The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported today that a Muslim university professor has been appointed to the Jacksonville, Fla., Human Rights Commission despite a prolonged smear campaign by the anti-Islam hate group ACT! for America, whose leader says Muslims should not be allowed to hold public office.

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Parvez Ahmed, a professor at the University of North Florida, was appointed to the commission by a 13-6 city council vote last night after being subjected to weeks of smears based on his previous community activism and his political views. [Ahmed is a past national board chairman of CAIR.]

As the city council began discussion of the nomination, one of its members called Ahmed to the podium and asked him to “say a prayer to your God.” The same council member also asked Ahmed if the session’s opening prayer offended him. When asked why that was relevant, the council member claimed Ahmed “would be offended by a prayer to Jesus, and therefore was not suitable to serve on the commission.”

The Florida Times-Union newspaper reports that the council member’s inappropriate line of questioning “produced gasps from the audience, concern from one of the city’s top attorneys and sharp rebukes from his fellow council members.”

SEE: Ahmed Nomination Sails Rockily to Jacksonville Council Approval

During the weeks-long smear campaign against Ahmed, another city council member was asked, “Do you believe Muslims should be able to hold any public office in Florida?” He responded: “I don’t know.”

SEE: Controversial Florida Politician Unsure if Muslims Should Hold Public Office

“The Florida Muslim community applauds the Jacksonville city council for standing up to the hatred and bigotry promoted by a tiny minority of fear-mongers,” said CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Ramzy Kiliç. “This incident is further evidence of the unfortunately growing ‘Islamophobia machine’ in our nation that targets any Muslim who seeks positive civic participation.”

SEE: Georgia Church Sign Condemns Muslims (CBS)
CAIR-CAN: Anti-Islam Graffiti Found Near Canadian Mosque

He said the leader of ACT! for America, the hate group that campaigned against Ahmed’s nomination, claims an American Muslim “cannot be a loyal citizen” and that Islam is the “real enemy.” Brigitte Gabriel once told the Australian Jewish News: “Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim.”

When asked whether Americans should “resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation,” Gabriel said: “Absolutely. If a Muslim who has — who is — a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day — this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America.”

SEE: A Case Study in Sincere Hypocrisy: Brigitte Gabriel

Gabriel also stated: “America and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and identify the real enemy: Islam.”

SEE: Islam’s March Against the West

One of ACT! for America’s Florida representatives recently bragged in a YouTube video that he desecrated the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, and urinates in the washing stations Muslims use to perform their ritual ablutions (wudu) for prayer.

A complaint has been filed with the FBI alleging harassment of Florida Muslims by ACT! for America.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

The race for the Florida U.S. Senate seat just became even more interesting as Alex Snitker becomes the first Libertarian to qualify for the ballot in the state’s history.

TALLAHASSEE – Standing on the steps of the historic State Capitol building, Alexander Snitker made some history of his own by becoming the first Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate to ever appear on the Florida ballot. Snitker announced that he had met all the requirements to qualify for the ballot, which included paying the $10,440 filing fee.

“This race just became at least a three-way dogfight,” Snitker told the assembled media at a press conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday.
Prior to the announcement, the race for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat was considered a two-way contest between the Democrat and Republican nominees, with Kendrick Meek and Marco Rubio being the front runners from each respective party.

Rumors continue to grow that Gov. Charlie Crist will drop out of the GOP primary to run as an independent, which would result in a four-way contest between the two major parties, a Libertarian, and an independent.

Snitker is running on a platform centered on a Constitutionally-limited federal government. While Snitker and Rubio agree that the government is too large and spends too much money, they differ on how to solve the problem. Snitker proposes a balanced budget Amendment, abolishing the IRS in favor of the Fair Tax, an audit of the Federal Reserve, and a non-interventionist foreign policy.

However, on moral issues, Snitker sometimes sounds more like a Democrat. When asked his position on gay marriage, he queried, “Why should the federal government be involved in marriage at all? Isn’t marriage between two individuals? I haven’t found anything in the Constitution that governs individual relationships, so it is a power reserved to the states or to the people.”

The 34-year-old former Marine and office equipment salesman for AXSA Document Solutions considers himself to be a “citizen statesman” in the tradition of the Founding Fathers. “The framers of the Constitution never envisioned that someone would want to make a 40-year career out of serving in Congress,” he said. “They looked at it as a civic duty — you made the laws and then you went home to live by the laws that you made.”

To achieve that goal, Snitker proposes a two-term limit in the Senate, and a six-term limit in the House, both equaling 12 years maximum. He also supports ending Congressional pensions and perks.

After the announcement, opinion in the blogosphere seemed to be split right down the middle. Many tea partiers and conservative bloggers viewed him as a better alternative to Rubio; a regular guy as opposed to a career politician and lawyer. Most said they liked his strict Constitutional interpretation of the issues. However, others angrily warned that he would split the conservative vote, with a few even speculating that he was part of a progressive conspiracy.

Snitker addressed the split-the-vote issue by saying, “The two-party political class has gotten us to where we are today. If my opponents are concerned about splitting the vote, I suggest they do what is best for the country and drop out of the race.”

While most pundits give him only the slimmest chance of victory in November, Snitker says don’t count him out just yet. “I’m in this to win.”