U.S. Muslim leader denies he's terrorist sympathizerAppointment to congressional panel withdrawn
July 29, 1999
Web posted at: 1:18 p.m. EDT (1718 GMT)
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Caught in a firestorm of controversy,
Salam Al-Marayati, director of the Muslim Public Affairs
Council in Los Angeles, is busy defending himself. His
appointment to a congressional panel on terrorism now
withdrawn, Al-Marayati says he has been unjustly branded a
terrorist sympathizer.
"Because we've been critical of policies in Israel, that has
been confused with sympathizing with terrorists," he told
CNN.
House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Missouri, picked
Al-Marayati in June for the 10-member congressional
commission charged with reviewing U.S. policies on terrorism,
then changed his mind.
Some Jewish leaders and several members of Congress objected,
saying the 38-year-old nominee had justified acts of terror
against Israel and the United States.
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Gephardt, left, and Al-Marayati
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"Members of Congress that we and others approached and showed
the writings and the views of Salam Al-Marayati were appalled
by these writings," said Morton Klein, president of the
Zionist Organization of America.
"(They) very readily said that such a man should not be on
the committee working to prevent and fight terrorism," said
Klein, who spearheaded the effort to have Al-Marayati
removed.
The appointment also had been challenged by the American
Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League and the American
Jewish Committee.
David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish
Committee, said Al-Marayati for a number of years had
justified and minimized acts of terrorism against Israel and
the United States.
Within weeks of announcing the appointment, Gephardt withdrew
it -- but for another reason.
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Salam Al-Marayati, with wife Leila and their son, Malek
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Gephardt was unavailable to talk to CNN, but in a letter this month to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-
Illinois, Gephardt said the Muslim leader had been
recommended to him as having extensive public service
experience and being involved in interfaith dialogue.
Gephardt said, however, the appointment was subsequently
questioned, and since a security check could take a year,
twice as long as the life of the commission, he was
withdrawing the nomination.
The reasoning rings false to Al-Marayati.
"If there is a political will, there is a way to expedite the
security clearance," he told CNN.
"When we criticize Arab governments, we're objective and
fair. When we criticize the Israeli government, that's when
we're branded as anti-Semite," says Al-Marayati, who is known
as a moderate among American Muslim leaders.
His wife, Leila, recently was appointed to the U.S. Commission on
Religious Freedom.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced
Gephardt's decision and said he had bowed to political
pressure.
"This reversal by Representative Gephardt will only serve to
institutionalize discrimination against American Muslims and
their leaders," the council said in a statement. "Muslims
have been widely stereotyped using the issue of terrorism,
and it is therefore essential that a credible Muslim voice be
heard."
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Fields, right, calls the withdrawal of Al-Marayati's appointment "greatly disappointing"
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The Muslim Public Affairs Council called on Hastert and
Gephardt to reinstate their director "and allow the country
to hear a Muslim voice" on the commission.
It accused the "pro-Israel lobby" of manipulating discussion
of an important issue, and said the Jewish groups that
opposed Al-Marayati were "extreme Zionist organizations"
trying to establish a pro-Israel litmus test for any Muslim
considered for national service.
Gephardt's move has also prompted Jewish leaders in Los
Angeles to speak up on Al-Marayati's behalf.
Rabbi Harvey Fields of Wilshire Temple in Los Angeles called
the nomination withdrawal "greatly disappointing."
Even more disappointing, Fields said, was the reaction of
"some of the national Jewish leadership and what it attempted
to do."
In his letter, Gephardt said Al-Marayati "is prepared to
provide input to the commission on matters of interest and
concern to the American Muslim community."
In the meantime, aides say Gephardt is close to naming a
replacement, so the commission can begin its work.
Correspondent Jennifer Auther and The Associated Press contributed to this report, written by Jim Morris.
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Thursday, July 29, 1999
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