 Muslim immigrant men have been accused of six "honor killings" in the United States in the past two years, prompting concerns that the Muslim community and police need to do more to stop such crimes. "There is broad support and acceptance of this idea in Islam, and we're going to see it more and more in the United States," says Robert Spencer, who has trained FBI and military authorities on Islam and founded Jihad Watch, which monitors radical Islam. Honor killings are generally defined as murders of women by relatives who claim the victim brought shame to the family.
Thousands of such killings have occurred in Muslim countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Palestinian territories, according to the World Health Organization. Some clerics and even lawmakers in these countries have said families have the right to commit honor killings as a way of maintaining values, according to an analysis by Yotam Feldner in the journal Middle East Quarterly. In the USA, police allege the latest "honor killing" was that of Noor Almaleki, 20, who died Nov. 2 after she and her boyfriend's mother were run over in a Peoria, Ariz., parking lot. Prosecutors charged Almaleki's father, Faleh Almaleki, with murder, saying the Iraqi immigrant was upset that his daughter rejected a husband she married in Iraq and moved in with an American. "By his own admission, this was an intentional act, and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family," says Maricopa County prosecutor Stephanie Low, according to The Arizona Republic. Many Muslim leaders in the USA say that Islam does not promote honor killings and that the practice stems from sexism and tribal behavior that predates the religion. "You're always going to get problems with chauvinism and suppressing vulnerable populations and gender discrimination," says Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Not all agree. Zuhdi Jasser says some Muslim communities have failed to spell out how Islam deals with issues that can lead to violence. "How should young adult women be treated who want to assimilate more than their parents want them to assimilate?" asks Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, which advocates a separation of mosque and state. "How does an imam treat a woman who comes in and says she wants a divorce ... or how to deal with your daughter that got pregnant, and she's in high school?" Phyllis Chesler, who wrote about honor killings in her book Woman's Inhumanity to Woman, says police need to focus on the crimes' co-conspirators if they wish to reverse the trend. Before 2008, there were six honor killings in the USA in the previous 18 years, according to her research. "It's usually the father, brother or first male cousin who is charged with the actual shooting or stabbing, (but not) the mother who lures the girl home," Chesler says. "The religion has failed to address this as a problem and failed to seriously work to abolish it as un-Islamic." Jasser says his community needs to address how to treat young women who want to assimilate. "Until we have women's liberation ... we're going to see these things increase." USAToday
During the Cold War, the term "anti-anti-Communist" was used to describe people who were not Communists themselves, but who objected to every practical initiative to counter Soviet and Red Chinese expansionism. In today's struggle against radical Islamists, Salam Al-Marayati, a founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and its current executive director, can fairly be described as an "anti-anti-terrorist" - someone who rhetorically opposes Islamist terror but objects to virtually every practical measure that democracies take to defend themselves. While condemning terror in vague or general terms, Al-Marayati and MPAC focus their attacks on U.S. and Israeli security measures like Israeli military operations against Hamas or U.S. investigations of domestic terrorism. Al-Marayati has long belittled the importance of using informants to monitor "homegrown" terror cells, as in this case in which two Lodi, California men were convicted. Read more ...Source: IPT NewsSalam Al-Marayati
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 By Robert Spencer Salam al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a thoroughly unpleasant character with whom I have appeared on many radio shows (on which he invariably likens me to Osama bin Laden, although I have never flown any planes into buildings, beheaded anyone, or exhorted anyone to do so), attacks Rifqa Bary, the seventeen-year-old girl who converted from Islam to Christianity and fled from her home and father after he threatened to kill her (as she explains here), and her supporters in a contemptuous, dishonest, condescending and arrogant piece at the Huffington Post, "Rifqa, the Reverand [sic] and Apostasy" (August 18). Hugh Fitzgerald and Andy Bostom have already weighed in on this utterly contemptible article, but I have a few things to add. Al-Marayati