Justice Dept. taken to task for presence at Islamic convention

Justice Dept. taken to task for presence at Islamic convention

One of the nation's leading experts on the Islamic religion says Muslim groups have become very adept at conning the U.S. government into believing that they are victims instead of the perpetrators of terror. That is why he believes the Justice Department is using taxpayer dollars to co-sponsor the convention of a group that is being investigated in a terrorist-funding case.

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is among the more than 300 unindicted co-conspirators in the Justice Department's investigation of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, an organization whose top officers are accused of raising money for the terrorist group Hamas. But according to The Washington Times, lawyers with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice will man a booth at the ISNA convention in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend. The purpose of the booth, says the DOJ, is to educate Muslims about their civil rights.

Robert Spencer is director of Jihad Watch, a project of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He says the ISNA has been successful in conning the government into thinking Muslims are victims of discrimination.

"Actually a Justice Department spokesman said that the Muslims are terribly discriminated against, and this is why they're doing this," says Spencer. "But the whole 'victim-hood' operation, the whole 'victim-hood' enterprise for Muslims, is really just designed to divert attention away from jihad activity and to portray Muslims not as the perpetrators of jihad violence, but as the victims of discrimination."

The Jihad Watch director believes the propaganda effort is effective -- and argues the U.S. ought to be paying attention to jihad activity. "[It is] something that we ought to be resisting," he states; "so the Justice Department certainly should not be aiding and abetting.”

Spencer says the West needs to stop the guilt trip. "It's a strange manifestation of the self-hatred that infects the West in regard to Judeo-Christian civilization nowadays," he offers.

Some DOJ rank-and-file members have objected to the agency's affiliation with the ISNA convention, believing it might undermine the case against the Holy Land Foundation. The convention -- with a theme of "Upholding Faith, Serving Humanity" -- is expected to attract 30,000 Muslims living in the United States.