President Bush asked to rescind nomination of Islamophobe
Nominee says 10 to 15 percent of Muslims are potential killers
CAIR
is urging President Bush to rescind his nomination of an "Islamophobe,"
who claims 10 to 15 percent of Muslims are "potential killers," to the
board of a government institution formed to promote the peaceful
resolution of international conflicts.
President Bush
yesterday nominated pro-Israel commentator Daniel Pipes, who many
American Muslims regard as the nation's leading Islamophobe, to join
the board of the United States Institute of Peace, a federal
institution created by Congress. The institute's board of directors is
appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. (Pipes made the
claim about Muslims being potential killers in the October 8, 2001,
issue of the Philadelphia Daily News.)
SEE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030402-10.html, http://www.usip.org/
"Pipes'
nomination sends entirely the wrong message as America seeks to
convince Muslims worldwide that the war on terrorism and the war
against Iraq are not attacks on Islam. His bigoted views are
incompatible with the mission of the United States Institute of Peace.
We respectfully urge President Bush to rescind this ill-considered and
poorly-timed nomination," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. He
called on the Senate to reject Pipes' nomination if it is not rescinded
by the president.
Awad added that Pipes also lacks the
credentials required for service on the institute's board. All board
members are required by law to "have appropriate practical or academic
experience in peace and conflict resolution." "Pipes' anti-Muslim
polemics have had the opposite impact of that sought by the institute.
His views promote unending conflict, not peace," said Awad.
Muslims
say Pipes has a long history of advocating the political
disenfranchisement and marginalization of America's Islamic community.
In an October 21, 2001, speech before the convention of the American
Jewish Congress, Pipes stated: "I worry very much from the Jewish point
of view that the presence, and increased stature, and affluence, and
enfranchisement of American Muslims...will present true dangers to
American Jews."
He has decried any positive portrayal of
Islamic history and beliefs in public schools and termed the PBS
documentary "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet" an "outrage."
In
the Jerusalem Post, Pipes called for increased surveillance of ordinary
American Muslims. He wrote: "There is no escaping the unfortunate fact
that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military, and
the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism,
as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors
and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques
require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches, synagogues and
temples. Muslim schools require increased oversight to ascertain what
is being taught to children…" (1/22/03)
Last year, Pipes faced
a storm of criticism when he launched Campus Watch, a web site that
included "dossiers" on professors and academic institutions thought to
be too critical of Israel or too sympathetic to Islam and Muslims. The
web site also sought information from students about their teachers'
political opinions. Pipes has been quoted as saying: "The Palestinians
are a miserable people...and they deserve to be." (Washington Report on
Middle East Affairs, July 2001) His personal web site is maintained by
an Israeli settler. He also claims Muslims have no real religious
attachments to the city of Jerusalem.
A central theme of
Pipes' commentary is that American Muslims are a threat because they
have the goal of "transforming [the United States] into a Moslem
country." (Jewish World Review, 11/16/2000) In fact, he even claimed to
have a special mental "filter" with which he can detect those who want
to "create a Muslim state in America." (Salon.com, 11/9/2001) He has
also compared American Muslim voter registration drives to those of the
Communist Party USA.
Pipes goes so far as to recommend
"vigilant application of social and political pressure to ensure that
Islam is not accorded special status of any kind in this country."
(Commentary, November 2001) The "special status" Pipes refers to
includes ordinary religious accommodations for Muslims in the workplace
and "inclusion of Muslims in affirmative-action plans."
