Posted on 09/23/2007 5:52:30 PM PDT by SJackson
Rep. Ellison Slams Kings Anti-Muslim Comment
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News
WASHINGTON, 23 September 2007 Rep. Keith Ellison, the first US Muslim Congressman, reacted strongly to this weeks statement by his Republican counterpart, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who said in an interview last week that there are too many mosques in the United States and urged a more aggressive law enforcement approach toward them.
In his interview King, who is top national security adviser to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, said: Unfortunately, we have too many mosques in this country. There are too many people who are sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully. We should be finding out how we can infiltrate. ...I think theres been a lack of full cooperation from too many people in the Muslim community. And its a real threat here in this country.
Ellison was attending an Iftar held at the Council on American Islamic Relations on Thursday in honor of Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, who was in Washington meeting with lawmakers in Congress before traveling to New York where he will speak at the United Nations.
Rep. Kings remarks that there are too many mosques in the US cuts into the basis of the US Constitution, which guarantees all Americans freedom of their religion, Ellison told Arab News.
Dr. Ihsanoglu agreed, saying a UN peacekeeping observer recently told him: Islamophobia is the greatest threat to peace today.
In the US, you can practice any religion you want. This is guaranteed by both the Constitution and the 1st Amendment, said Ellison, 44, following prayers and Iftar at CAIRs Washington headquarters.
While we have some people in Congress who make offensive comments, it is important for us, as Muslims, to lift the level of debate, and demonstrate the true character of Islam, said Ellison.
The comment by Rep. King was surely heard throughout the Muslim world, and I think it undermines our national security because it gives people who are really hostile to the US terrorists and murders recruiting tools.
Ellison, who converted from Catholicism to Sunni Islam at age nineteen, while attending university, said: There is nothing about Islam that should be associated with terrorism, and nothing about terrorism that should be association with Islam.
The US has the right to defend itself, but not to insult Muslims. This statement by Rep. King is insulting to all Muslims, and also to all people who believe in religious pluralism, the Jeffersonian tradition and those that support tolerance.
Asked if people were tolerant to him, the first Muslim congressman, Ellison said: People here have been overwhelmingly tolerant of me.
Then returning to King, he said: Please tell your readers that Rep. King represents a very small minority view, but because his comments were so inflammatory they get a lot of attention.
Just as we [Muslims] dont want to be judged by the actions of a small [extremist] minority, I ask the Muslim world not to judge Congress by the remarks of one congressman.
As for Rep. King, he defended himself by saying his point was that not enough Muslim leaders cooperate with law enforcement.
King, the former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and the top GOP member on the panel, said his comments to the Politico website were taken out of context.
I stand by everything I said other than the fact that the Politico totally took it out of context, King said.
Not long after Politico released its interview with Rep. King, the Democratic National Committee attacked Kings comment about mosques.
Congressman Kings comments are deplorable and he should apologize immediately, said DNC press secretary Stacie Paxton. This type of bigoted language has no place in public discourse.
The DNC went one step further, calling on GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani to dump King as his campaigns homeland security advisor. Giuliani refused to do so.
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Ellison Hopes to Return to Perform Haj Agence France Presse
RIYADH, 6 April 2007 The Muslim member of the US Congress, who accompanied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a Middle East tour, said yesterday he hoped to return to Saudi Arabia later this year to perform the Haj in Makkah.
I did think of going to perform Umrah (the smaller pilgrimage) but the schedule did not allow it, Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, told AFP as the congressional delegation prepared to wrap up its regional tour.
I hope to do the Haj this year, God willing, he said.
Ellison was elected to the House of Representatives when Democrats swept to victory in last Novembers elections. He arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as part of Pelosis seven-member delegation which earlier visited Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.
They were due to fly back to the United States today.
I had never been to a Muslim country before this visit to the area, said Ellison, who took the oath of office in January on a copy of the Quran that belonged to the third US president, Thomas Jefferson.
The Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam which all able-bodied Muslims must undertake once in a lifetime if they have the means. This year, it will fall in December.
Ellison, an African American who converted from Roman Catholicism while a student in college, said he believed the United States could do much more in terms of engaging to seek solutions in the Middle East.
If you want to make peace, you have to talk about the problems preventing peace, he said.
as I’m fond of saying of late (and I so hope it catches on), “enough is enough.”
There is nothing about Islam that should be associated with terrorism, and nothing about terrorism that should be association with Islam.”
Keith, you’re kidding.....right???
Apologize for 9/11, Ellison.
He shoulda’ stood in Saudi.
Dont back down Pete King. Show the Republican party what it is like to have a spine.
Keef X is pig scum.
Each haj is going to be more and more fun to watch as tensions between Sunni and Shia get further strained. Maybe Keith will be there when Mecca explodes...
The Powerline Blog has been all over Keith.
For the uninitiated:http://www.google.com/search?q=%22who+is+keith+ellison%22&btnG=Search&domains=powerlineblog.com&sitesearch=powerlineblog.com&sa=Search
Seems as though Ellison is representing only Muslims.
“Ellison ... said: There is nothing about Islam that should be associated with terrorism, and nothing about terrorism that should be association with Islam.
That’s a little hard when you have murderers slamming planes into targets screaming Allah is great.
Rep. Ellison Slams Kings Anti-Muslim Comment [in Saudi press]—Hopes to Return to Perform Haj
the first anti-american muzzie in congress!!!
Go there and stay, Keith.
I suppose the cultist will "do the haj" on the taxpayers dime as apart of his congressional duty?
Apologize for instantly defending the Flying Imams. Ellison is a lowlife, and so are his ignorant voters.
Ellison is a little, fat thug.
The truth hurts doesn’t it Mr. Ellison?
Well, I agree with Mr. King. Time to realize that electing Muzzies to Congress is not a good idea. When will folks learn? After another bigger and better 911?????
Aw heck; Congressman King will probably lose the Muslim vote now.
Congressman Peter King (R-NY) for Vice President.
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