is intent on impugning Rifqa's own testimony in favor of her father's protestations that he does not intend to kill her -- and indeed, it is her word against his, and the only price we will have to pay if al-Marayati turns out to be wrong is a murdered teenage girl. To support his case, al-Marayati makes essentially two points, both encapsulated in this sentence: "Mohamed Bary allowed his daughter to become a cheerleader and says she can practice any faith she wants -- clearly, he is not a fundamentalist." His first point is thus that Mohamed Bary, by allowing his daughter to prance around in skimpy cheerleader costumes, clearly was not the sort to insist on the finer points of Islamic law like the death penalty for apostasy (which al-Marayati implies does not exist anyway, so it's hard to see why it would be a feature of "fundamentalism" in the first place). However, honor killing victims in the West have invariably been girls who have been Westernized, adopting Western non-Muslim mores to the growing dismay of their male relatives. Al-Marayati's point is that if Mohamed Bary were a "fundamentalist," he would not have allowed Rifqa to become Westernized in the first place. Real life, however, is not always that simple. Honor killing victims like Amina and Sarah Said in Texas and Aqsa Parvez in Canada appear to been quite Westernized for a considerable period before their relationships with their fathers reached a tipping point, and they were murdered. Rifqa Bary fled before that could happen, but the fact that she was a hijab-less cheerleader indicates nothing. Pamela Geller explains further in responding to the same claim from Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel. Read more here ... Source: JihadWatch
 Los Angeles Mayor Antonio VillaraigosaLOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Muslim groups on Monday criticized Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for publicly supporting Israeli military actions in Gaza. "Why is the mayor of Los Angeles dragging himself and his constituents into international conflicts in the Middle East?" Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said at a press conference here. Earlier in the day, Villaraigosa reiterated his support for Israel's military attacks on the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. "I've seen the wreckage caused by a constant barrage of rocket fire -- more than 6,000 rockets launched on southern Israel over the last three years alone," Villaraigosa said. Last year, Villaraigosa visited Israel, including the town of Sderot, which is near Gaza and a frequent target of Hamas rocket attacks. Al-Marayati said the mayor "should meet with all sides and discuss the critical perspectives and recommendations for all sides before making a decision on such an important international issue" if he chooses to engage in international affairs. Villaraigosa "should bring both sides together to talk about how we can prevent the conflict and violence emanating from the Middle East from spilling over onto our streets in America," Al- Marayati said. The Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, an umbrella group that coordinates activities of more than 70 mosques in southern California, also took Villaraigosa to task, saying that it is "disappointed and feels betrayed by the mayor's one-sided perspective on the tragedy in Gaza. "While we grant the right for the mayor to his opinion, we also believe he is obligated to recognize all perspectives to any situation. The mayor failed Los Angeles in this regard and we hold him responsible," the group said in a statement. In response, Villaraigosa said he would be willing to meet with members of Los Angeles' Palestinian and Muslim communities to address any issue, according to the Los Angeles Times. Source: XinhuaH/T: Jihad WatchSalam Al-Marayati
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 When Muslims criticize Jews chances are it's Islamists. You rarely see moderate (an I do mean real moderate, not Islamists like CAIR who claim to be moderate) Muslims saying unflattering things about the Jews. So, normally, when I see the Jews do dumb things i.e., supporting an Islamist congressional candidate because of partisanship (American Jewish World's support for Keith Ellison) or providing utilities to a terrorist enclave (Gaza), I try to keep my mouth shut. For obvious reasons. But not this time. I thought I've seen everything: Cuban missile crisis, fall of Berlin wall, 9/11. Until recently, I thought that the father of modern terrorism getting awarded a Nobel Peace Prize was the most peculiar event in my lifetime. But a recent, largely unnoticed event, could take the cake in peculiarity contest. On December 15, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, the president of the Union of Reform Judaism (one of the largest Jewish organizations in America), gave a sermon in San Diego in front 5,000 Jews in which he announced URJ's alliance with Islamic Society