It’s not encouraging when Communist Party USA is the authoritative source for news about your senator. Last month PeoplesWorld.org fawned over an otherwise unreported 06/05 banquet featuring remarks from Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH):
“We’re trying to build understanding about Islam, build understanding within our community, and bring people together.”
CAIR’s contributions to the community were recognized in proclamations from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the Ohio House of Representatives and from representatives of the mayor and City Council of Columbus.
Understandable that no reputable outlets would cover this, right? Senators endorse all kinds of events, and Islam is just another interest group ripe for the pandering. Generally, though, I’d prefer my senators avoid shindigs keynoted by terror apologists:
The speakers for the event were Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Director of Outreach of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. […]
Emphasis mine, to highlight the mosque attended by a veritable Who’s Who of Muslim terrorists, including two of the 9/11 bombers and Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Hasan. If Islam in America is such a rich, diverse tapestry, why would a Muslim group in Columbus invite a dishonest PR rep from Dar Al-Hijrah as their headliner? Abdul-Malik seems an odd traveling salesman for interfaith dialogue, given his mosque’s decades-long history of connections to Hamas and other sponsors of terrorism.
Senator Brown’s site includes no news item or press release about the Columbus Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) event; his staff inform me the senator provided a statement but did not attend. Even if CAIR’s national chapter is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas funding trial, it’s no wonder Sherrod likes the cut of CAIR-Ohio’s jib:
Speakers and a video about CAIR’s activities stressed the importance of educating the public about Islam. Less than two-fifths of Americans are personally acquainted with any Muslim, and right-wing forces cynically exploit this lack of first-hand knowledge about Islam to press their own political agendas.
The Communist Party’s story title (unaltered in the version posted on CAIR-Ohio’s website) reflects this spin on the event: “Banquet speakers see politics behind Islamophobia.” So it turns out we agree! There are politics aplenty behind “Islamophobia,” a word used to silence any critic of Islam or the professional victims at CAIR. Likewise, “Islamophobia” is a handy bludgeon for Progressives like Sherrod Brown, whose careers would be impossible if fewer minorities were convinced of rampant conservative bigotry.
In unrelated news, a recent study of 100 random American mosques found that 81% carried texts advocating violence (above and beyond the violence found in Islam’s scriptures). Reality is unkind to CAIR: the more Americans learn about Islam, the less influence sharia apologists will have!
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Cross-posted at that hero and Columbus Tea Party.
