Americans for Peace and Tolerance

APT was founded by Charles Jacobs, Boston College political science professor Dennis Hale, and Egyptian exile and the Quranists Muslim Ahmed Subhy Mansour. Jacobs was previously the co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Group in 1993, and the David Project in 2004.{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/28/at_mosque_opening_tensions_permeate_interfaith_gathering/?page=2|title=At mosque opening, tensions permeate interfaith gathering|date=June 28, 2009|agency=The Boston Globe|last1=Paulson|first1=Michael|access-date=February 2, 2010|archive-date=July 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703085546/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/28/at_mosque_opening_tensions_permeate_interfaith_gathering/?page=2|url-status=live}}

In October 2013, APT took out newspaper ads in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Newton TAB, Boston Metro, and Jewish Advocate, noting the presence of anti-Israeli materials being incorporated into the Newton Public Schools curriculum.{{cite news|url=http://www.jewishledger.com/2013/10/ads-blast-newton-mass-schools-over-anti-israel-texts/|title=Ads blast Newton Mass., schools over anti-Israel texts|work=Jewish Ledger|date=October 30, 2013|first=Judie|last=Jacobson|access-date=November 1, 2013|archive-date=November 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103101626/http://www.jewishledger.com/2013/10/ads-blast-newton-mass-schools-over-anti-israel-texts/|url-status=live}} The school system's use of the 'Arab World Studies Notebook' was sharply criticized, including claims that Muslims had discovered America in 889. The source had been criticized earlier by the American Jewish Committee for its proselytizing approach to Islam,{{cite web|title=Propaganda, Proselytizing, and Public Education: A Critique of the Arab World Studies Notebook|url=http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/Propaganda2005.pdf|publisher=American Jewish Committee|access-date=29 August 2015|date=February 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185714/http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/Propaganda2005.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} and by Native American groups for other claims, including that Muslims become chiefs of Algonquin tribes in the 17th century.{{cite news|title=Textbook on Arabs removes blunder|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/apr/16/20040416-120208-4455r/?page=all|agency=Washington Times|date=April 16, 2004|access-date=August 29, 2015|archive-date=March 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320202311/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/apr/16/20040416-120208-4455r/|url-status=live}}

In 2016, the APT released a documentary on the BDS movement called Hate Spaces: The Politics of Intolerance on Campus. The film tracks the history of Students for Justice in Palestine and its ties to Middle Eastern donors.{{cite news|last1=Cravatts|first1=Richard L.|title='Hate Spaces:' A New Film Reveals a Toxic Bigotry on American Campuses|url=https://jewishjournal.org/2016/12/16/hate-spaces-a-new-film-reveals-a-toxic-bigotry-on-american-campuses/|access-date=December 29, 2016|work=The Jewish Journal|date=December 16, 2016|archive-date=December 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229102138/https://jewishjournal.org/2016/12/16/hate-spaces-a-new-film-reveals-a-toxic-bigotry-on-american-campuses/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Barken|first1=Jeffrey|title=A New Documentary Shows the Extent and Nature of Anti-Zionist 'Hate Spaces' on Campus|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2016/12/26/a-new-documentary-shows-the-extent-and-nature-of-anti-zionist-hate-spaces-on-campus/|access-date=December 29, 2016|work=Algemeiner|date=December 26, 2016|quote=Hate Spaces meticulously charts the flow of money from dictators in Muslim countries to American universities, suggesting that this transfer of capital buttresses support for Islamic causes among academics. Devoid of intellectual integrity, professors choose a path of least resistance when discussing Israel and the Palestinian territories, and are unfairly sympathetic to the BDS agenda.|archive-date=December 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229104837/https://www.algemeiner.com/2016/12/26/a-new-documentary-shows-the-extent-and-nature-of-anti-zionist-hate-spaces-on-campus/|url-status=live}} It includes scenes of antisemitism under the pretence of anti-Zionism on campuses like Northeastern University. It suggests that university professors take funding from anti-Zionist donors out of cynicism rather than ideology, which influences their perspective on Israel in class.

APT has been a major critic of the Islamic Society of Boston, and of the construction in 2009 in the city's Roxbury neighborhood of the $15.6 million Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, which includes a mosque. APT asserts that the group is directed and controlled by extremist leaders and contributors.{{cite news|last1=Solomont|first1=E. B.|title=Boston area Jews split on Tamir. Russian emigrants demand Israeli envoy's recall, while mainstream groups support him|agency=Jerusalem Post|date=August 11, 2009}}{{cite news |url= http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/26/muslim_community_to_celebrate_mosque8217s_ceremonial_opening/ |last= Paulson |first= Michael |date= June 25, 2009 |title= A call to prayer, a long quest fulfilled; Celebration follows years of controversy |work= The Boston Globe |access-date= February 2, 2010 |archive-date= June 29, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090629183250/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/26/muslim_community_to_celebrate_mosque8217s_ceremonial_opening/ |url-status= live }} The Islamic Society of Boston rejected the charges.