of North America (ISNA - one of the largest Muslim organizations in America). As a part of the sermon, Rabbi Yoffie stated that "[ISNA] has issued a strong and unequivocal condemnation of terror, including a specific condemnation of Hizbollah and Hamas terror against Jews and Israelis. It has also recognized Israel as a Jewish state and supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." But has it really? The statement Rabbi Yoffie refers to reads: "ISNA rejects all acts of terrorism, including those perpetrated by Hamas, Hizbullah and any other group that claims Islam as their inspiration." While there appears to be forward progress in this statement, there are several problems with it: - ISNA does not say it condemns but says it "rejects" acts of terrorism. What does reject mean? Why not say "condemn"? Rejection is not synonymous with condemnation. - Yes, ISNA seems to be acknowledging that Hamas and Hizballah carry out acts of terrorism but nowhere do they say come out and say that Hamas and Hizballah are terrorist groups. Only the other day we saw witnesses on behalf of the Holy Land Foundation in Dallas claim that Hamas can be divisible by its "military (terrorist) wing" and its "social-humanitarian wing." The failure to unequivocally condemn Hamas or Hizballah as a terrorist group is like me saying that I reject the tactics used by anti-abortion doctors who "claim to be inspired by Christianity." The use of the term "claim Islam as their inspiration" is another attempt by ISNA to deny the unequivocal fundamental Islamic basis for groups that carry out acts of terrorism. This is in line with ISNA's statement which claims the use of the term "Islamic terrorist" is racist. Now, how can one be said to condemn Hamas or Hizballah while simultaneously denying the existence of "Islamic terrorism"? ISNA's statement "condemning terrorism" from http://balancedIslam.org quotes approvingly the European Council of Ifta and Research. This is a council that has justified suicide bombings by Hamas. One of its leaders is Yousef Al-Qardawi who has issued fatwas calling for the killing of Jews (not Israelis) and Americans in Iraq. We all remember bogus fatwa issued by Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA). The same FCNA whose chairman, Taha Jaber Al-Alwani, is an unindicted co-conspirator in the case against Sami al-Arian, the North American leader of Palestinian Islamic Gihad (PIG). Is ISNA's rejection of terrorism any different? Prior to his praise for ISNA, Rabbi Yoffie stated the following: " Islamic extremists constitute a profound threat. For some, this is a reason to flee from dialogue, but in fact the opposite is true." I am a bit confused. Does this mean that the Rabbi realizes that ISNA is an extremist organization? And if he does, why does he go on to praise it. And regardless whether or not he realizes that ISNA is an extremist organization, who in their right mind would propose to have a dialog with extremists while acknowledging that they constitute a profound threat? Why don't we sit down with bin Laden and see if we can make him stop murdering the sons of monkeys and pigs? Haven't we learned anything from recent history, i.e., providing a forum for Ahmadinejad? Doesn't the Rabbi understand that legitimizing extremists is the dumbest possible strategy (which also has a side effect of marginalizing moderates)? On January 2, 2008, several prominent moderate Muslims published a column in the Jewish Week titled " Attention Rabbi Yoffie: Please Speak To Moderate Muslims" in which they expressed their dismay with the URJ's decision. These moderate Muslims explained why ISNA is anything, but moderate, and appealed to Rabbi Yoffie to reconsider URJ's association with ISNA. On behalf of Muslims Against Sharia, I also wrote a letter to Rabbi Yoffie, which was ignored by the URJ. So, let's examine what ISNA really is. Is it really an extremist organization or is it just a delusional rant of crazy moderate Muslims? On its website ISNA claims that it "was founded by Muslims in North America for the purpose of establishing ... outreach programs and fostering good relations with other religious communities", but North American Muslim Brotherhood Memorandum states that its purpose is to wage Gihad until "God's religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions." It claims that "ISNA is not now nor has it ever been subject to the control of any other domestic or international organizations including the Muslim Brotherhood", yet the aforementioned Memorandum lists ISNA is #1 on the list of creators of North American Muslim Brotherhood. According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, the world's foremost anti-terrorism NGO, The Islamic Society of North America was founded in 1981 and is the largest Muslim organization in the U.S. Incidentally, Sami al-Arian of the PIG helped established ISNA. "ISNA serves as an umbrella group for hundreds of Islamic organizations in North America, some of