Activist Charles Jacobs launches coalition to unite persecuted minorities against jihadist violence
The International Freedom Coalition aims to link Jewish communities with groups like Druze, Yazidis, and Kurds who face shared threats.
By Alyssa Parker ·
Dr. Charles Jacobs co-founded the International Freedom Coalition earlier this year to build alliances between Jewish communities and other groups facing persecution from radical jihadist movements. The non-partisan organization focuses on human rights advocacy and confronting Islamist influence. Jacobs believes that shared suffering creates a natural bond among Druze, Christians, Alawites, Yazidis, Kurds, and Jews, making collective action more effective than isolated efforts.
Jacobs has worked on these issues for decades. In 1994, he helped establish the American Anti-Slavery Group, which campaigned against chattel slavery in Sudan and supported the movement for South Sudan’s independence. As a young man, he traveled illegally into Sudan with a rabbi to free enslaved people before Passover. He also founded the David Project in 2002 and currently leads Americans for Peace and Tolerance.
The coalition seeks to counter claims of Islamophobia by supporting Muslim victims of jihadist violence, including anti-Taliban and anti-Houthi fighters. Jacobs argues that critics often remain silent when Muslims are killed by groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The IFC recently targeted incoming Michigan Democratic Sen. Abdul El-Sayed with a campaign to address his silence on violence in Africa.
In that campaign, the IFC rented a truck to drive through Detroit with a message urging El-Sayed to speak out on the enslavement of black Africans in Nigeria and Sudan. Jacobs noted that Sudan’s government under Omar al-Bashir armed militias to abduct Dinka and Nuba civilians, a practice documented by Human Rights Watch. In Nigeria, Boko Haram and its factions have abducted thousands, subjecting them to forced marriage and labor.
The Detroit campaign faced physical resistance. Jacobs said the driver was dragged from the vehicle, beaten, and robbed of his phone. Police reportedly ordered the driver to turn off the signs. Jacobs described the incident as a troubling attack on free speech and vowed to deploy more trucks. He stated that IFC members from Sudan, Nigeria, Darfur, and Biafra wanted Black American citizens to see their plight.
Jacobs attributes the alignment between Western leftists and Islamist groups to shared hostility toward Western liberalism and Israel. He pointed to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, where leftists and Islamists joined to overthrow the shah, noting that many leftists were killed in the days that followed. The mass killing of protesters in Iran in January further illustrates the risks of challenging such regimes.
At the IFC's inaugural conference in Washington in July, 15 groups gathered to discuss their shared challenges. Participants included Sudanese activists, Iranian dissidents, Coptic Christians, Darfuris, and Alawites. The coalition’s next steps involve turning this awareness into policy changes, sanctions, and local initiatives to ensure no community fights alone.
