ISLAMOPHOBE STRIKES AGAIN:  MPAC’s RESPONSE TO STEVE EMERSON’S LATEST ATTACK

(Los Angeles - 4/10/07)—The Muslim Public Affairs Council today called on self-proclaimed terrorism expert Steve Emerson to retract false and baseless accusations he made recently about the Muslim Public Affairs Council on the Fox News Channel’s ”Hannity and Colmes” program, and repeated in an article on the right-wing blog Frontpagemag.com. 

MPAC today also released its response to Emerson’s latest baseless attacks, which reads in part:

In his most recent blogosphere attack, Emerson persists in his campaign of defamation against the MPAC, admits that there is a personal agenda behind this campaign, resorts to the most blatant mischaracterization of MPAC statements, and suggests that American Muslims should have no recourse to courts of law to defend their rights.  Indeed, in his ongoing campaign against MPAC, Emerson has done more to reveal the true nature of his extremist agenda then in any of his other activities since his misguided rehabilitation by parts of the American media after the terrorist attacks on our country on September 11, 2001.

Click here to read the entire response, entitled “Islamophobe Strikes Again: Steve Emerson’s Latest Attempt to Sideline Mainstream Muslim Americans”.

SEE ALSO: ”Counterproductive Counterterrorism: How Anti-Muslim Rhetoric is Impeding America’s Homeland Security” (MPAC, Dec. 2004)

In January 2006, Emerson appeared on the Fox News Channel program “Hannity and Colmes” and denounced the Attorney General of the United States for meeting with a number of major American Muslim organizations, including MPAC.  This appearance was characterized by grotesque mischaracterizations of MPAC’s history, positions and role in the American Muslim community.  In February, MPAC’s attorneys responded with a letter to Emerson demanding an apology and an end to the false accusations, and reminding him that legal remedies for false accusations are available to victims of lible and slander in the United States. 

On March 14, 2007, Emerson published an article on David Horowitz’ hate-filled web site FrontPageMagazine.com, preposterously entitled, ”Threatened by the Jihad”.  Obviously, even the title itself gives the game away: although this entire affair stems from Emerson’s campaign of false accusations against MPAC (and other American Muslim organizations, for that matter), he is the one who is “threatened.” In other words he positions himself as the victim when in fact he is the aggressor. 

MPAC has taken the leading role in trying to develop American Muslim input into the development of a sound counter-terrorism and counter-violence policy that will truly make our country safer, as well as promoting this agenda and these values within the American Muslim community. 

Emerson completely ignores or willfully misrepresents these efforts falsely claiming that “MPAC is on the record telling American Muslims not to directly cooperate with the FBI,” a completely untrue and preposterous accusation based on a willful misreading of calls for the development of a healthy relationship between American Muslim institutions and our law enforcement community.  This is an agenda which is embraced by law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels, and only extremists such as Emerson see anything threatening about the development of an open, cooperative relationship between Muslim institutions and the government. 

However, given that Emerson’s goal is to prevent the development of any influential or effective American Muslim organizations, his distortions and false accusations are as predictable as they are patently ridiculous. Emerson attempts to justify his defamation of MPAC in the article by willfully misinterpreting some comments by people associated with MPAC and twisting their meaning beyond recognition. 

Not only does Emerson want to prevent the American Muslim community from developing effective national organizations and political empowerment commensurate with its size and accomplishments, he also wants them deprived of access to the normal American system of law and the protections of civil court.  Rather, he wants Islamophobes such as himself to have a free hand to spread wild and totally misleading accusations without being challenged. 

If Emerson expects MPAC or the American Muslim community to simply sit back and allow him to defame all major national American Muslim organizations, institutions and leaders in an obvious effort to prevent the development of political influence and organization in the community, or for American Muslims to voluntarily renounce the protections afforded by the civil court system in our country, Emerson is going to be deeply disappointed.  The more Emerson continues with this crude and transparent campaign of defamation, the more he risks once again being fully exposed as a charlatan and provocateur, and finding himself again widely rejected as a serious or legitimate commentator. 

SEE ALSO: MPAC Calls Steve Emerson’s Defamation of Mainstream Muslim American Leaders ‘Un-American’ (Sept. 5, 2006)

SEE ALSO: MPAC Exposes Steve Emerson’s Self-Serving Distortions (Jan. 28, 2004)

MPAC is an American institution which informs and shapes public opinion and policy by serving as a trusted resource to decision makers in government, media and policy institutions. MPAC is also committed to developing leaders with the purpose of enhancing the political and civic participation of American Muslims.