CAIR In Hysterics Over Allen West’s Comments On Islam
Sep 8, 2011 12 Comments ›› The Assassin
The South Florida leader of the Council on Islamic-American Relations said Wednesday that Congressman Allen West’s comments about Islam are inaccurate and irresponsible.
Nezar Hamze, executive director of Pembroke Pines-based CAIR in South Florida, faulted West for “participating in basically an Islam bashing or propagating his twisted views or understanding if Islam.”
Hamze was responding to comments West made Wednesday in Washington, where he hosted the screening of a film designed to oppose the construction of a mosque near the Ground Zero site in New York where the World Trade Center towers used to stand.
“That’s Allen West’s narrative. That’s what he speaks about. He presents himself as a scholar or someone having a deep knowledge of Islam when the reality is my children has a greater knowledge of Islam,” he said. (The kids are ages, 14, 13, 11, 9.)
“He’s very well versed on war. However he is not very well versed in Islam or the teaching of Islam. He tries to equate actions or wars that Muslims participated in the past as a teaching of Islam.
“Here’s the problem: The people who don’t know Muslims and the people who are in positions of power and positions of influence are taken by Allen West’s rhetoric or version of his understanding of Islam.
“It’s irresponsible for a United States congressman, it’s the Congress of the United States of America for God’s sake, it’s not a protest rally group protesting Islam,” he said.
Hamze said it’s “sleazy politics” to whip up fear of Muslims. “It’s a dirty, sleazy tactic to attack a religion.”
He also said West’s history is wrong when he attempts to pinpoint a time when Islam allegedly became a violent religion. “Congressman West says when he [Muhammad] left Mecca, the religion became violent. That is a complete falsehood.”
Hamze said he has sympathy for the people – relatives of people who died in the 9/11 attacks – who appeared with West at the film screening.
“My heart goes out to these families. However what Allen West is participating in is baiting, saying that the Ground Zero mosque has ties to radical Islam, which obviously his all speculation and baseless accusations against the people that are tying to build the mosque.
It’s another example of someone trying to play on the fears of American society and cast a shadow of doubt over the mosque.”
Hamze said the film screening fits a pattern on the part of people who oppose Islam.
“Under the guise of fighting radical Islam or fighting terrorism, that’s everyone’s narrative when they are opposed to the faith of Islam they bunch it under look at what happened on 9/11 or we will never forget. They try to rally up that American pseudo patriotism.
“They really could care less about the backlash or the harm that they cause innocent American people. American Muslims died on 9/11 American Muslims died trying to save lives on 9/11.”
