Opposition grows to religious freedom nominee

[rug]

By Omar Sacirbey
Religion News Service
Updated: Wednesday, April 4, 3:50 PM

More than 1,800 people have signed a petition asking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to “reconsider” his appointment of Zuhdi Jasser, a prominent critic of U.S. Muslims, to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

“How can an individual who supports the curbing of Muslim civil and religious liberties at home be trusted as a ‘commissioner’ to review and analyze violations of religious freedoms abroad?” the petition writers ask in their appeal.

Jasser, a physician in Phoenix, Ariz., and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, has angered many Muslim Americans for his work with groups they say demonize Muslims, and for supporting policies that they say infringe on their civil liberties.

Jasser narrated “The Third Jihad,” a documentary widely considered to be Islamophobic, and sits on the board of The Clarion Fund, which funded the film, and has received funding from organizations with anti-Islamic sentiments. He has also defended the New York City Police Department against attacks that it spied on Muslims, and testified on Capitol Hill on the problem of Muslim “extremism” in the U.S.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/opposition-grows-to-religious-freedom-nominee/2012/04/04/gIQAJVXjvS_story.html

[Jim__]

1. Does McConnell get to make the appointment on his own without any approval process?

The US should be embarrassed by the idiocy of its leaders.