CAIR: Library Group Panelists Withdraw Over Role of Islam-Basher

Coalition of 50 Muslim organizations joins call to drop Robert Spencer as
speaker

CHICAGO, July 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Chicago office of the Council
on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) today announced that all other
panelists scheduled to speak at an American Library Association (ALA) annual
conference session on stereotyping of Islam have withdrawn in protest over the
participation of Robert Spencer, one of the nation's leading Islam-bashers.

The Council on Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC), a coalition
of more than 50 Muslim organizations, also joined CAIR-Chicago, the other ALA
panelists and a number of librarians and academics in calling on ALA to drop
Spencer from the July 12 panel titled "Perspectives on Islam: Beyond the
Stereotyping."

SEE: Library Group Asked to Drop Anti-Muslim Bigot from Panel
http://www.cairchicago.org/presscenter.php?file=ma_ala_spencer07092009

SEE: The Librarians' Open Letter to ALA
http://tinyurl.com/n9qhsq

SEE: Perspectives on Islam: Beyond the Stereotyping
http://tinyurl.com/kkhuy9

SEE: ALA Under Gun Over Panelist Robert Spencer (Library Journal)
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6670156.html

Spencer is the publisher of the anti-Islam Internet hate site "Jihad Watch."
The independent national media watch group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
(FAIR) identifies him as one of "America's leading Islamophobes" who
systematically "spread fear, bigotry, and misinformation." A FAIR special
report, called "Smearcasters," provides examples of Spencer's Islamophobic
views.

SEE: Robert Spencer
http://www.smearcasting.com/smear_spencer.html

All of the three other panelists originally scheduled to speak along with
Spencer have now withdrawn in protest.

In announcing her withdrawal, Dr. Marcia Hermansen, a professor of Islamic
Studies at Loyola University, wrote to the ALA:

"While I heartily endorse the principles of free expression and diversity of
viewpoints that are part of the ALA mission, the way in which this information
session about Islam and Muslims for Ethnic and Multi-Cultural librarians was
modified and politicized at the last moment raises serious concerns about the
integrity of the session."

Dr. Alia Ammar, a Neuropsychologist from Hinsdale, Illinois, wrote:

"Given the substantial changes in the composition, subject, and direction of
the ALA panel to which I was invited to present as well as the blatant
misinformation provided regarding the purpose of the session, it would [be]
untenable to present in your forum...The lack of professionalism with which
this matter has been handled has been wholly disappointing as the efforts of
the originally invited panelists to reach a respectable solution to the
problem were simply ignored. In light of these developments, I respectfully
decline to participate in the panel."

CIOGC Executive Director Junaid Afeef had joined the call for Spencer's
invitation to be rescinded. In a letter to the ALA he wrote:

"Robert Spencer is an Islamophobe and his hateful views, while clearly
protected under the First Amendment, are antithetical to promoting diversity.
Mr. Spencer promotes hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric. Giving this individual a
platform to advance his hate speech on a panel discussion aimed at dispelling
stereotypes about Islam is simply wrong.

"[CIOGC] joins CAIR-Chicago and all people of good will and of conscience in
asking you to rescind your invitation to Robert Spencer to speak on your panel
this Sunday in Chicago, Illinois."

Tara Lannen-Stanton, a librarian in New York, wrote in her letter to the ALA:

"While ALA has invited controversial figures to their conferences before, this
appears to be the first time that they have invited someone that makes such
sweeping generalizations that demonize an entire group of people.

"I now am uncertain as to my future activity and membership in ALA due to the
lackluster response that has been given to very genuine concerns which have
the potential to alienate a significant subsection of library users."

In his letter to the ALA, Karim Boughida, a librarian in Washington D.C.,
wrote:

"This is the first time that ALA is doing such a poor job of choosing a panel
without informing panelists and choosing a hatemonger Robert Spencer to talk
about Islam and stereotyping. It is very ironic."

None of the invited panelists were informed by the ALA that Spencer was
invited to participate in the panel.

In his letters to the ALA, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab
emphasized that the issue is not censorship, but is instead about the need for
the ALA to take responsibility for its misrepresentation of the event to the
panelists and the public.

"We too support freedom of speech, including that of bigots; what we oppose is
false advertising. If the ALA was sponsoring a debate on whether Islam is evil
and publicized that Mr. Spencer was an invited panelist, we would not have
asked to rescind Spencer's invitation, as the sordid nature of the event would
have been honestly communicated to all," said Rehab. "Everyone could then have
made informed decisions about whether they wished to be co-panelists or
attendees."

"But that is not what happened," Rehab said, adding that the other panelists
agreed to participate in anticipation of a session that would dispel
stereotypes, not promote them.

"The ALA's conduct was unethical. Our community, our librarians, and all
people of conscience who place their trust in the ALA deserve to know what
went wrong and what they intend to do to correct their error rather than
sugarcoat it," said Rehab.

Spencer recently supported a conference in Florida featuring Dutch anti-Islam
politician Geert Wilders.

SEE: Fla. House GOP Leader Linked to Anti-Islam Hate Fest
http://tinyurl.com/cloeqz

In 2007, Spencer spoke at a so-called "Counterjihad Brussels 2007" conference
in Belgium attended by those with links to far-right parties such as Filip
Dewinter of Vlaams Belang (Belgium) and Ted Ekeroth of Sverigedemokraterna
(Sweden). Both parties have been accused of either having a racist platform, a
neo-Nazi past or having links to neo-Nazis and other racists.

CAIR-Chicago, a chapter of America's largest Muslim civil rights group has 35
offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to promote
justice, enhance the understanding of Islam, and empower American Muslims.

CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director, CAIR-Chicago, E-Mail:
arehab@cair.com, 312.212.1520; or 202.870.0016; Reem Rahman, Communications
Coordinator, CAIR-Chicago, E-Mail: rrahman@cair.com, 217.493.0912 or
312.212.1520; Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR National Communications Director,
ihooper@cair.com, 202.488.8787 or 202.744.7726

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations

Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director, CAIR-Chicago, +1-312-212-1520, or
+1-202-870-0016, arehab@cair.com; Reem Rahman, Communications Coordinator,
CAIR-Chicago, +1-217-493-0912, or +1-312-212-1520, rrahman@cair.com; Ibrahim
Hooper, CAIR National Communications Director, +1-202-488-8787, or
+1-202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com