Georgetown University Professor John Esposito is one of six Middle East Studies directors at American universities to embrace an academic boycott of Israel, according to a Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch report. The letter first was reported by Campus Watch last week.

The six directors signed a public letter vowing "not to collaborate on projects and events involving Israeli academic institutions," a move that ArabianBusiness.com says could conflict with promises the directors made for federal funds.

As heads of U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Centers, Esposito and the other directors assured that they will "maintain linkages with overseas institutions of higher education and other organizations that may contribute to the teaching and research of the Center."

But the move is quite consistent for Esposito, who, as the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has documented, has long supported the Muslim Brotherhood and its front groups in the United States. His Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University was staked with $20 million from Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal in 2005.

Esposito served as an expert defense witness in the Hamas-financing prosecution against the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation and five of its former officials. He describes Sami Al-Arian, a man documented as a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's governing board, as "a proud, dedicated and committed American ... a man of conscience with a strong commitment to peace and social justice."

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad are committed to Israel's destruction.

Esposito has repeatedly defended terrorist organizations Hamas and Hizballah. In a 2000 interview in the Middle East Affairs Journal, Esposito was asked if they were terrorist organizations. "One can't make a clear statement about Hamas," he said… Some actions by the military wing of Hamas can be seen as acts of resistance, but other actions are acts of retaliation particularly when they target civilians."

In the same interview, Esposito defended Hizballah for operating "within the Lebanese political system functioning as a major player in parliament. But when it comes to the south it has been primarily a resistance movement…"

Internal documents admitted into evidence during the Holy Land prosecution show that the Middle East Affairs Journal and its publisher, the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR), were part of a Hamas-support network in the United States. The UASR was created by Hamas deputy political director Mousa Abu Marzook. A 1995 edition listed Esposito among the journal's Board of Advisory Editors. At the time, Marzook was in a New York jail, arrested and identified as a leader of Hamas in court papers.

One 1991 document described the UASR as "the official organization which represents the media and cultural aspect to support the cause." A second document, a 1989-90 annual report, made clear that the cause included supporting "the emerging movement, the Hamas Movement."

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