California Conservative

According to Keith Ellison’s website, Rep. Ellison has joined a task force on anti-semitism:

Congressman Keith Ellison has joined the bi-partisan Congressional Anti-Semitism Task Force (CASTF) for the 110th Congress. The Taskforce promotes religious tolerance throughout the world, and brings a strong voice in the United States Congress to those whose basic religious rights and freedoms have been persecuted.

“I am honored to join the Congressional Anti-Semitism Task Force because it embodies the ideals and principles that have guided and shaped my life,” Ellison stated.

An additional charge of the Task Force will be to bring to light numerous acts of anti-Semitism occurring around the world. In doing so, members demonstrate their support for key principles of religious freedom and tolerance as codified in international covenants, but will also help bring attention to actions that are at the root of some of humanities gravest crimes.

The Congressional Anti-Semitism Task Force is co-chaired by Founding Member, Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), Congressmen Ron Klein (D-FL), and Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN).

To say that I don’t understand why Rep. Ellison is part of this task force is understatement. What unique qualifications and attributes does Rep. Ellison bring to this task force? I’d further ask why anyone would name Rep. Ellison to this task force after Rep. Ellison spoke at an anti-semitic organization’s (MAS-MN) annual convention? Here’s some of the things posted on MAS-MN’s website on the day of Rep. Ellison’s speech:

• “The Holy Prophet (and through him the Muslims) has been reassured that he should not mind the enmity, the evil designs and the machinations of the Jews, but continue exerting his utmost to establish the Right Way in accordance with the Guidance of the Quran.”
• “In view of the degenerate moral condition of the Jews and the Christians, the Believers have been warned not to make them their friends and confidants.”
• “If you gain victory over the men of Jews, kill them.”
• “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’”
• “May Allah destroy the Jews, because they used the graves of their prophets as places of worship.”

I can’t see how Rep. Lantos would look past these statements, especially after Joe Kaufman has asked that Rep. Ellison renounce the statements on MAS-MN’s website:

On Monday, June 4th, the Chairman of Americans Against Hate (AAH), Joe Kaufman, phoned the local and Washington, D.C. offices of Congressman Ellison to demand that he denounce MAS. Kaufman has received no response from the Congressman or anyone in his offices.

Kaufman stated, “When Keith Ellison ran for office, he denounced the anti-Semitism of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI), a group that he was previously affiliated with. We demand that he do the same to the Muslim American Society. It is not only improper for a United States Representative to participate with such groups, but it is a danger to national security.”

This is at least the second time Keith Ellison has spoken in front of the Muslim American Society. The other time was right after he was elected to office, in December of 2006. As well, the Executive Director of the MAS Freedom Foundation, Mahdi Bray, campaigned for Ellison.

It’s been 88 days since Joe Kaufman issued this press release demanding Rep. Ellison to denounce the anti-Semitic statements on MAS-MN’s website. Rep. Ellison still hasn’t chastised the Minnesota chapter of MAS for the anti-semitic remarks posted on their website. If he won’t pass that minimum test, why should anyone think that he’ll fight against anti-semitism while he’s part of this task force?

Finally, I’d ask two simple questions: (a) Should Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, stay silent rather than ask Rep. Ellison why he hasn’t denounced the Muslim American Society for the anti-semitic remarks posted on their website? and (b) Shouldn’t Rep. Ellison be required to chastise the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society before being admitted to this task force?

Technorati Tags: Keith Ellison, MAS, Anti-Semitism, Nation of Islam, Joe Kaufman, Tom Lantos, Holocaust Survivor

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 2:08 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Special Interests, Subversives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.