Friday, October 31, 2008

Far-Right and Muslim Extremists Gathered in Baltimore

Prominent anti-Semites on the American far right took part in a conference organized by Jamaat al-Muslimeen (JAM), a small Muslim organization that promotes Holocaust denial and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 16.

The conference, titled "International Islamic Conference," demonstrates how promoters of anti-Semitic ideologies from different backgrounds find common cause in their hatred of Jews and Israel. The conference also signals a burgeoning relationship between far right and Muslim extremists who are increasingly working together.

JAM leader Dr. Kaukab Siddique
introduced the speakers throughout the conference, which was held in a hotel and attracted about 30 attendees. Siddique, an associate professor in the English department at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, told the audience, "We're under the grip of a Jewish Zionist power structure in this country" and referred to the "Zionist-controlled media."

Among the speakers from the far-right were Mark Glenn, a contributor to the anti-Semitic conspiracy-oriented newspaper American Free Press; Charles Carlson, director of We Hold These Truths, an Arizona-based anti-Semitic group; and
Mark Weber, director of the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), a Holocaust denial organization.

Weber told the audience
that not only was the Iraq war the result of "Jewish cabal," but that the same "Jewish cabal" is currently pushing for war with Iran. While he complimented John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt's book, "The Israel Lobby," he was critical of their failure to adequately address the "insidious" effect of Jewish influence on the U.S. Weber also said that Jews and Zionists have a grip on American media, as well as political and cultural life.

Charles Carlson focused on Christian and Jewish Zionists, which he described as "enablers of wars." According to Carlson, Christian and Jewish Zionism are not based on freedom. "We must confront Zionism," Carlson said.

Mark Glenn's speech was titled "Islamic Extremism may save America." He suggested that the West and Islam would have been "just fine if it wasn't for this small number of people in the Middle East, in a tiny country, who can't seem to be happy unless they make the rest of the world miserable."

Hesham Tillawi, a Palestinian-American who hosts a weekly cable access and Internet television show out of Lafayette, Louisiana, which regularly features white supremacists, echoed some of the statements made by other speakers. In addition to saying that Zionists control all of the media, Tillawi said he doesn't believe Osama Bin Laden was responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks. He also blamed "Jewish cable operators" for taking his original show off the air.

Notably, Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General and leader of the far-left International Action Center, also spoke at the conference. Clark described the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as being similar to Nazi crimes against her neighbors during WWII.

Another speaker presented a message on behalf of the Islamic Political Party of America (IPPA), a Muslim organization based in North Carolina. The speaker said that her party is for Muslims, Christians and "non-Zionist Jews." IPPA, which has cooperated with JAM since 2006, has spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, including the theory that "4000 Jews employed at the World Trade Center were absent at WTC on 9/11."

Among the publications available for purchase at the conference was The New Jerusalem: Zionist Power in America by Michael Collins Piper, a reporter for the American Free Press. Copies of the American Free Press were also available.

Several of the speakers, including Tillawi, Glenn, Carlson and Siddique, previously came together in Irvine, California, in October 2007 for a conference titled "No More Wars for Israel."
That two-day event, organized by Mark Glenn, consisted of a series of protests and lectures demonizing Jews and Israel and accusing both of controlling America and orchestrating the Iraq war. According to organizers, the conference also featured a videotaped message from Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
, in which he condemned Zionism as a racist movement and a danger to world peace.

For more information on the speakers, see Speaker Backgrounds.

No comments: