American Muslim Alliance (AMA)

The organization was named as a sponsor of the November 4, 2023, “National March on Washington: Free Palestine.” The demonstration saw thousands of protesters chant “Allahu akbar” and “F–k Joe Biden” while calling for an armistice in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. ^{2 3}

The organization has multiple leaders who have alleged ties to Islamist radicals. This includes Agha Saeed, the founder of the American Muslim Alliance, who was noted to be a “friend” of Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). ^{4 5}

Background

The American Muslim Alliance (AMA) is a left-of-center Muslim advocacy group that was founded in 1994 by Agha Saeed. The organization, which provides education and leadership training to American Muslims, started with the goal of “electing 2,000 Muslims to offices across the United States.” According to its Facebook page, AMA once claimed approximately 101 chapters in 31 states. ¹

Advocacy Activities

National March on Washington: Free Palestine

The American Muslim Alliance (AMA) was named as a sponsor of the November 4, 2023, National March on Washington: Free Palestine. The demonstration saw protesters march to Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., before marching to the White House. ^{2 3}

Protesters that gathered at the White House chanted “Allahu akbar” and “F–k Joe Biden” while calling for an armistice in the Gaza Strip. Other chants included the controversial slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Long live the Intifada,” a term that has referred to Palestinian militant uprisings. ³

Protesters smeared red paint on the entrance gates to the White House and attempted to open gates by pushing on them. Demonstrators also smashed the windows of a local McDonald’s restaurant. ³

Hillary Clinton Fundraiser

The American Muslim Alliance sponsored a fundraising event for then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2000. Clinton received $50,000 in political contributions due to the event. ⁶

Despite the large amount of money raised, Clinton’s campaign stated it would return the $50,000 raised; the New York Times characterized the reasoning as that Clinton was “offended by remarks attributed to members of the organization.” According to the Times, AMA’s president Agha Saeed had “been quoted as defending a United Nations resolution that he said allowed for the use of armed force by Palestinians against Israel,” while other members of the organization were accused of “making anti-Semitic remarks.” ⁷

People

Agha Saeed

Agha Saeed is the founder and original president of the American Muslim Alliance. Saeed testified on behalf of Sami Al-Arian in March 2003 after Al-Arian was charged with providing support to the designated terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). ^{8 9}

Saeed told the court that Al-Arian was a “friend” with whom he worked for a roughly ten-year period to “mainstream American Muslim politics.” The American Muslim Alliance also featured a page on its website titled the “Valiant Civil Rights Struggle of Dr. Sami Al-Arian.” ^{4 10}

Al-Arian pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds, goods, or services to or for the benefit of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian was then sentenced to 57 months in prison, and the court “entered a stipulated order of removal, whereby Al-Arian will be deported from the United States” once his sentence was served. ⁵

During a speech and fundraising session in 1991, Al-Arian was introduced by the then-imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, Fawaz Damra, as the “president of the Islamic Committee for Palestine,” which Damra then noted “is the active arm of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. We preferred to call it the ‘Islamic Committee for Palestine’ for security reasons.” ¹¹

As part of his guilty plea, Al-Arian admitted that he was associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad during the late 1980s to mid-1990s. ⁵

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) published a press release regarding the funeral of Agha Saeed in February 2021. The press release contained a family statement, which stated that Al-Arian was Saeed’s “closest of friends.” ¹²

Seddique Mateen

Seddique Mateen was listed as the president of the then-new American Muslim Alliance Fort Pierce chapter in a July 1997 announcement by AMA. Mateen is the father of Omar Mateen, the mass murderer who shot and killed 49 people and injured another 53 after opening fire inside of Pulse Nightclub in June 2016. ^{13 14}

Following the Pulse shooting, American Muslim Alliance shared a meme blaming the United States’ gun laws for the death toll. ¹⁵ Seddique Mateen claimed he was saddened by his son’s actions in a Facebook video, but added that “God will punish those involved in homosexuality.” He has also hosted a program on a California-based satellite Afghan TV station in which he put forward an anti-U.S. and pro-Taliban message. ¹⁶

Mahdi Bray

Mahdi Bray is the national director of the American Muslim Alliance, former national political director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and former executive director of the Muslim American Society’s Freedom Foundation. ^{17 18}

Bray attended a rally at Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., in 2000. At the rally, Bray stood on stage beside the former leader of the American Muslim Council, Abdurahman Alamoudi. ¹⁸ Alamoudi stated at the rally that he had been “labeled by the media in New York to be a supporter of Hamas” before asking the crowd if anyone in attendance supported Hamas, to which the crowd cheered “yes,” while Bray nodded and raised his arms in approval on stage next to Alamoudi. Alamoudi continued by stating “We are all supporters of Hamas, Allahu Akbar.” He also stated that he wished the media “added that I am also a supporter of Hizballah.” ¹⁸

Alamoudi later was sentenced to 23 years in jail in October 2004 after pleading guilty to three federal offenses: one count of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which “imposes terrorism-related sanctions prohibiting unlicensed travel to and commerce with Libya”; one count of “false statements made in his application for naturalization”; and a tax offense which involved him attempting to conceal his financial transactions with Libya and his foreign bank accounts from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He also attempted to “omit material information from the tax returns filed by his charities,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. ¹⁹