CAIR Condemns ISIS Violence and Rejects Calls to Join Extremists Fighting Abroad

[Saylor note: My sentiments exactly.]

(WASHINGTON, DC, 7/7/2104) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned as "un-Islamic and morally repugnant" violence and hostilities perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and repudiated those who encourage Americans to join that and other extremist groups.
In a statement, CAIR said:

"American Muslims view the actions of ISIS as un-Islamic and morally repugnant. No religion condones the murder of civilians, the beheading of religious scholars or the desecration of houses of worship. We condemn the actions of ISIS and reject its assertion that all Muslims are required to pay allegiance to its leader.

"CAIR strongly urges American imams and other community leaders to continue to speak out against American Muslims traveling abroad to join extremist groups and sectarian militias. While ISIS uses romanticized imagery in its propaganda materials, its human rights abuses on the ground are well-documented."

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Video: CAIR Rep Tells BBC That Extremism Has No Place in Muslim Community

Saylor: The Greater Insult to Islam is the Violence, not the Movie."

See the video here.

Rep. Peter King: How did he do with his anti-Muslim hearings?

I authored a review on the first four hearings, you can read the full report here.

REPORT SUMMARY

For seven years prior to the first hearing, Rep. Peter King had maintained that “80%, 85% of the mosques in this country are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists" and that average Muslims "are loyal," but "don't come forward, they don't tell the police what they know. They won't turn in their own." In December 2010, he staunchly announced that he will “stand-by” the 85 percent number. Today, after eight years, four hearings and eighteen witnesses, King has failed to produce the promised evidence to support his stigmatization of America’s Muslims.

Not a single witness attempted to factually validate the allegation of a Muslim community run by extremists. King made only one foray into backing up his allegation during the entire series of hearings. He asked Zuhdi Jasser if extremism is a “systemic problem” in the American Muslim community. Jasser, a physician who works closely with the anti-Muslim movement, is not an expert and has conducted no research on the topic. Jasser’s response: “It's a minority, but there's an ideology that exists in some mosques-- not all, not a majority -- but in some mosques. And it's a significant number.”

Five of the six law enforcement representatives who testified did not support King’s assertion that Muslims do not cooperate with law enforcement. Instead, these witnesses described “strong relationships” with Somali Muslims, “strong bonds” with the American Muslim community and “outreach and engagement with Muslim communities…” Prior to the hearings, FBI Director Muller had told the House Judiciary Committee, “that many of our cases are a result of the cooperation from the Muslim community in the United States."

Raw Story kindly cited the report in their coverage of this week's fifth hearing:

"An analysis by Council on American-Islamic Relations of King’s first four hearings on Islamic radicalization determined that the chairman had 'failed to produce the promised evidence to support his stigmatization of America’s Muslims.'"

"'King’s record of leveling unsubstantiated allegations and biased attacks on the Muslim community and habit of naming people with records of anti-Muslim bias as potential witnesses and information sources denies him any current credibility in discussions about American Muslims and homeland security,' the group concluded."

Saylor: Rep. Peter King can do some real damage with congressional Muslim hearings

Saylor: Rep. Peter King can do some real damage with congressional Muslim hearings


As published in The Statesman
Saturday, March 5, 2011

Rep. Peter King's fumblings around his planned hearings on Muslim "radicalization" may one day raise amused eyebrows. However, since he is positioned to do some real damage, his inept handling of the hearings raises nothing but alarm.

As chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, King announced his hearings by reciting his allegation that "over 80 percent of mosques in this country are controlled by radical imams." In January, he said he will "stand-by" that number.

When asked, King points to no authoritative source for his 80 percent allegation.

Instead he cites a speech given at the U.S. Department of State in the late 1990s by Hisham Kabbani, a figure who is unknown to most U.S. Muslims.

One man's opinion. Kabbani to this day does not respond to inquiries about his source for this allegation.

A person in King's position should seek higher quality evidence than one person's unsubstantiated allegation. Such lax "one person's opinion" standards led to bad things during the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings.

(King, by the way, also believes "there are too many mosques in America.")

Next, Politico reported that according to King, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a potential witness at the hearing.

During the course of a single 2007 interview with Reason Magazine Ali said, "I think that we are at war with Islam" and called for Islam to be "defeated." Later in the interview, Ali suggested that the U.S. Constitution should be amended to allow for discrimination against Muslims.

Once such facts became public, Ali was dropped.

Most recently, a National Review article -- posted on the House Homeland Security Committee's website so presumably King felt it was accurate -- announced that Walid Phares was a planned witness for the hearings.

Phares is a former official with a Christian militia implicated, by Israel's official Kahan inquiry and other sources, in the 1982 massacre of civilian men, women and children at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon.

In the late 1990s, leading members of Phares' World Lebanese Organization included the deputy commander of a group known for systematically torturing prisoners. Another leading member headed a militia known for atrocities during the Lebanese civil war.

Once such facts became public, Phares was dropped as well. Even after learning of Phares' past associations, King issued a statement saying he will rely on Phares "for his advice and counsel as these hearings go forward."

King could have saved himself, his committee and his party a lot of embarrassment by doing a basic internet search on either of these extreme individuals. Even more embarrassment could have been saved by checking the factual basis of any allegations before casually tossing them out in public.

The threat of violent extremism, from whatever source, to our nation is a profoundly serious issue.

However, King's baseless allegations and extremist witnesses raise reasonable questions about the credibility of the hearings as a force to oppose the threat.

It is time for House Speaker Boehner and other Republicans to rein King in. King's fumbling is not only embarrassing, but distracts from a serious issue.

Corey Saylor is national legislative director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Contact him at csaylor@cair.com.