c. 1998 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ Leading American-Muslim activists have bitterly attacked a congressional plan to establish a National Commission on Terrorism, questioning the objectivity of both the panel and its chief House sponsor.
The proposal, introduced by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has been approved by the House of Representatives as an amendment to a $16-billion foreign aid package and awaits further action by a joint House-Senate conference committee.
Wolf proposed the commission in the aftermath of the August bombings in East Africa of two U.S. embassies, saying the incidents underscored the need for a”comprehensive reassessment of our nation’s overall policy on terrorism.”The White House has blamed the bombings on Osama bin Laden, a Muslim fundamentalist.
Under Wolf’s plan, a 15-member commission jointly appointed by the president, the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader would take six months to come up with steps to strengthen U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.
In introducing the proposal, Wolf said”more Americans have been killed by attacks perpetrated by terrorists either based in or connected to the Middle East than any other region of the world.” The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, in an e-mail”action alert”to supporters, said it is”concerned about the objectivity of the proposed commission because of Wolf’s legislative history, his apparent focus on Islam and Muslims and the backgrounds of several individuals proposed as members of the commission.” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in an interview that the proposed”panel is really a mechanism to promote the ideological objectives of those who focus on Arabs and Muslims and Islam as the originators and sole practitioners of violence in the world.” Hooper cited Wolf’s earlier sponsorship of House-approved legislation designed to thwart religious persecution abroad. That measure also was widely condemned by American Muslims as unduly singling out Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and other Muslim-led nations for severely curtailing religious freedoms.
Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, said the commission proposal”maintains a confrontational approach toward the Muslim world and isolates the Muslim people from the debate on counterterrorism.” Fahhim Abdulhadi, spokesman for the American Muslim Council in Washington, said of the commission:”(I) fear there is an agenda there to maintain the negative portrayal of Islam. Perhaps (Wolf) feels Islam is the new enemy.” Wolf said Thursday (Sept. 24) the Muslim activists had distorted his record.
Wolf said he had voted to send U.S. troops to Bosnia”on behalf of Muslims”and had spoken up for Muslims in Chechnya during their conflict with Russia.”I have probably been the most outspoken proponent on behalf of the Muslims in China in Congress,”he added.”I just don’t know what they’re talking about,”Wolf said of his Muslim critics.”I think they’re protesting too much.” The Muslim activists also objected to Wolf’s list of proposed terrorism commission members. While the list includes the likes of former President George Bush, former CIA Director James Woosley and former United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, Hooper said it also includes”associates of Muslim bashers.” He cited Ed Badaloto, chairman of the International Association of Counterterrorism Professionals; Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia; and Steven Pomerantz, the FBI’s former assistant director for counterterrorism, as proposed commission members harboring anti-Muslim biases.
Wolf defended the three men as legitimate experts on anti-terrorism whose names were suggested to him by other specialists in the field.
In addition, the only two Muslims proposed for the panel were both deemed unacceptable by the Muslim activists.
One, Fouad Ajami, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington,”is pretty much pro-Israel”and”doesn’t represent the mainstream American-Muslim community,”said Al-Marayati.
The other, Riad Nachef, head of the Philadelphia-based Association of Islamic Charitable Projects,”was dismissed by Hooper”as a sort of token Muslim”with no ties to national Muslim-American groups.
Moreover, noted Hooper, Nachef is due to be sentenced Oct. 28 after having pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion for his involvement in a case described by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston as a dispute over control of an Islamic Center in Everett, Mass. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
A spokeswoman for Wolf said the congressman was unaware of Nachef’s legal problems.
Wolf said the list of individuals he proposed for the panel were”provided to illustrate the types of people who could serve on the commission and is by no means all-inclusive.” He emphasized he will not have the final say on panel members.
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