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'''Osama Abu Irshaid''' is thea Nationalboard Directormember ofand national director for [[American Muslims for Palestine]] (AMP). andHe also serves on the board of theUnited U.S.States Council of Muslim Organizationsorganizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wisconsinmuslimjournal.org/dr-osama-abu-irshaid-trump-era-foreign-policy-and-its-impact-on-palestine/|title=Dr. Osama Abu-Irshaid: Trump Era foreign policy and its impact on Palestine {{!}} Wisconsin Muslim Journal|last=Journal|first=Wisconsin Muslim|language=en|access-date=2019-04-18}}</ref>
Irshaid completed his Ph.D. thesis on [[Hamas]] at [[Loughborough University]] in the United Kingdom. He also founded and served as the editor in chief of ''Al-Meezan'' newspaper, an Arabic language newspaper published in the United States.<ref name="rigidity">{{cite web
| quote = }}</ref> Abu Irshaid has frequently appeared on Arabic satellite networks such as [[Al Jazeera]], Syrian TV, Al-Alam, and [[Al Hiwar|Al Hiwar TV]] as a commentator on Palestinian and Middle Eastern affairs and U.S. domestic and foreign policy.<ref>{{cite web ▼ | url = http://www.usip.org/publications/hamas-ideological-rigidity-and-political-flexibility
| title = Hamas: Ideological Rigidity and Political Flexibility
| last1 =Abu-Irshaid
| first1 = Osama
| last2 = Scham
| first2 = Paul
| date =2009-06-01
| website =United States Institute of Peace
| publisher =
| access-date =2015-12-18
▲ | quote = }}</ref> Abu Irshaid has frequently appeared on Arabic satellite networks such as [[Al Jazeera]], Syrian TV, Al-Alam, and [[Al Hiwar|Al Hiwar TV]] as a commentator on Palestinian and Middle Eastern affairs and U.S. domestic and foreign policy.<ref>{{cite web
| url =http://conference.ampalestine.org/index.php/speakers/26-osama-abu-irshaid
| title =Osama Abu Irshaid
| quote = }}</ref>
Abu Irshaid was listed as a Research Fellow at the [[United Association for Studies and Research]] (UASR) in a 1999 article published in the Middle East Affairs Journal, a publication of UASR. The article was titled “Occupied Palestine or Independent Israel: ‘The Right to Existence’ After More Than Fifty Years of Occupation”. The article argued against past peace agreements with “[[Zionism|Zionists]]”, including the [[Oslo I Accord|1993 Oslo Accords]].<ref>Osama Abu Irshaid. "Occupied Palestine or Independent Israel: 'The Right to Existence' After More Than Fifty Years of Occupation. "Middle East Affairs Journal 5.3-4 (1999): 231-43.</ref> The academic journal published by UASR has been said to be “involved in passing Hamas communiques to the United States-based [[Muslim Brotherhood]] community and relaying messages from that community back to Hamas”.<ref name="palestinian">{{cite news▼==Career==
▲Abu Irshaid was listed as a Research Fellow at the [[United Association for Studies and Research]] (UASR) in a 1999 article published in the Middle East Affairs Journal, a publication of UASR. The article was titled “Occupied Palestine or Independent Israel: ‘The Right to Existence’ After More Than Fifty Years of Occupation”. The article argued against past peace agreements with “[[Zionism|Zionists]]”, including the [[Oslo I Accord|1993 Oslo Accords]].<ref>Osama Abu Irshaid. "Occupied Palestine or Independent Israel: 'The Right to Existence' After More Than Fifty Years of Occupation. "Middle East Affairs Journal 5.3-4 (1999): 231-43.</ref> The academic journal published by UASR has been said to be “involved in passing Hamas communiques to the United States-based [[Muslim Brotherhood]] community and relaying messages from that community back to Hamas”.<ref name="palestinian">{{cite news
| author =<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title = American Palestinian Group Has Strong Ties to Hamas
| url = http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/06/29/american-palestinian-group-has-strong-ties-to-hamas/#
| newspaper = The Algemeiner
| location = Brooklyn, New York
| date = 2015-06-29
| access-date =2015-12-18
}}</ref> UASR is also part of the group of organizations that are tied back to the Palestine Committee, a now defunct network created by the Muslim Brotherhood to advance Hamas’s agenda in the United States. The Hamas support network was shut down in the United States between 2001 and 2008.<ref name="palestinian" />
Beginning in 2002, Osama Abu Irshaid served on the board of the American Muslim Society (AMS), another name for the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which served as a propaganda outlet for Hamas.<ref>{{cite web
| publisher =
| access-date =2015-12-18
