D.C. man’s Syria orphanage for more than 100 children may reopen

https:// www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc-mans-syria-orphanage-for-more-than-100-children-may-reopen/65-524247069

https:// archive.fo/QVZNj

Two months after bombs on Christmas morning closed an underground school and orphanage, a Columbia Heights man said his dream may have new life – as Syrian students and teachers returned to a village once threatened by indiscriminate airstrikes.

Washington resident Mouaz Moustafa founded a school for 130 Syrian orphans in 2016, calling it “the Wisdom House.” The school lies within Idlib Province, the area where Syrian President Bashar al-Assad infamously used chemical weapons against at least 200 civilians in April 2017.

The Wisdom House Project

http:// thewisdomhouseproject.com/

https:// archive.fo/BANHg

Building relationships across borders; supporting public education and the future for children in Syria.

135 Students ages 3-6, many of whom have lost one or both parents to the ongoing conflict.

What we provide the wisdom house:

Materials/ Equipment

a bus

rent for underground space

generator, heaters, fuel storage tanks

stationary, printers, computers, projectors, white boards, school supplies, playground equipment

other items as available

Operating Costs

water

fuel for bus, generators, and heaters

Human Resources

5 teachers

4 staff (bus driver, administration, logistics, janitorial)

The Syrian Emergency Task Force is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization created to support the Syrian people's demand for freedom and democracy, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or background. SETF seeks to convey the democratic aspirations of Syrians to the American public, and support humanitarian efforts to assist victims of the Syrian crisis. syriantaskforce.org

About the Wisdom House

https:// archive.fo/dBArj

Mouaz Moustafa, SETF director of outreach

In the Spring of 2016, the Syrian Emergency Task Force executive director, Mouaz Moustafa, presented at a Tedx exhibition at his alma mater, the University of Central Arkansas. Local Conway residents, Jerry Adams and Teri Daily, had a conversation over coffee with Moustafa. He let them know about a school in Syria that his organization had identified and needed help. Jerry and Teri decided they wanted to do more for this orphanage.

With their leadership, the Wisdom House Working Group was formed from members of the Conway, Arkansas community and The Wisdom House Project was born, an initiative to sustain and connect to a Syrian orphanage for at least the next five years. Since we started this project, we have connected with communities across the country including in Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington D.C., and communities around the globe who are supporting Syria through this amazing portal.

The SETF Director of Outreach, Natalie, manages the Wisdom House Project and acts as the liaison between students in Syria and the United States. For more information you can e-mail her at natalielarrison@gmail.com

PHOTO 1: Photo of the Wisdom House working group at Hendrix college in Conway, AR at the Wisdom House Project's "kick off" event in September 2016.

PHOTO 2: the Syrian Emergency Task Force core team at the Washington, D.C. office during their annual retreat.

US Syrian-American Group Tied To US Muslim Brotherhood; Group Is Close With US State Department

https:// www.globalmbwatch.com/2014/01/07/featured-story-syrian-american-group-tied-muslim-brotherhood-group-close-state-department/

The Investigative Project has reported on a US group known as the Syrian Emergency Taskforce (SETF) which is advising that American and other Western policymakers should not be concerned about the rise of the Islamic Front in Syria, identified as avowedly Islamist According to the IP report, the SETF has close relations with the US State Department:

Dec 20, 2013 The head of a major Syrian-American group said in a podcast earlier this month that American and other Western policymakers should not be concerned about the rise of the Islamic Front in Syria and should actively engage it.

The Islamic Front formed last month after seven Islamist rebel groups formed broke ranks with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), now the Syrian Rebel Front (SRB). The coalition’s charter clearly states that it aims to replace the Assad regime with an Islamic state and that it rejects democracy and secularism.

‘We have not seen serious engagement by the West with the biggest sort of united opposition armed element on the ground, and that’s something I think they definitely should do. That’s not to be written off,’ Syrian Emergency Taskforce Executive Director Mouaz Moustafa said in the podcast. ‘They should also be seen as the best hope against al-Qaida and the extremists in Syria and also against Hizballah and Assad.’

