Dustin Hoffman is taking heat from the Jewish community, and for good reason. The actor has agreed to present a media award for an anti-Israel film at the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s 22nd Annual Media Awards on April 27 in Los Angeles.
MPAC has a history of making anti-Israel statements and is headed by Salam al-Marayati, who has called for Israel’s destruction, and has said that Israel may be responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
The Zionist Organization of America criticized Hoffman for his double standard, noting that in July 2010 he backed out of attending the annual Jerusalem Film Festival. ZOA National President Morton A. Klein released a statement that criticized Hoffman for his decision: “Muslim extremist organizations that endanger America become much harder to combat if celebrities legitimize them. Dustin Hoffman should admit he has made a mistake and withdraw from this event.
MPAC is headed by Salam al-Marayati, who has called for Israel’s destruction, and has said that Israel may be responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Even left-wing Los Angeles rabbis have ceased to speak to him. The following is a small sampling of his record of Islamist extremism:
- Calls for Israel’s destruction: “the establishment by force, violence and terrorism of a Jewish state in Palestine in 1948” was “unjust” and “a crime” and vowed to “work to overturn the injustice” (MPAC co-signed public statement, September 17, 1993).
- Condemns pre-9/11 American military strikes upon Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Sudan: Said these strikes, following the al-Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were “illegal, immoral and illogical” (MPAC press release, August 24, 1998).
- Asserts Israel might be perpetrator of 9/11: “If we’re going to look at suspects, we should look to the groups that benefit the most from these kind of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list, because I think this [the 9/11 attacks] diverts attention from what’s happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies” (David Firestone, ‘A NATION CHALLENGED: RELIGION; For Some Jewish Leaders, Partnership With Muslims Is a Casualty of Sept. 11 Attacks,’ New York Times, October 22, 2001).
- Defends French Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy: Described France’s fining of Garaudy for Holocaust denial as “persecution of his right to express an opinion” (The Minaret, Vol. 20, No.3, 1998).
- Gives anticipatory justification of Islamist terrorist assaults on America: “Where Israel goes, our government follows … What is important is whether the American people are aware of and ready for the consequences” (MPAC article, ‘What Do We Expect?,’ April 5, 1997).
- Blames Palestinian terrorism on Israel: Jews murdered by Palestinians are “the expected bitter result of [Israel’s] reckless policy” (Jewish Exponent [Philadelphia], October 18, 2001).
- Calls for extradition of Israelis who killed a rampaging Muslim terrorist in Jerusalem: When in February 1996 a Palestinian, Muhammad Hamida shouted the war cry, ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is Great), drove his car intentionally into a crowded bus stop in Jerusalem, killing one Israeli and injuring 23 others and was shot dead, Marayati said not a word about Hamida’s murderous attack while calling his killing “a provocative act,” and demanded the extradition of his executors to America “to be tried in a U.S. court on terrorism charges.”
