September 28, 2021
IJMA - Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 423 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-6225
Dear Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Risch,
We are writing as a bipartisan coalition of American Jewish and Muslim leaders, and others, to express our full and enthusiastic support for the nomination of Rashad Hussain to be the next U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
Ambassador Hussain was a founding member in 2019 of a national coalition of American Jews and Muslims, the Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance or IJMA. We at IJMA know Rashad well. He has worked for years both in government and in civil society on issues of international religious freedom. He has advocated for specific measures and programs to address antisemitism in Muslim-majority countries, to protect Christian and Muslim minorities throughout the world, and to combat religious bigotry regardless of its source. He works effectively with a very diverse range of persons and organizations, across lines of party and religion, as he demonstrated in IJMA and beyond.
The Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance or IJMA was founded in January 2019 by individuals and communal organizations of the two communities, to work together on projects that serve the interests of the entire nation. We promote understanding, civility and comity between our two communities as a model of American pluralism. One of our priority projects is addressing bigotry in each community directed towards the other community, through outreach and educational efforts. We address the most difficult issues in the Muslim-Jewish relationship. For instance, during the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas in May of this year, IJMA members unanimously agreed to a public statement against antisemitism and expressing sympathy for the victims of the conflict, the only Muslim-Jewish statement of its kind.
US leadership on international religious freedom is urgently needed today, following deadly threats to minorities in Afghanistan, ongoing antisemitism in Europe and the Middle East, anti-Muslim oppression in China and Myanmar, and renewed violence against Christians in Africa and beyond. Rashad provided personal and policy leadership to our civil society group. We look forward to his ability to serve in this new role, once confirmed by the Senate, representing our nation as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
Sincerely,
The Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance (IJMA)
Mohamed Abubakr, President of the African Middle Eastern Leadership Project
Atiya Aftab, co-founder of the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom
Majid Alsayegh, Chairman of the Dialogue Institute
Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Foundation
Adnan Ansari, Executive Director of Muflehun
Imam Abdullah Antepli, Duke University professor and co-director of Muslim Leadership Initiative of the Shalom Hartman Institute
Marshall Breger, Professor of Law at Catholic University
Dr. Georgette Bennett, Founder & President, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding and Founder, Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees
Rabia Chaudry, attorney and author
Richard S. Cohen, President of President of The Walden Group and Marcia’s Light Foundation
Richard Foltin, religious freedom writer and consultant
Megan Hallahan, Executive Director of the African Middle Eastern Leadership Project
S.A. Ibrahim, former CEO of Radian Group Inc. and interfaith leader
Rizwan Jaka, Chair of Interfaith & Government Relations, All Dulles Area Muslim Society
Humera Khan, President of Muflehun
Suhail Khan, External Affairs Director, Microsoft Corp. and Vice President, IJMA
Moses Libitzky, President of Libitzky Property Companies of San Francisco
Maital Friedman, co-director of Muslim Leadership Initiative of the Shalom Hartman Institute
Imam Mohamed Magid, All Dulles Area Muslim Society and Chairman of Interfaith Peace Corps
Rabbi Jack Moline
Sharon Nazarian, Senior Vice President for International Affairs, Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
Melanie Nezer, immigration and refugee policy expert
Sheryl Olitzky, co-founder of the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom
Rabbi David Saperstein, former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Ann Schroeder, CEO of Global Source Partners, and board member of Dialogue Institute
Imam Talib Shareef, Masjid Muhammad, the Nation’s Mosque and Vice Commander of the Muslim Americans Veterans Association
Robert Silverman, Lecturer at Shalem College and President, IJMA
Halie Soifer, Executive Director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America