Sen. Patty Murray's controversial $2.5 million funding request for an Islamic organization with a history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and support for Hamas is sparking intense debate over the allocation of taxpayer dollars.
Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.), the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has requested $2.5 million in taxpayer funds for the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) in Washington state, an organization with a history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and support for Hamas's actions against Israel. This funding is intended for the construction of a clinic, adding to the $850,000 earmark previously secured by Murray for tech training for underrepresented communities.
The Biden administration has also awarded millions in Department of Homeland Security grants to mosques led by figures who have made anti-Semitic remarks and called for the eradication of Zionists. MAPS, the largest Islamic group in Washington, has hosted speakers who have praised Hamas and advocated resistance against Israel. Mohammad Joban, the head imam, apologized in 2019 for preaching that Jews were transformed into "despicable apes" for disobeying Allah. He has also referred to Israel as "the killers of the babies" and declared Gaza residents as winners over Israel.
In a recent sermon, Joban appeared to celebrate Israeli casualties and the failure of Israeli forces to "destroy the resistance" in Gaza. Another speaker, Sheikh Hasib Noor, prayed for the destruction of Zionists and the cleansing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
MAPS also hosted Ramzy Baroud, a Palestine Chronicle publisher, who has asserted that Israel has no right to self-defense and that Palestinians have the right to liberation "by any means necessary."
Murray's funding request follows criticism from Aneelah Afzali, executive director of MAPS's American Muslim Empowerment Network, for not calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
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