Newlines is not an "independent think tank" as it claims to be.
A baffling controversy has unfolded around the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy (NISP), a self-proclaimed “think tank” based in Washington D.C. It turns out that the organization, which churns out “Uyghur genocide” reports to smear China, is an institute of doubtful origins and unsettling intentions, with abundant evidence tying it to the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), an alleged Muslim Brotherhood institution that has been accused of supporting terrorism and providing ideological material for Islamist groups worldwide.
Over the past two years, name changing and form shifting have been a major trademark of NISP. While the organization is elusive when it comes to its real identity and true intentions, it is clear in its goal to sabotage China’s efforts in promoting Xinjiang’s development, as well as hyping up global hatred towards China’s Uyghur policies.
Veneer of independence
Ever since its establishment in 2019, the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy (formerly the Center for Global Policy) has been constantly questioned over its claims to be “nonpartisan and independent.”
Ever since its establishment in 2019, NISP (formerly the Center for Global Policy) has been constantly questioned over its claim to be “nonpartisan and independent”, selling points that the institute has been exploiting to attract mainstream praise and attention.
The hidden connection between the organization and IIIT has always been a contested issue. In November 2020, David Reaboi, a Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow, blasted the then Center for Global Policy (CGP) as a trade name for the IIIT, citing records from the Washington DC governmental database to support his claim. The accusation was rejected by Faysal Itani, CGP deputy director, who explained that the evidence provided by Reaboi referred to another Center for Global Policy that had been dissolved but maintained the trademark. Despite its denial of having any connection with IIIT, the Center for Global Policy changed its name into Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy on Feb.20, 2021 on Twitter, a suspicious move for a “think tank” that has only existed for a year.
The change of name has not saved the “think tank” from becoming embroiled in the IIIT scandal. According to official information from Newlines’ website, NISP was founded by Ahmed Alwani and is a division of Fairfax University of America (FXUA).The new identity has, ironically, made its relationship with IIIT even more obvious, as Ahmed Alwani, President of FXUA, is also the vice President of IIIT and the son of IIIT founder Taha Jabir Al-Alwani, while Hisham Al-Talib, one of IIIT’s founding members, serves as the university’s chairman of the Board of Trustees.
As the parent institution of Newlines, FXUA’s connection with IIIT is not only limited to its personnel’s dual identities, but the two bodies also have intertwined financial ties. According to an open file issued by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia on March 19, 2019, the university’s prior incarnation, the Virginia International University (VIU) was accused of “rampant plagiarism” and “grade inflation”, facing possible revocation of its certificate to operate. The VIU’s campus was sold to Mar-Jac Foundation, which, according to an investigation by the Center for Security Policy, contributes the majority of the IIIT’s budget and is run by Ahmed Alwani. In what appears to be an attempt to disassociate itself from its murky past, VIU changed its name into Fairfax University of America on January 1, 2020. But as an institution that has been plagued by constant academic scandals and violation of state educational standards, the quality of its division Newlines is debatable.
Constantly changing its names and forms, and at the same time claiming to be independent, the shadow behind the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy has always been the IIIT, an organization that many experts believe to be the Muslim Brotherhood’s bridgehead for waging a “civilization-jihadist process.”
Unsettling intentions, backstage manipulator
Formed in the US in 1981, IIIT has been accused of supporting terrorism several times. Its headquarters were raided by the FBI in 2002 for connections to terrorists, and the institute was cited in 2010 by the Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case.
Though the organization now describes itself as a “platform for the unique perspective of Muslim thinkers, scholars, and practitioners”, its previous tagline was “towards Islamization of Knowledge and reform of Islamic thought.”
