WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) announced today that its 15th annual banquet on October 24th
in Arlington, Va., is sold out. (The banquet registration site will close
tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. No tickets will be sold at the door.)
At the dinner on Saturday, hundreds of Muslim community members and activists,
interfaith leaders and diplomats from Muslim nations will hear addresses by
Rev. Jesse Jackson, former Congressman Paul Findley, Imam Mahdi Bray of
MAS-Freedom, and Dr. Agha Saeed, chair of the American Muslim Taskforce on
Civil Rights and Elections (AMT). Muslim comedian Ahmed Ahmed will perform at
the banquet.
CAIR also announced that the Congressional Tri-Caucus, a coalition made up of
the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, released a statement blasting
far-right House members who recently promoted a Muslim-bashing book to
insinuate that Muslims in Congress are "spies."
The Congressional Tri-Caucus statement reads in part:
"These charges smack of an America of sixty years ago where lists of
'un-American' agitators were identified. We should be affirming the importance
of diversity and tolerance for all interns and staff who serve in Congress
without suspicion of being identified as 'spies.'
"The idea that we should investigate Muslim interns as spies is a blow to the
very principle of religious freedom that our founding fathers cherished so
dearly. If anything, we should be encouraging all Americans to engage in the
U.S. political process; to take part in, and to contribute to, the great
democratic experiment that is America.
"We all have experienced the sting of discrimination and we know that there
will be challenges ahead. But our message should be firm that the America we
believe in welcomes people of all backgrounds to the U.S. Congress."
SEE: 87-Member Minority Caucus: Muslim 'Intern Spy' Hunt Smacks Of McCarthy
Era
http://tinyurl.com/minoritycaucus
SEE ALSO: Rachel Maddow Exposes Anti-Islam Extremists in Congress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E271Es21vaM
Paul David Gaubatz, the co-author of the book launched by the far-right
elected officials, is the former "Director of Intelligence and
Counter-terrorism Studies" of the racist hate group Society of Americans for
National Existence (SANE) and its associated Mapping Shari'a in America
Project. The Mapping Shari'a in America Project is devoted to spying on
mosques and other Islamic institutions in the United States.
SANE's 2007 IRS Form 990 indicates that Gaubatz was paid $148,898 for
"research."
Gaubatz has a long history of bigotry targeting Islam and Muslims. He has
called Islam an "evil ideology" and a "terminal disease." Along with his past
rhetorical attacks on CAIR and Islam, Gaubatz has called President Obama a
"crack head" and wrote that "a vote for Hussein Obama is a vote for Sharia
Law."
A 2007 commentary by the head of SANE, David Yerushalmi, called for a "war
against Islam and all Muslim faithful." Yerushalmi wrote in part:
"...The following can be considered the SANE War Manifesto. On the so-called
Global War on Terrorism, GWOT, we have been quite clear along with a few other
resolute souls. This should be a WAR AGAINST ISLAM and all Muslim faithful...
At a practical level, this means that Shari'a and Islamic law are immediately
outlawed. Any Moslem in America who adopts historical and traditional Shari'a
will be subject to deportation. Mosques which adhere to Islamic law will be
shut down permanently. No self-described or practicing Muslim, irrespective of
his or her declarations to the contrary, will be allowed to immigrate to this
country..."
Another SANE "manifesto" called for making "adherence to Islam" punishable by
a 20-year prison term.
SANE's website once contained the following white supremacist language as part
of its mission statement:
"America was the handiwork of faithful Christians, mostly men, and almost
entirely white, who ventured from Europe to create a nation in their image of
a country existing as free men under G-d."
Other articles on the SANE website made racist statements such as: "There is a
reason the founding fathers did not give women or black slaves the right to
vote," and "Race matters and affects your intelligence. Jews are the smartest
white people around. Orientals smarter than Whites. Latinos next. Then
Blacks."
Another SANE article stated:
"Is there something unique about the Black American (or, at least the Black
New Yorker) that leads him to murder so disproportionately and to most often
kill and victimize his own?"
Since the launch of the Muslim-bashing book by the far-right officials, CAIR
has reported that that one of its directors received a death threat apparently
prompted by the book's Islamophobic content.
SEE: Death Threat Against CAIR Official
http://tinyurl.com/deaththreat
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.
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 of National Communications Director, +1-202-488-8787,
+1-202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, Amina Rubin, Communications Coordinator,
+1-202-488-8787, +1-202-341-4171, arubin@cair.com, both of CAIR
