Steven Emerson: Hezbollah Apologist Wins "Human Relations" Award... in the U.S. (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

Steven Emerson appeared tonight on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" to discuss his article on "The New Republic Online" website, "Prize Fighter - A Hezbollah Apologist Wins an Award for Tolerance." In the article, Steve discloses the radical anti-American and anti-Israeli statements of Maher Hathout, president of the Islamic Center of Southern California and a senior adviser to the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Despite his empathy for terrorists, Hathout will receive an award for "oustanding human relations work" in Los Angeles in October. "The New Republic Online" has generously allowed us to reprint the complete article here (Word file). An excerpt:

In October 2000, Maher Hathout attended a rally in Lafayette Park across from the White House. His speech was captured on video for posterity by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. He told the assembled crowd that he was not surprised by what he called the "atrocities committed by the apartheid brutal state of Israel." After all, he reasoned, "butchers do what butchers do, and ... what is expected from a racist apartheid [state] is what is happening now."

Fast forward six years. The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations announced last Tuesday that Hathout, president of the Islamic Center of Southern California and a senior adviser to the Muslim Public Affairs Council (mpac), would receive its prestigious John Allen Buggs Award in luncheon ceremonies on October 5. The award is given annually for what the commission describes as "outstanding human relations work."

A man who called Israel a nation of butchers (he didn't stop there; he has also accused the United States of committing state terrorism) is about to be honored with a major award for effective practices in human relations work. Is this any different than giving, say, David Duke an award for healing racial relations?

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