CAIR: Sen. Specter Cancels Speech at Anti-Islam Event

WASHINGTON, May 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) announced today that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) has canceled a
scheduled appearance at an "anti-Islam" conference in Washington, D.C., hosted
by a right-wing think tank headed by Daniel Pipes, who is regarded by many
Muslims as one of the nation's leading Islamophobes.

CAIR reports that Specter, who was to give the opening address at the
conference, cited a "scheduling conflict" for his decision to withdraw from
the event. As late as today, media schedules listed Specter as a speaker at
the conference.

The false premise of the conference, called "Libel Lawfare: Silencing
Criticism of Radical Islam," is that American Muslims are involved in a
concerted effort to suppress free speech by misusing the American legal
system.

SEE: Specter Embraces Pipes' Islamophobia (Tikum Olam)
http://tinyurl.com/q2lmdk
SEE ALSO: Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter to Speak at 'Anti-Islamist' Conference
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/12/specter-anti-islamist/

Last week, CAIR's Pennsylvania chapter launched an online petition drive to
allow constituents to express concerns about Sen. Specter's participation in
the conference.

"We applaud Senator Specter's decision to withdraw from this inaccurate,
inflammatory and agenda-driven conference," said CAIR-Philadelphia Executive
Director Justin Peyton. "We strongly support free speech and other First
Amendment rights, but believe the senator's appearance at this event would
have legitimized views not shared by the majority of Pennsylvanians of all
faiths."

Peyton said conference host and speaker Daniel Pipes has stated that the views
of far-right French racist Jean-Marie Le Pen "represent an important outlook
in the national debate over immigration and Islam" and that he supports racial
and religious profiling of Muslims and Arabs. In December 2004, Pipes wrote on
his website that he supports the internment of Japanese-Americans during World
War II.

Frank Gaffney, one of the event's other speakers, is linked to an anti-Islam
group that has advocated prison terms in the U.S. for "adherence to Islam" and
that questioned whether women and African-Americans should be allowed to vote.
Gaffney has also claimed that the use of Islamic finance in America is a form
of treason.

Other conference participants include Joe Kaufman, a Florida anti-Muslim
extremist with a long history of seeking to marginalize and disenfranchise the
American Muslim community and its institutions. In 2006, Kaufman joined forces
with an anti-Islam preacher in Florida to block the expansion of a mosque in
Boca Raton. "This mosque should not exist on American shores," said Kaufman.
(St. Petersburg Times, 7/14/06)

Kaufman has in the past promoted the views of the terrorist organizations Kach
and Kahane Chai and praised the Kahane terror group and its founder Mier
Kahane on a forum of the radical Jewish Defense League in Florida.

SEE: "A Kahane Legacy Lost" by Joe Kaufman
http://www.islamophobia.org/news.php?readmore=300

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and
chapters nationwide and in Canada. 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.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or
202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina
Rubin, 202-488-8787 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations

Ibrahim Hooper, +1-202-488-8787 or +1-202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; Amina
Rubin, +1-202-488-8787 or +1-202-341-4171, arubin@cair.com, both of CAIR