However, citing its ties to the Shalom Hartman Institute, critics argue that the ultimate aim is to undermine Muslim solidarity with Palestine.
Alumni of the MLI program include Wajahat Ali, playwright, frequent television commentator and contributing op-ed columnist for The New York Times, Rabia Chaudry, attorney and author of the New York Times bestseller, “Adnan’s Story,” and Haroon Moghul, the Fellow in Jewish-Muslim Relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute.
Participants are selected for their commitment to mainstream Muslim communities, as well as their reflection of the ethnic and racial, professional, religious and geographic diversity of North American Islam.
[5] Critics have objected strongly to Muslim participation in a program run by the Shalom Hartman Institute, which receives funding from groups in the United States that have been accused of otherwise supporting Islamophobic activities.
David Horovitz of The Times of Israel called MLI[10] a "high-risk, taboo-shattering initiative — a vital step, they hope, toward Muslim-Jewish healing in America and beyond."