which promote the Islamic fundamentalist doctrines of Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Gihad. ISNA publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Islamic Horizons, which often champions militant Islamist doctrine, and it convenes annual conferences where Islamic militants have been given platform to incite violence and promote hatred. ... The president of Board of Directors of ISNA until 200 was Muzammil Siddiqui. ... He remains on the ISNA board of directors in addition to serving as chairman of he ISNA affiliated North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). ... In his public role, Siddiqi has built a colorful history of doublespeak - expressing seemingly welcome statements about terrorism yet praising the violent jihad waged in Israel and elsewhere. ... Siddiqui has made statements supporting the violent ideology of radical Islam and shunning the West. In glorifying the jihad in Afghanistan and its spread to other places in the world, Siddiqui wrote, "I can see there is already some impact of jihad in Afghanistan, in the intifadah movement in Palestine ... insha'allah, you will see, in a few years, we will be celebrating, insha'allah, the coming victory of Islam in Palestine. ... We will be celebrating, insha'allah, the coming of Jerusalem and whole land of Palestine, insha'allah, and the establishment of the Islamic state throughout that area. (Muzammil Siddiqui, "The establishment of the Islamic Government in Afghanistan") ISNA has assisted in the formation of a number of troubling organizations within the United States. One such was the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Before it was incorporated under the name "The Occupied Land Fund" in 1989, HLF had been a subsidiary of ISNA, using the same mailing address in Plainfield, Indiana. ISNA's Islamic Horizons, which often contains anti-Israel, anti-American, and anti-Semitic sentiments; in has voiced support for fundamentalism in Sudan, Turkey, and Algeria. The editor is Omer bin Abdullah. ISNA and Islamic Horizons have been outspoken in their support for the fundamentalist Islamic regime in Sudan. ... ISNA's annual conferences are usually held in the Midwest. According to figures reported by ISNA, about 10,000 people participated in its September 1997 conference in Chicago, Illinois. These conferences provide fund-raising platform for radical Islamic groups. The Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), and the Marzook Legal Defense Fund all have substantial ties to Hamas and have been among the groups allowed to participate in an active capacity in ISNA conferences. These conferences feature speakers ranging from moderate to radical. ISNA has brought in speakers such as Murad Hofmann, a convert to Islam and a former ambassador from Germany to Algeria and Morocco. In the September/October 1997 edition of Islamic Horizons, Hofmann denied that both Hamas and the Lebanese Hizballah are terrorist organizations: "Perceptions of 'terrorism' are just as warped when countries consider responsible for harboring, training, and financing 'terrorists' are listed, always several supposedly 'antiwestern' Muslim countries are on the list, as are such movements as Hamas or Hizballah. (Now synonyms for 'terrorism'). ... [I]n the letter published in 1997 by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzook thanked ISNA for supporting him while he was in prison in the United States awaiting extradition to Israel. ISNA has defended an array of terrorists and terrorist charities. When HLF was shut down in December 2001, ISNA issued a joint statement with seven other Islamic groups: "American Muslims support President Bush's effort to cut off funding for terrorism and we call for a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict. These goals will not be achieved by taking food out of the mouths of Palestinian orphans or by succumbing to politically-motivated smear campaigns by those who would perpetuate Israel's brutal occupation. ... We ask that President Bush reconsidered what we believe is unjust and counterproductive move that can only damage America's credibility with Muslims in this country and around the world and could create the impression that there has been a shift from a war on terrorism to an attack on Islam. ... Confounded by Sami al-Arian, ISNA has employed an array of individuals who have been indicted on terrorism-related charges, such as former HLF head Shukri Abu Bakr, and even a terrorist operative - Abdulrahman Alamoudi. ISNA's funding is highly suspect. ISNA provided $170,000 in start-up capital to the Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA), which the US government shut down in October 2004 for funding Hamas and al Qaeda."