Source: Crosswalk
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1457569.html?view=print
(CNSNews.com) - A leading U.S. Islamic group Wednesday condemned an Iranian-hosted conference questioning the Holocaust - the day after it ended.
Although the statement came two days after Iran opened the controversial event, the move by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) prompted a scholar on Islam and frequent CAIR critic to say he hoped its condemnation "heralds a new forthrightness" from the organization.
"No legitimate cause or agenda can ever be advanced by denying or belittling the immense human suffering caused by the murder of millions of Jews and other minority groups by the Nazi regime and its allies during World War II," the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) noted in its statement, released early Wednesday afternoon.
"Cynical attempts to use Holocaust denial as a political tool in the Middle East conflict will only serve to deepen the level of mistrust and hostility already present in that troubled region," added the organization, which describes itself as "America's largest Islamic civil liberties group."
CAIR also voiced concern that individuals who have promoted racist views, including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, had been invited to speak at the conference.
"Islam, through the example of the Prophet Mohammed, has always rejected racism in any form," said the Washington-based organization.