year listed the ISBR as one of the six leading locations to be monitored by the NYPD for potential terrorist activity in the city. ³

In 2013, another leaked NYPD report revealed that the department had secretly designated the ISBR as a “terrorism enterprise,” allowing the police to open investigations and perform surveillance on the mosque’s staff and congregation. ⁶

Herald Square Bomb Plot

In 2006, Islamic Society of Bay Ridge congregation member Shahawar Matin Siraj was convicted in federal court for his role in a 2004 plot to plant a bomb in a New York City Subway station in advance of the opening of the Republican National Convention. ^{4 7}

According to his attorney Martin Stolar, Siraj shared a belief among the Bay Ridge Muslim community that the attacks of September 11, 2001 were a ‘false flag’ operation by the U.S. government and not the work of al-Qaeda. ⁴ Stolar claimed, “In fact, in that entire Muslim community in Bay Ridge, the thought that the American government was responsible for bringing down the towers on 9-11 was common.” ⁴

Murder of Ari Halberstam

In 1994, Lebanese immigrant Rashid Baz opened fire on a van carrying young Hasidic Jewish men across the Brooklyn Bridge, killing 16-year-old yeshiva student Ari Halberstam and wounding 14 others while reportedly yelling “Kill the Jews!” ^{8 5} Baz reportedly intended the attack as retribution for the mass shooting of Muslims at prayer at a mosque in Hebron, Israel by Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein a few days earlier. ⁵

Shortly before the attack, Baz had attended a service at the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge where an imam reportedly exhorted the congregation to violent action against Jews in retribution for Goldstein’s attack. ^{5 9}

In 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation retroactively classified Baz’s attack as an act of terrorism, and as of 2023 the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Halberstam’s family were still offering a $50,000 award for information leading to anyone who conspired with or assisted Baz. ¹⁰

Support for Hamas

The 2006, New York Times profile of Islamic Society of Bay Ridge’s Reda Sata noted that his opposition to terrorism did not extend to denunciation of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. ² While Sata publicly promoted opposition to the killing of civilians by Hamas, he also celebrated Hamas members who were responsible for the killing of Israeli civilians as “martyrs.” ² He also claimed that Israeli soldiers were legitimate targets for Hamas, framing it as “self-defense” by Palestinians. ²

The New York Police Department’s 2006 intelligence report cited “source reporting” tying ISBR to Hamas, noting that in 2003 it hosted a speech by Mohammed El Mazin, the suspected North American leader of Hamas. ³

Finances

The Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, Inc. is registered as a nonprofit religious charity organization by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and State of New York. ¹¹ As a religious charity, it is not required to file annual tax returns with the IRS or publicly disclose its finances. ¹²