(Steven Emerson, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us, 2002; Steven Emerson, Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US, 2006; IPT Profile: Muzammil Siddiqi. On August 28, 2007, just a few months prior to Rabbi Yoffie's announcement, members of Congress Pete Hoekstra, a former chairman of House Intelligence Committee and Sue Myrick, a founder of Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus sent a letter to DOJ about ISNA. They wrote: "[W]e believe it is a grave mistake to provide legitimacy to an organization with extremist origins, leadership and a radical agenda. Establishing a partnership with ISNA is exactly the wrong approach at this critical juncture in history, setting a precedent that radical Jihadists should be the conduit between the U.S. government and the American Muslim population". Justice Department officially labeled ISNA "as a branch of Muslim Brotherhood in the United States ... Almost every single Sunni terrorist organization, including Al Qaeda and Hamas, is derived from the Muslim Brotherhood. The evidence naming ISNA as a leading branch of the American Muslim Brotherhood is overwhelming and its links to U.S. fundraising efforts on behalf of Hamas are equally strong." According to Stephen Coughlin (the Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism, who was recently fired for refusing to succumb to pressure from Hasham Islam, a Pentagon official who demanded that Mr. Coughlin softened his position on Islamist extremism), Muslim Brotherhood has a plan to subvert the United States using front groups. One of the identified front groups is ISNA, the same ISNA which URJ is so eager to embrace. Evidence submitted in HLF trial shows the connection between ISNA and American branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. "An Explanatory Memorandum On the General Strategic Goal for the Group (that includes ISNA, ISNA Fiqh Committee, ISNA Political Awareness Committee, and 26 other Islamist groups, some of them shout down on terrorism charges) In North America" reads: "Establishment of Islam in North America, meaning: establishing an effective and a stable Islamic Movement led by the Muslim Brotherhood which adopts Muslims' causes domestically and globally, and which works to expand the observant Muslim base, aims at unifying and directing Muslims' efforts, presents Islam as civilization alternative, and supports the global Islamic state [caliphate] wherever it is." Paragraph 4 of the Strategic Goal is the most revealing: "Understanding the role of the Muslim Brother in North America: The Process of settlement is a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" with all the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brothers] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." If this is not the plan for Islamic takeover, than I don't know what is. "Mary Jacoby and Graham Brink, writing in the St. Petersburg Times, describe ISNA as "subsidized by the Saudi government" and the "main clearinghouse for Wahhabism in the U.S." ... ISNA previously invited Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi to speak at its conferences, even though he is well-known for having created the "theological" justification for suicide bombing that appears on the Hamas website. That justification is titled "Hamas Operations Are Jihad and Those Who [Carry it Out and] Are Killed are Considered Martyrs." Al-Qaradawi has issued numerous justifications of suicide bombings as well as a fatwa directing the "faithful" to kill American soldiers and civilians in Iraq (except for the very few who may have lived there before the war.) ISNA has also sponsored Rashid Ghanushi, the exiled leader of the Islamic Tendency Movement in Tunisia, as a speaker. Ghanushi has referred to Jews as a "cancer" and "Satans." ISNA sells his books on their "ISNA Media Store page." On this web page, al-Qaradawi is described as an "outstanding scholar." Al-Qaradawi-penned books for sale by ISNA are: -Fiqh az-Zakat: A Comparative Study, a 600-page book -Priorities of Islamic Movement -Islamic Awakening Between Rejection and Extremism, published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) described as "extraordinary work of analysis and advice is highly recommended for students of Islam and activists." -The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam which "presents the wisdom of Islamic rulings behind everyday issues faced by the contemporary Muslim" -The Scholar and the Tyrant." ( Sherrie Gosstett, American Daily) I could go on for another twenty pages providing evidence of ISNA's ties to terrorism and extremism or describing ISNA's plans for Islamic takeover. The Investigative Project's website, among other places, contains tons of it, but I don't want to bore the reader. So, the aforementioned column written to URJ's president doesn't look like a delusional rant of paranoid moderate Muslims, does it? Then I want to repeat my initial question; "What's wrong with today's Jews?" How is it even possible that a major Jewish organization would support Islamic extremists? Does this mean that every single Muslims who belongs to the ISNA mosque supports terrorism or rejects it because the use of Taqiyya is more