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President Bush urged to repudiate AMP Report Feb. 12, 2004 - American Muslim groups and other organizations have urged President George Bush and other Republican leaders to repudiate the anti-Muslim statement of Republican Congressman, Peter T. King, in which he claimed that the vast majority of American Muslim community leaders are "an enemy living amongst us" and that American Muslims do not cooperate in the war on terror. Congressman King first made these remarks on Sean Hannity's nationally-syndicated radio program while promoting his new novel "Veil of Tears" on Feb. 9. The congressman repeated these accusations in a statement to the News Day on Feb. today. The American Muslim Voice, in a statement, said that Congressman King’s malicious statement is far from truth. It is regretted that an elected official, who serves on the Select Committee on Homeland Security and the International Relations Committee spreads hatred towards Arabs and Muslims. The AMV called on President George Bush and other Republican leaders to repudiate Congressman King’s statement. "It is unconscionable that an elected official would defame America's Islamic leaders and ordinary Muslims, including those in his own district, just to sell a few more books for personal gain," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "President Bush and other political and religious leaders should repudiate these baseless smears and reject the growing exploitation of legitimate fears of terrorism to marginalize an entire community." Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) asked King to repudiate his comments, specifically the charge that Muslims have not cooperated with law enforcement. An MPAC statement recalled that in an interview FBI Director Robert Mueller granted to The Minaret Magazine, America’s largest American Muslim magazine, on April 23, 2003, Director Mueller made statements about the cooperation of the American Muslim community that directly contradicts King’s allegation. “Given the FBI Director’s clearly positive assessment of American Muslim cooperation in law enforcement efforts, we ask Representative King to substantiate his slanderous, erroneous and irresponsible statements against the American Muslim community immediately,” the MPAC statement concluded. Members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Feb. 12 called for a repudiation of Representative Peter King’s statement from President Bush and other Republican leaders. DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe stated that, "Muslim Americans are teachers, lawyers, doctors, business owners who have made invaluable contributions to our country. President Bush has said 'those who feel they can intimidate our fellow citizens and take out their anger... represent the worst of humankind.' That's why I am calling on President Bush and the Republican leadership to condemn this latest example of hate-filled language." DNC member Jim Zogby stated that, "Peter King is using bigotry to make a buck, plain and simple... He does so showing no concern for the impact his remarks have on millions of decent, patriotic Arab and Muslim Americans." The Interfaith Alliance, the nation's largest interfaith organization, also denounced the anti-Muslim remarks by Rep. Peter King (R-NY). In a letter to the congressman, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy also offered to convene a reconciliation meeting for Rep. King to dialogue with Muslim, Jewish, and Christian religious leaders. "I was both shocked and saddened to learn of your biased, inflammatory remarks against American Muslims," Dr. Gaddy said. "Your statements have caused great concern in the interfaith community and . . . .have shown a shocking lack of understanding of approximately 7,000,000 Muslim Americans, including many who live in your district." Veil of Tears Representative Peter King told the Newsday on Feb. 12 that he continues to believe that 85 percent of the mosques in the United States have "extremist leadership," and that while most Muslims are "loyal Americans," they are reluctant to come forward to cooperate with law enforcement when they hear anti-American rhetoric or plots. King's comments, first made on the Sean Hannity radio show on Feb. 9. While promoting his new novel "Veil of Tears," King said that "no (American) Muslims are cooperating" with law enforcement officials to combat terrorism. He added: "I would say, you could say that 80-85 percent of mosques in this country are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists. Those who are in control. The average Muslim, no, they are loyal, but they don't work, they don't come forward and cooperate with police." King's novel, which he described as "half truth and half fiction," deals with future terrorist attacks by "Muslim extremists" in Nassau County, N.Y. During his segment on Hannity's program, King was particularly critical of an unnamed mosque in Westbury, N.Y., which he accused of failing to |