Congresswoman Offers To Help Moderate American Islamic Leadership Coalition In Washington

From AIFD:

Myrick backs 'moderate Muslim' group


9th District congresswoman says she'll help American Islamic Leadership Coalition make its case in Washington.



By Barbara Barrett

bbarrett@mcclatchydc.com

Posted: Saturday, Sep. 25, 2010

WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick on Friday pledged to help a new coalition of Muslim political thinkers present to Congress their views of moderate Islam and the need to quell extremism within their religion.



The loose-knit group, called the American Islamic Leadership Coalition, wants to uphold the Constitution, protect national security and celebrate the diversity of American Muslims, said Zuhdi Jasser, who founded the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, in Phoenix.



Members of the coalition want Congress to shift funding toward think tanks and studies that try to understand what Myrick calls "homegrown terrorism," the violence that could erupt among extremist religious groups in the United States.



Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, said the coalition would serve as an alternative view than that from better-known organizations such as CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a 16-year-old Washington-based civil liberties organization that advocates on behalf of Muslims.



Myrick hosted a roundtable Friday morning on Capitol Hill with Jasser and a handful of other Muslims who have been critical of Muslim civil rights groups and say they worry about radicalism among some mosques.



"We need to make distinctions. And our failure to make distinctions is confusing Americans," said Hedieh Mirhamadi, a lawyer and founder of WORDE, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, in Washington. She and the others in the coalition call themselves moderate Muslims.



Myrick had invited every other member of Congress to the event. Just three showed up: U.S. Rep. William Thornberry of Texas, and U.S. Reps. Trent Franks and John Shadegg of Arizona. All are Republicans who have worked with Myrick on the issue.



At the event, Franks asked the coalition to guide Congress on where to put funding.



Lawmakers: We'll help



"It's incumbent on us to give you the best platform we can," Franks said. "If your perspective does not prevail in the Muslim world, the future is very frightening."



Ebrahim Moosa, an associate professor of Islamic studies at Duke University, said in an interview that he commended Myrick for trying to learn more about Islam and Muslims in the United States.



He added, though, that "members of Congress would certainly profit from hearing the voice of a cross section of Muslim opinion."



And he suggested Congress listen to the Muslims who have been "at the center" of controversial issues this summer, such as the development of the mosque near ground zero.



In Washington, the coalition said that the proposed Park51 Muslim community center in New York City, two blocks from ground zero, should not be built.



CAIR 'victim-mongering'



The speakers also said they saw no evidence of discrimination against Muslims. Jasser singled out CAIR for criticism.



"We need to marginalize these groups," Jasser said of CAIR. "They're constantly going to be victim-mongering," Jasser said. "...For groups to say America is Islamaphobic is to miss where America is."