NJDC Defends McGreevey Against Attack from Arab-American Coalition
Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
AMA's Claims of Candidate's Bigotry Unfounded, While Bigotry of Coalition Members is Well-Documented
Washington, DC: The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) today defended New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee James McGreevey against a coalition of Arab-American advocacy groups, which claims that McGreevey has made "anti-Muslim" remarks. The coalition's statement was made in reference to McGreevey's criticism of the American Muslim Alliance, whose members have made incendiary comments about Jews and Israel in recent years.
The coalition's press release states that McGreevey has attempted to ostracize one of the coalition's members, the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), by refusing to attend that organization's events and accept contributions from its members. The statement adds that the coalition hopes McGreevey "will not continue to succumb to pressure from those who seek to exclude American Muslims from both political debate and the political process."
AMA leaders have claimed that UN resolutions give Palestinians the right to armed resistance against Israelis, and they have called on the United Nations to establish a "war crimes tribunal" for Israel, stating that "Palestinian towns and villages are besieged by Israeli forces in a manner that can easily be compared to such historic tragedies as the creation of the Warsaw ghetto." During an AMA conference in 1997, the AMA also distributed Holocaust revisionist literature written by AMA officials.
The press release was issued by the American Muslim Council (AMC), an organization whose members have vocally supported the terrorist groups Hamas and Hizballah. In January, the Secretary of the Board of the AMC participated in what the U.S. State Department referred to as a terrorist conference with a "destructive agenda," which included the participation of leaders of Hamas, Hizballah, Islamic Jihad, and Osama Bin Ladin's organization.
"Their press release presents a false argument," stated NJDC Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "Nobody, especially Jim McGreevey, advocates denying Muslim Americans the right to participate in our political process. In fact, nowhere in their press release do they even cite any specific statements by McGreevey that could be construed as bigoted - they cite no statement whatsoever. Their 'proof' of his bigotry lies in the fact that he has refused to attend events organized by one of the more radical members of this coalition.
"If these organizations are concerned about bigotry, they should look at members of their own coalition. The AMA sponsored a rally in which Jews were described as 'pigs and monkeys,' and it held a convention in which Holocaust revisionist literature was circulated. As for the AMC, they hosted a speaker who praised suicide bombers and urged support for 'martyrdom operations' in the Middle East.
"This has nothing to do with the issue of free speech, or the inalienable right of every American citizen to full participation in our political process. This is about the unacceptable statements and actions of the AMA and the AMC, and the fact that there are consequences for organizations that use their right of free speech to make outrageous statements. And one of those consequences - in fact, the very responsibility of our leaders - is for such organizations to be publicly shunned.
