ACLU?s Islamist Trend Continues

By Steven Emerson

Previously in this space I wrote about the ACLU positioning itself as the defender and champion of Palestinian Terrorists (see: "The ACLU�s Palestinian Terrorist Friends"). This should come as no surprise as the ACLU continues to reach out to the �organized� Muslim community to fill its leadership positions.

The Florida branch of the ACLU recently elected Parvez Ahmed, Chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to serve as a board member. According to the ACLU�s Florida website, Ahmed was elected as an �at-large� member in February of this year. According to Ahmed�s bio, he was also the recipient of an ACLU �civil liberties� award in 2002.

At a CAIR-sponsored event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on February 16, titled �Religious and Political Perspectives on the Cartoon Controversy,� (just a week and a half after the ACLU and Ahmed formally cemented their relationship), Ahmed called for the government of the United States, and those around the world, to adopt �blasphemy� laws as a manner to ensure that the cartoons, originally published by a Danish newspaper, could never be published again. At the event, Ahmed stated:

�I think the next steps would be to broaden the scope of anti-hate laws and even contemplate about passing blasphemy laws, because blasphemy with such sacred icons, like the Prophet Muhammad, like the Koran, or the cross, or other religious symbols � So governments, legislatures, international bodies � must contemplate about what are the ways in which an anti-blasphemy law can be passed that can protect the right to exercise freedom of religion.�

How a blasphemy law protects freedom of religion is anyone�s guess. Can Muslims no longer practice their religion because of cartoonists in Denmark? One thing is for sure, blasphemy laws are a direct assault on the First Amendment right to free speech, a right which the ACLU claims to champion.

CAIR�s official position, like its repeated track-record in support of terrorism, is incompatible with a liberal, free society. As more Islamists enter high-level ACLU positions, the ACLU�s so-called �defense� of civil liberties, especially the right to free speech, will erode even further.

In a statement included in CAIR�s press release regarding Ahmed�s election to the ACLU board, Ahmed said:

�American Muslims view the protection of civil liberties as one of the most important issues facing our nation today. By working with the ACLU in Florida, I hope to strengthen constitutional rights and help balance those rights with legitimate national security concerns.�

The release continues, �CAIR and the ACLU have cooperated on a number of issues at the national level to defend the civil liberties of All Americans.�

Whatever constitutional right Ahmed imagines us to believe is his chief concern, it is clearly not the First Amendment.

Ironically, while the ACLU continues its campaign of removing any Christian religious symbols from the public sphere, CAIR and Ahmed are continuing their jihad to Islamicize American law by pushing for �blasphemy� laws to criminalize certain commentary and criticism of Islam.

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