Mosque
MosqueIsrael news photo: Flash 90

A Jewish-Muslim interfaith group in the United States faces trouble as two rabbis drop out over suspected extremist ties. Rabbi Irwin Tanenbaum and Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein, who both serve communities in western New York state, withdrew support from the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding's synagogue-mosque twinning project this year.

Both rabbis expressed support for interfaith initiatives in general, but said they are concerned by the specific organization involved.

The twinning project is organized in part by the Islamic Society of North America, a controversial group that was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land terrorist funding case. During the Holy Land trial, prosecutors linked the ISNA to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, although ISNA organizers deny the connection.

Rabbi Lazarus-Klein expressed concern that some Muslim organizers “are on one side promoting peace and on the other side participating in virulently anti-Israel rallies.”

The rabbis decision was lauded by the organization Americans for Peace and Tolerance, a group that monitors extremist Muslim groups and supports moderate Islam. The ISNA is “anything but moderate,” said researcher Ilya Feoktistov.

The synagogue-mosque twinning project is in its third year. This week's events are an interfaith scripture study center and a visit to the Sufi World Foundation mosque.