| quote = }}</ref><ref>Levitt, Matthew. Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. P. 149.: Yale UP, 2006. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.</ref> Abu Irshaid previous served as the editor of IAP’s Arabic periodical ''Al-Zaitounah''.<ref name="rigidity">{{cite web|url=http://www.usip.org/publications/hamas-ideological-rigidity-and-political-flexibility|title=Hamas: Ideological Rigidity and Political Flexibility|last1=Abu-Irshaid|first1=Osama|last2=Scham|first2=Paul|date=2009-06-01|website=United States Institute of Peace|publisher=|access-date=2015-12-18|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url =http://www.ampalestine.org/index.php/about-amp/amp-national-board| title =AMP National Board| last =| first =| date =| website =American Muslims for Palestine| publisher =| access-date =2015-12-18| quote =| deadurl =yes| archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20151211191259/http://www.ampalestine.org/index.php/about-amp/amp-national-board| archivedate =2015-12-11| df =}}</ref><ref name="palestinian">{{cite news|url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/06/29/american-palestinian-group-has-strong-ties-to-hamas/#|title=American Palestinian Group Has Strong Ties to Hamas|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=2015-06-29|newspaper=The Algemeiner|access-date=2015-12-18|location=Brooklyn, New York}}</ref>
| quote = }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2014/10/28/u-s-council-of-muslim-organizations-raises-funds-for-islamic-relief-usa/
| title =U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations Raises Funds for Islamic Relief USA
| last =
| first =
| date =
| website =Center for Security Policy
| publisher =
| access-date =2015-12-18
| quote = }}</ref><ref>Levitt, Matthew. Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. P. 149.: Yale UP, 2006. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.</ref> Abu Irshaid previous served as the editor of IAP’s Arabic periodical ''Al-Zaitounah'', which published Hamas propaganda.<ref name="palestinian" /> The periodical also published advertisements for charities that were tied to terrorism, including the [[Holy Land Foundation]], the [[Global Relief Foundation]] (GRF) and the [[Benevolence International Foundation]] (BIF).<ref name="palestinian" />
In 2009, The [[United States Institute of Peace]] published a controversial study co-authored by Abu Irshaid and Paul Scham called “Hamas: Ideological Rigidity and Political Flexibility”. The study suggests that Hamas has undergone political and ideological shifts over time that make it possible for it to coexist with Israel without violence. The report analyzes Hamas’s statements and actions from an Islamic point of view, using the framework of Sharia law, on which Hamas is based, to define which actions it can and cannot take.<ref name="rigidity" />
Abu Irshaid currently serves on the national board of American Muslims for Palestine,<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www.ampalestine.org/index.php/about-amp/amp-national-board| title =AMP National Board| last =| first =| date =| website =American Muslims for Palestine| publisher =| access-date =2015-12-18| quote =| deadurl =yes| archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20151211191259/http://www.ampalestine.org/index.php/about-amp/amp-national-board| archivedate =2015-12-11| df =}}</ref> which is one of several groups that carries out lobbying, fundraising, and propaganda campaigns that were carried out previously by the Palestine Committee.<ref name="palestinian" />
In 2014, Irshaid helped form the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), which is an umbrella organization of prominent American Muslim organizations seeking to unify the approach, agenda and vision of the Muslim community. He is currently a board member of the organization. Several of the groups involved in the USCMO and its founding members have been linked to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other extremist groups and opinions.<ref>{{cite web
| url =https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2014/05/19/genesis-of-the-us-council-of-muslim-organizations-muslim-brotherhood-political-party/
| title =Genesis of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations Muslim Brotherhood Political Party
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| website =Center for Security Policy
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| access-date =2015-12-18
| quote = }}</ref>
==Views==
During 2014 and 2015, Irshaid frequently openly supported Hamas on his Twitter and Facebook accounts, applauding Hamas’s war tactics against Israel, and criticizing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization.<ref name="palestinian" /> His articles, speeches and statements are often anti-Israeli and he has publicly defended what others have criticized as “Jew-hating” bus advertisements paid for by American Muslims for Palestine.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Lee
| first = Jolie
| date = 2014-05-22
| title = 'Islamic Jew-hatred' bus ads featuring Hitler roll out on D.C. streets
| url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/05/22/dc-bus-ad-muslim-hitler/9436019/
| newspaper = USA Today
| location =
| access-date = 2015-12-18
}}</ref>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Irshaid, Osama}}
==References==
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