What It’s About: Who are the key Islam organizations? What are their goals?

Presenter: Cynthia Farahat is an Egyptian-American bestselling author of The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Industry of Death. Ms. Farahat is a Board Member of the Washington Outsider Center for Information Warfare. Farahat is counterterrorism and counterintelligence expert, and former editor of The Journal of Central and Eastern European African Studies (JCEEAS). Farahat co-founded the Liberal Egyptian Party in Egypt, which advocated for peace with Israel, free market economy, and the separation of mosque and state. She studied Sunni and Shia Islamic jurisprudence and history for more than twenty-five-years. Farahat co-authored several books including, Desecration of A Heavenly Religion which was officially banned by Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 2008 for its criticism of Egypt’s blasphemy law. She was a fellow at the Middle East Forum for eleven years. Farahat landed on a Muslim Brotherhood, and al-Qaeda affiliated group hit list. She is officially banned from entering Lebanon for her work fostering regional peace. For almost a decade under Housni Mubarak’s regime, she received daily death threats from Islamists. After her beloved brother was kidnapped and tortured by Islamists, her friend was murdered, and they attempted to assassinate her in October 2011, Farahat immigrated to the United States. Farahat has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, briefed more than three hundred congressional offices, and advised US intelligence and law enforcement agencies. She received awards for her work in counter-terrorism. Her work has been published in many national and international outlets, and her work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Farahat’s work is very popular both in the West and in Moderate Islamic countries which have suffered decades of terrorism.