Bridge Initiative

The Bridge Ini­tia­tive is a research project housed with­in the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Cen­ter for Mus­lim-Chris­t­ian Under­stand­ing (ACMCU) at George­town Uni­ver­si­ty. Found­ed in 2015 under the direc­tion of John Espos­i­to, the ini­tia­tive describes its mis­sion as “pro­mot­ing a more inclu­sive pub­lic dis­course by pro­vid­ing research and resources on Islam­o­pho­bia.” The Bridge Ini­tia­tive has pub­lished numer­ous reports accus­ing West­ern gov­ern­ments and media of pro­mot­ing anti-Mus­lim bias. How­ev­er, the project has drawn sus­tained crit­i­cism due to the affil­i­a­tions of sev­er­al of its senior researchers and col­lab­o­ra­tors with US-based Mus­lim Broth­er­hood-linked orga­ni­za­tions.  In addi­tion, Bridge Ini­tia­tive con­trib­u­tor Farid Hafez has been linked to Aus­tri­an Mus­lim Broth­er­hood net­works and was the sub­ject of an Aus­tri­an coun­tert­er­ror­ism inves­ti­ga­tion into Islamist influ­ence oper­a­tions. Crit­ics argue that the ini­tia­tive pro­motes a nar­ra­tive that con­flates legit­i­mate scruti­ny of polit­i­cal Islam with big­otry, there­by shield­ing Broth­er­hood-affil­i­at­ed actors from crit­i­cism under the guise of anti-Islam­o­pho­bia work.

Ref­er­ences:

About the Bridge Ini­tia­tive – George­town University

George­town Aca­d­e­m­ic To Head New Islam­o­pho­bia Pro­gram; John Espos­i­to Has Long His­to­ry Of Sup­port For Glob­al Mus­lim Brotherhood

Coali­tion of Glob­al Mus­lim Broth­er­hood Groups Pub­lish­es Report on U.S. Coun­tert­er­ror­ism Efforts – Glob­al Influ­ence Oper­a­tions Report

Islam­o­pho­bia Researchers Pub­lish Report Accus­ing Euro­pean Gov­ern­ments of Anti-Mus­lim Racism – Glob­al Influ­ence Oper­a­tions Report

Promi­nent Aus­tri­an Islam­o­pho­bia Researcher Denies Ties to Mus­lim Broth­er­hood – Glob­al Influ­ence Oper­a­tions Report

Co-Founders of Austria’s Main Mus­lim Youth Asso­ci­a­tion Accused of Being Part of the Mus­lim Broth­er­hood – Glob­al Influ­ence Oper­a­tions Report