The new chairman of the Anne Arundel County House delegation said Wednesday he will attend a conservative political conference Saturday in Annapolis despite calls from a Muslim advocacy group that described a keynote speaker as a notorious “Islamaphobe.”
Del. Nic Kipke, who was elected chairman on Tuesday, called blogger and author Pamela Geller an outspoken critic of the treatment of women in some Islamic countries.
“I don’t know Ms. Geller personally,” the Pasadena Republican said. “What I do know about her is that she has pointed out gross atrocities that occur in some Muslim countries against women.”
The Maryland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement Tuesday calling on Kipke and other public officials to withdraw from the Maryland Conservative Action Network Conference. The Gaithersburg-based group said Geller co-founded an organization designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Former Montgomery County Del. Saqib Ali, government relations director for CAIR-MD, called his former colleague’s defense of Geller “despicable.” He said she is widely know for spreading the “most vile sort of bigotry you could imagine.”
“Everybody knows who Pam Geller is,” he said. “Sure, she criticizes people in foreign countries but her main thrust are Muslims here ... She led the effort to block a Mosque in New York. She published a manual on how people can prevent mosques from being built in their neighborhoods.”
Ali accused her of spreading unfounded rumors, including the idea that President Barack Obama is secretly the child of 1960s radical Malcolm X.
“Kipke knows this, because I sent him an email. To pretend that this is some respected human rights advocate is beyond the pale,” he said.
Geller’s “In Defense of Free Speech” is one of two morning keynote addresses scheduled at Turning the Tides 2013. A number of Republican public officials are expected to participate, as is former U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino of Severna Park.
In her “Atlas Shrugs” blog on Tuesday, New York-based Geller criticized CAIR-MD’s call to boycott her appearance and claimed it has links to Hamas, the Palestinian ruling party labeled a terrorist group by the United States.
“This is how these nazis roll. Thuggery, intimidation and the silencing of critics of jihad and sharia,” she wrote.
Kipke described both CAIR-MD and the Southern Poverty Law Center as out of step with main stream conservative and liberal political thought.
“I’m sure these folks have a beef with her because she doesn’t speak in politically correct terms,” Kipke said. “But when it comes to an issue as important as human rights you need someone who bangs the drum.”
The event takes place at the DoubleTree Hotel in Annapolis. Tickets are $100 at the door. Student registration is $25. Email tonya@mdconservatives.com for information or visit www.mdconservatives.com.
Ali said his group is organizing a protest outside the event.
Ann Corcoran, a founder of MCAN, said the network was created a few years ago to allow conservatives to meet and discuss state and national issues. She said MD-CAIR has protested its conferences before and called the latest effort an intimidation tactic.