Saturday, October 27, 2012

House Republicans Demand Answers on Obama Admin's Anti-Israel Delegate to Confab

(WFB) Republican members of Congress are demanding to know why the State Department selected a prominent anti-Israel Muslim leader to represent the U.S. at a recent human rights conference in Warsaw, Poland.

Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), was recently selected by President Barack Obama’s administration to deliver remarks at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) annual human rights conference, a 10-day gathering focused on the “promotion of tolerance,” according to the group’s website.

The selection of al-Marayati quickly drew condemnation from Jewish leaders and others who objected to the presence of a Muslim leader who has defended terrorists and once speculated that Israel could be responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The State Department defended al-Marayati, labeling him “valued and highly credible.”

The administration’s defense led Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, to demand answers in a letter sent late Thursday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“The Administration’s recent selection of Salam al-Marayati to represent the United States at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting is highly concerning,” Jordan wrote to Clinton, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

“Your assertion that al-Marayati is ‘valued and highly credible’ is not only outlandish, but raises serious questions regarding the Administration’s judgment, as well as its underlying foreign policy goals,” the letter said.

More...