The spokesman for a prominent U.S. Muslim group, who regularly demands contrition from critics of Islam, will not apologize for comparing some conservative evangelical leaders to Osama bin Laden and saying they would kill Muslims given the chance.
Ibrahim Hooper of the activist Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) stood by his argument that the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Rev. Pat Robertson, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and the Rev. Franklin Graham are "equivalent" to bin Laden in wanting to divide the world into a religious war.
They "have the same mentality as bin Laden" in trying to incite an "unending civilizational conflict," Mr. Hooper said Wednesday.
"It's the incitement we're talking about," said Mr. Hooper, whose organization has been linked to radical Islamist groups in the Middle East. "It's not Jerry Falwell throwing a hand grenade into a mosque."
...
Clarence Sexton | 8/31/2009
