The appointment of Salam al-Marayati, the founder and Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), as the State Department’s envoy to a human rights conference has raised more than a few pairs of eyebrows. Al-Marayati expressed sympathy for Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as the possibility that Israel was behind the 9/11/01 attacks.

In addition, at least two prominent leaders of MPAC are on record as having defended Deputy Chief of Staff to Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin. In 2011, al-Marayati was the guest in a very friendly interview with another Abedin defender.

On August 23rd, MPAC posted the op-ed of its Iowa Chapter coordinator, Shams Ghoneim, who also used to serve on MPAC’s national board. Ghoneim did what all of Abedin’s defenders have done; she smeared those who raised questions and went out of her way to ignore facts.

On August 26th, MPAC’s Washington, D.C. director, Haris Tarin, did the same thing.

MPAC attempted to disrupt the Republican National Convention with a demonstration designed to get Mitt Romney to condemn the Bachmann five for raising questions about Brotherhood infiltration of the U.S. government.

In 2011, al-Marayati sat down with another Abedin defender – James Zogby – for a very friendly interview. Zogby has a distinct history that involves defending Muslim extremists and groups.

The subject was ‘hate speech’ and how to curtail it, certainly interesting subject matter in the wake of the attacks on U.S. embassies and consulates being blamed on criticism of Islam. Now, al-Marayati, a man who clearly wants to shut down speech critical of Islam while himself having a record of anti-Semitic positions, is being sent to a conference on human rights by a U.S. State Department that is already the subject of growing concerns in this area.

Here is the 2011 interview between Zogby and al-Marayati:

“Thank God for Anderson Cooper.”
– Salam Al-Marayati, 7/28/11 (5:15 mark of this video)

Click here for the comprehensive list of Huma Abedin defenders.

Ben Barrack is a talk show host and author of the book, Unsung Davids