effective than the use of violence? No. Just as not every single Jew who belongs to the URJ synagogue supports alliance with ISNA. Muslims Against Sharia urge every Reform Jew to contact Rabbi Yoffie (Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, Union for Reform Judaism, 633 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6778, P. 212.650.4150, F. 212.650.4159, PresURJ@urj.org, http://urj.org/) and to ask him to sever all ties with Islamic radicals of ISNA. And if Rabbi Yoffie wants to have a dialogue with Muslims, there are moderate Muslim organizations to choose from. And if Rabbi Yoffie has difficulties determining which organizations are moderate, we compiled a handy guide that would make his task a lot easier. | Issue | Radical | Moderate |
| Anti-Semitism | Yes | No | | Caliphate | Pro | Against | | Criticism of Islam | No | Yes | | Deceiving non-Muslims | Yes | No | | Democracy | Against | Pro | | Dhimmitude for non-Muslims | Pro | Against | Every deed (and word) of Prophet Muhammad (according
to Ahadith) was noble and is worthy of emulation | Yes | No | | Freedom of (from) Religion | Against | Pro | | Gender equality | Against | Pro | | Gihad | Pro | Against | | Government | Religious | Secular | | Islamic reformation | Against | Pro | | Islamic supremacy | Pro | Against | | Israel | Against | Pro / Neutral | | Koran over Constitution | Yes | No | | Reaction to criticism of Islam or Prophet Muhammad | Anger / Violence | Reason / No reaction | | Religious equality | Against | Pro | | Sharia | Pro | Against | | Terrorism | Pro / Neutral | Against | | Theocracy | Pro | Against | | Universal Human Rights | Against | Pro | | Use of terms such as "Islamic terrorism" or "Islamofascism" | Object | Accept | | Whitewashing terrorism | Yes | No |
I would like to personally thank Steven Emerson and the Investigative Project on Terrorism staff who gathered majority of the evidence used in this article. K.M.Eric Yoffie
Union for Reform Judaism
Latest recipients of the Retarded Rabbi Award
 Updates 'Kill the Jews' statements from ISNA websiteIslamic group coming to Columbus in August hosts Pakistani terror leaderMore on the subject: Sleepwalking into enslavement (Spectator, January 7, 2008)
Another example of American Jewish Dhimmitude. A few hours after the attacks on Sept. 11, Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, was asked on a local radio talk show about suspects. His response, according to a transcript provided by several Jewish organizations: "If we're going to look at suspects, we should look to the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list because I think this diverts attention from what's happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies."
Yet "Progressive Jewish Alliance" wants to see Salam Al-Marayati as a friend. Source: Progressive Jewish Dhimmi Alliance
 Veteran radical Islamist and hatemonger Salam Al-Marayati, of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, has used a television encounter with U.S. Congressmember Brad Sherman (D-Ca) as an opportunity to denounce the Center for Islamic Pluralism and other moderate Muslim groups with whom Congressman Sherman has consulted, as “not mainstream.” That is, Al-Marayati has called for the exclusion of CIP and others from participation in the American public discourse. CIP above reproduces and attaches a press release issued by Cong. Sherman, and a television transcript of the encounter.
CIP notes first that this is, of course, the same Salam Al-Marayati who informed the Los Angeles public on a radio talk show in the afternoon of September 11, 2001 that Israel could be responsible for that day’s horrors, because, according to him, “this diverts attention from what’s happening in the Palestinian territories, so that [Israelis] can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies.” Such charges, in the mouth of Al-Marayati, represent “mainstream” Muslim ignorance and conspiratorialism.
In reality, MPAC, not CIP, is outside the mainstream of American society. Attacks on CIP would not otherwise be forthcoming, whether by demagogues like Al-Marayati, or by James Zogby of the Arab American Institute, who recently assailed CIP Executive Director Stephen Suleyman Schwartz in a periodical issued in Amman, Jordan
[see www.jordantimes.com/?news=9966 ]
or by Muslim Brotherhood acolytes [see www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=15647&LevelID=1&SectionID=98].
CIP further points out that Al-Marayati compulsively engages in two habits that are inappropriate in American interfaith discourse. First, neither Al-Marayati nor MPAC nor any other of the radical Islamist groups that dominate American Sunni public life has the right to dictate to American elected officials with whom they should meet or consult. We have never heard of Christian or Jewish groups demanding that one or a group of them should have sole responsibility for dialogue with public officials, and denouncing others as “not mainstream.”