In 2007 Islamic Society of Boston had dropped a defamation lawsuit filed against the David Project and other groups, over revelations that the city of Boston had sold land to the mosque at far below market value. The mosque's fundraiser, who oversaw the land sale, was Mohammad Ali-Salaam, Deputy Directory of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

In a 2009 op-ed, the APT's Hale and Jacobs wrote that the new Islamic Center was "paid for largely by the Saudis, and run by what federal authorities describe as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood." They added that "it is way past time for sensible citizens to demand answers to questions about the leaders of the new Islamic Center in Roxbury."{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/05/leaders_are_extremist/ |last1=Hale |first1=Dennis |last2=Jacobs |first2=Charles |date=July 5, 2009 |title=Leaders are extremist |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=February 2, 2010 |archive-date=November 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091111044549/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/05/leaders_are_extremist/ |url-status=live }} Mosque leader Yusuf Vali replied that the vast majority of construction donors were U.S. based, and added that "no donations were accepted if the donor wanted to have any decision-making influence (even if benign)."{{cite news|last1=Dorell|first1=Oren|title=Mosque that Boston suspects attended has radical ties|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/23/boston-mosque-radicals/2101411/|access-date=29 August 2015|agency=USA Today|date=April 25, 2013|archive-date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218105753/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/23/boston-mosque-radicals/2101411/|url-status=live}}

Boston mayor Thomas Menino defended the Islamic Center, as did William A. Graham, dean of Harvard Divinity School, who said fear of the Islamic Center of Boston was "highly exaggerated." The mosque opened despite APT's protests.[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-204036443.html "Controversial mosque opens despite protest"], The Jewish Advocate'{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, July 3, 2009, accessed February 2, 2010]

Following the April 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon, Jacobs renewed his argument that the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (where the suspects had once worshipped) and its affiliated mosques in Cambridge and Roxbury are tied to extremists, claiming in a USA Today opinion article that people have been radicalized there from their curriculum, although the mosque has condemned the bombing and asked one of the suspects to stop attending due to openly challenging and interrupting the Friday prayer service.{{cite news |last1=Cullison |first1=Alan |last2=Sonne |first2=Paul |last3=Troianovski |first3=Anton |last4=George-Cosh |first4=David |date=April 22, 2013 |title=Boston Marathon Bombings: Turn to Religion Split Bomb Suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Home |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324235304578437131250259170 |access-date=April 22, 2013 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}

APT has been criticized for anti-Muslim biases and activities since its inception. In 2011, a group of seventy Rabbinical community leaders together published a letter in The Jewish Advocate calling upon the group's president, Charles Jacobs, "to discontinue his destructive campaign against Boston's Muslim community, which is based on innuendo, half-truths and unproven conspiracy theories." The Jewish religious leaders also called "upon members of our community to reject the dangerous politics of division that Mr. Jacobs fosters."{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/news/2010-06-11/Editorials/Rabbis_come_to_the_defense_of_a_colleague_under_fi.html|title=Rabbinical Leaders Letter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622150226/http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/news/2010-06-11/Editorials/Rabbis_come_to_the_defense_of_a_colleague_under_fi.html|archive-date=2017-06-22|url-status=dead}} In a 2015 article in the New York Times, US Attorney Carmen Ortiz labeled APT's claims about the Muslim community "incredibly racist and unfair."{{Cite news|url=http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/us/boston-muslims-struggle-to-wrest-image-of-islam-from-terrorists.html?_r=0|title=New York Times Article on Boston Muslims|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 June 2015|last1=Shane|first1=Scott|access-date=21 October 2016|archive-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912073951/http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/us/boston-muslims-struggle-to-wrest-image-of-islam-from-terrorists.html?_r=0|url-status=live}} The group's tax returns reveal that it is funded by some of the most notorious anti-Muslim hate groups in the United States, such as the Middle East Forum, which has been labeled "part of the inner core of the U.S. Islamophobia network."{{Cite web|url=http://www.islamophobia.org/islamophobic-orgs/middle-east-forum.html|title=Islamophobic Organizations - Middle East Forum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021144750/http://www.islamophobia.org/islamophobic-orgs/middle-east-forum.html|archive-date=2016-10-21|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://conservativetransparency.org/basic-search/?q=americans+for+peace+and+tolerance&sf%5B%5D=candidate&sf%5B%5D=donor&sf%5B%5D=recipient&sf%5B%5D=transaction&sf%5B%5D=finances|title=Middle East Forum Funding|access-date=2016-10-21|archive-date=2016-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021145156/http://conservativetransparency.org/basic-search/?q=americans+for+peace+and+tolerance&sf%5B%5D=candidate&sf%5B%5D=donor&sf%5B%5D=recipient&sf%5B%5D=transaction&sf%5B%5D=finances|url-status=live}}

Individual members of the organization have been criticized for professing bigoted perspectives toward Muslims. Charles Jacobs was a main figure in the CBS article "The Great Islamophobic Crusade,"{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-great-islamophobic-crusade/|title=The Great Islamophobic Crusade|website=CBS News|date=19 December 2010 |access-date=2016-10-21|archive-date=2016-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021132851/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-great-islamophobic-crusade/|url-status=live}} while Ahmed Subhy Mansour is infamous within the Muslim community for having supported former Congressman Tom Tancredo's proposal for bombing Mecca.{{Cite web|url=http://www.islamreview.com/articles/tancredo.shtml|title=Tancredo Interview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116030524/http://www.islamreview.com/articles/tancredo.shtml|archive-date=2012-11-16|url-status=dead}} The US State Department has called Tancredo's statement "insulting and offensive."{{Cite news|title=Associated Press, July 21, 2005}}

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• [http://www.peaceandtolerance.org/ APT official website]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Americans for Peace and Tolerance}}

Category:Political advocacy groups in the United States

Category:Charities based in Massachusetts

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Boston

Category:501(c)(3) organizations