You can't fight radical Islam with radical Islamists

The White House’s announcement of its conference on “Countering Violent Extremism” names Boston as one of the pilot cities where law enforcement officials have developed partnerships with Muslim community leaders. Unfortunately, to counter “violent extremism,” federal agencies are working with the Islamic Society of Boston and its political arm, the Muslim American Society.

Charles Jacobs, Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) recently said: “On Feb. 18, 2015, President Obama’s project to “combat violent extremism,” is to be showcased in a Washington “Summit”. This Summit cites Boston as one of three model U.S. cities that can lead the way. “

That will be a problem: The central Muslim institution with whom the Boston law enforcement agencies are partnering against extremism, is itself extremist.

The Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) and its political arm, the Muslim American Society, seen as the go-to groups for civic and law enforcement partnerships, have links to many extremists who are either in jail, in flight from federal authorities, or have been killed during terrorist attacks. The Washington Times on 2-11-15, published a full page ad with photos of 12 jihadists connected to these organizations who are in jail, awaiting trial, fugitives or dead.

Our Leaders can’t use radical Islamists to fight radical Islam. This Summit will be seriously flawed it will be an ineffectual event that will fail to fulfill its goal of combating extreme violent Radical Islam.

The conflict of interest is startling. The radical Muslim leaders who are wrongly accepted as legitimate participants are connected to terrorists. This is a mistake that needs to be publicized and corrected. They must be replaced with others, who have no ties to terrorism before the meetings can have any legitimacy.

The leadership of the United States has the duty of protecting our country and our freedoms and these leaders must stop the expanding Islamist threat to our way of life before it is too late.

Charles Jacobs is president of Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) and Esther Levens is CEO and founder of Unity Coalition for Israel, Shawnee Mission, Kansas.