Al-Marayati and his cohort understand nothing whatever about the American compact for interfaith relations. In American religious life, numbers seldom outweigh intellect: CIP would be pleased to succeed to the role of such minoritarian groups as the Moravian Brethren, the early Unitarians, or the Seventh Day Adventists. One Albanian Orthodox leader who came to America, Theofan Stilian Noli, changed the whole history of his people; two generations later the blessed Baba Rexheb Beqiri introduced Bektashi Sufism to the U.S. and preserved its traditions in the face of Communist terrorism. America has always allowed small religious groups to flourish, often with impact far beyond their narrow ranks. Similarly, the Jewish maskilim were once a handful, but profoundly reoriented Jewish thought. Outside the monotheistic faiths, the same has been true of once-obscure Buddhist trends.
Even Al-Marayati and his cadre represent a small group taking advantage of the broad American platform. Others like him also abuse the term “mainstream” in the Muslim context. We do not consider MPAC “mainstream.” MPAC does not reflect the religious traditions of Ahl as-Sunna wa’al Jama’at (the consensus of Sunnis) or Ahl ul-Beyt (Shias). Rather, it is a political pressure group that promotes hateful smears. For Al-Marayati and MPAC, it is clear that “mainstream” means only those American Muslims who have gained the support of Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, Hezbollah and other radical regimes and movements, and have imposed themselves as an ideological caste directing American Muslims.
CIP was founded by American Muslims prominent in active defense of the Balkan Muslims from aggression, in support for stable Turkish Islam, and in clear adherence to the precepts of the Sunni consensus and the moderate Shia marjae. It has been joined and assisted by distinguished shaykhs, outstanding journalists and scholars, and community activists. CIP’s intellectual output is professional and authoritative. CIP cooperates with established civil and religious institutions in the U.S. and other countries. CIP also promotes respect and cooperation with Christian and Jewish leaders. CIP calls for adherence and obedience to the laws of Western countries in which Muslims live. These are the characteristics that define “mainstream” thought in Islam, not approval by extremist ideologues.
CIP points out that CIP and other moderate organizations are bringing new faces to the forefront of discussion while Al-Marayati and his crew continue to promote a long-usurping cadre of Islamist bigots. MPAC does not change. CIP is constantly improving, expanding, and providing a platform for new personalities.
May Allah subhana’watala protect all believers from the intrigues of such hypocrites, speculators, slanderers, and those who divert Muslims, in particular, from the path of religion to that of ideology. This we ask in the week approaching the Holy Month of Ramadan, alhamdulillah.
Center for Islamic Pluralism
Washington, DC
U.S. Midwest
U.S. West Coast
U.S. Southeast
London, England
Koln, Germany
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
Balkans
And other locations, with more to come, insha'allah! Source: CIPCenter For Islamic Pluralism
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
 Salam Al-Marayati
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
Note: This is a verbatim news release from U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) For Immediate Release July 30 2008 Muslim Public Affairs Council Tries to Halt Congressman Sherman's HearingsSherman Oaks, CA – On Tuesday, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) demonstrated in front of the Office of Congressman Brad Sherman, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism and Nonproliferation. The demonstrators demanded the cancellation of a subcommittee hearing on whether American foreign aid is going to organizations affiliated with terrorists. "This hearing will go on. We need to make sure that the State Department is not giving U.S. tax dollars to those on the other side in the war on terrorism," said Sherman. "I know there are many in our community so desperate for peace that they want us to sweep under the rug the pro-terrorism positions of some groups. There are groups in the Islamic world truly dedicated to peace, but we should not blind ourselves to the fact that some are not." The day of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, MPAC executive Salam Al-Marayati created a furor when he stated on a Los Angeles radio program, "If we are going to look at suspects, we should look at groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list ..." Read more ...Source: The Investigative ProjectHon. Brad Sherman
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
Salam Al-Marayati
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 The extremist Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has apparently found a home in Hilliard at the Noor Islamic Cultural Center. Just this past February, MPAC community development director Haris Tarin made an appearance at Noor. And just this past weekend, the chief MPAC extremist himself, Salam Al-Marayati, was the featured speaker at a youth(!) event at Noor. Read more ...Source: Central Ohioans Against Terrorism
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