Muslim’s Nomination to U.S. Panel Withdrawn

House Democratic leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) has withdrawn the nomination of Salam Al-Marayati, a prominent Los Angeles Muslim leader, to a congressional commission on terrorism, bowing to criticism from some Jewish organizations.

Aides to Gephardt informed Al-Marayati of the decision Thursday, saying they had belatedly discovered that federal officials would not be able to process a security clearance in time for him to join the commission’s work.

“They’re saying that they’re basing it on a technicality,” Al-Marayati said, leaving little doubt that he found the excuse flimsy.

Al-Marayati, the executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, was named by Gephardt last month to the 10-person panel, intended to review national policy on preventing terrorist acts.

The nomination quickly drew fire from one Jewish group, the Zionist Organization of America, which is known for often-strident attacks on critics of Israel. The group’s president, Morton A. Klein, accused Al-Marayati of having made statements that excused terrorist acts against Israelis. Critics also attacked Al-Marayati for not issuing a blanket denunciation of Arab groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which have launched terrorist attacks against Israel.

Al-Marayati has long said that his statements drew a distinction between terrorist acts against Israeli civilians, which he condemns, and military acts such as those launched against Israeli troops in Lebanon. He has also said that while he will denounce terrorist actions by Hamas and Hezbollah, he will not flatly condemn those groups because they also carry out beneficial activities, such as building hospitals in Palestinian areas.

Although Al-Marayati was defended by some other Jewish leaders in Los Angeles, where he has been prominently involved in Jewish-Muslim dialogues, the nomination quickly became engulfed in controversy.

As the volume of the debate increased, other national Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League, demanded that Gephardt withdraw the nomination.

“We feel that it is a very unfortunate decision, that Congressman Gephardt just responded to pressure from a very demagogic group that created noise without any proof of their allegations. It puts us in a very difficult situation,” said Dr. Maher Hathout, senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council and head of the Islamic Center of Southern California.

The move will make U.S. Muslims feel that “they are being pushed to the margins,” Hathout said, and the subject will be discussed today at the Islamic Center.

Al-Marayati, 38, has lived in the United States since his family left Iraq when he was 4.