Jewish lobby group slams Muslim body over opposition to Harvard scholar Daniel Pipes

A Jewish lobby group has condemned the peak body for Australian Muslims over its opposition to a speaking tour by prominent US Middle East expert Daniel Pipes.

Dr Pipes, the president of think tank Middle East Forum, has been brought to Australia for a series of talks in Melbourne and Sydney titled Winners and Losers in a Fractured Middle East by the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils released a statement urging Jewish representatives to withdraw support for the tour, describing Dr Pipes as espousing “anti-Islamic rhetoric”.

“AFIC urges Jewish representative groups to reconsider their decision to host Daniel Pipes,” the statement read. “Mr Pipes is a person with a clear history of extreme anti-Islamic rhetoric and an agenda to demonise Muslims through a distorted view of the Islamic religion.

“For representative bodies from the Jewish community to be hosting such an individual leaves to draw no other conclusion than that they endorse the views of the individual in question.”

Read the article by Simone Fox Koob in The Australian.