His group has close ties with the U.S. State Department and holds regular meetings with it and with members of Congress.

Moustafa urged his listeners not to ‘pass judgment’ on the Islamic Front based on its name alone.

Read the rest here.

https:// www.investigativeproject.org/4247/syrian-emergency-taskforce-head-urges-support-for

Syrian Emergency Taskforce Head Urges Support for Islamic Front

The head of a major Syrian-American group said in a podcast earlier this month that American and other Western policymakers should not be concerned about the rise of the Islamic Front in Syria and should actively engage it.

The Islamic Front formed last month after seven Islamist rebel groups formed broke ranks with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), now the Syrian Rebel Front (SRB). The coalition's charter clearly states that it aims to replace the Assad regime with an Islamic state and that it rejects democracy and secularism.

"We have not seen serious engagement by the West with the biggest sort of united opposition armed element on the ground, and that's something I think they definitely should do. That's not to be written off," Syrian Emergency Taskforce Executive Director Mouaz Moustafa said in the podcast. "They should also be seen as the best hope against al-Qaida and the extremists in Syria and also against Hizballah and Assad."

His group has close ties with the U.S. State Department and holds regular meetings with it and with members of Congress.

Moustafa urged his listeners not to "pass judgment" on the Islamic Front based on its name alone.

"The focus now is to depose the regime and kick out people like Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and others that are killing us. And so that's the best way to describe their ideology," Moustafa said. "I think the international community and the West and in general must engage with the Islamic Front and need to be more pragmatic and realistic about what is going on ground in Syria in order to bring them on board with whatever political solution will happen in the future."

Many Islamic Front battalions have fought alongside Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), al-Qaida's two factions in Syria, or have endorsed them in interviews or on social media.

Syrian immigrant, Holocaust survivor discuss fleeing atrocities

http:// www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/news/broward/fl-jjbs-atrocities-0315-20170313-story.html

https:// archive.fo/dQMzt

From left, Syrian immigrant Mouaz Moustafa shakes hands with Holocaust survivor Alfred Munzer. Both were featured speakers during the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s recent program “Fleeing Atrocities: Witness Perspectives” in South Florida.

Two different atrocities were recently discussed in South Florida by a Holocaust survivor and an eyewitness to the conflict in Syria.

These two individuals, Holocaust survivor Alfred Munzer and Syrian immigrant Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director for the Syrian Emergency Task Force, were the featured speakers during the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's presentation of "Fleeing Atrocities: Witness Perspectives."

This presentation, which recently took place at Nova Southeastern University in Davie and the University of Miami, was moderated by Naomi Kikoler, deputy director for the USHMM's Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. As the world grapples with the greatest number of refugees since World War II, both Munzer and Moustafa shared their experiences as well as the immediate and enduring impact on individuals, children and families who are displaced by genocidal violence and its ripple effect upon the next generations….

Moustafa, 32, said he left Damascus, Syria when he was a child. Although his family has not opposed the Assad government, several relatives have been arrested. As the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, Moustafa advocates on behalf of the pro-democratic movement inside of Syria. This organization was created to convey the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people to the American people, support the Syrian Uprising and the struggle to end the corrupt rule of the Assad regime.

Moustafa described during the presentation his effort to try to expose the Assad regime to the rest of the world. He said that, with unequivocal evidence of what's unfolding right now in Syria, the first place to go to the was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where he felt he was treated like family when he walked in with photos that are now on display there. He said the USHMM has stood by the oppressed Syrians' side.

When asked during the presentation to discuss the work he and his organization are doing in regards to assisting children who remain in Syria, Moustafa responded, "What is heart-breaking about this conflict is that an entire generation of Syrians are going without an education."

"One of the things that we're really trying to focus on is to help provide those children that remain inside the country with an education and to move their schools underground, because their schools are targeted regularly. If you ask these kids, who are displaced from their homes, they often say they miss school. One of the things we've been doing is that we established a school for orphans inside Syria."

The event at UM was co-presented with Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest