Imam Muzammil Siddiqi annual Orange County Human Relations Commission dinner

The people who brought you the controversial anti-Muslim-terrorist rally in Yorba Linda – "the peaceful" part of it, anyway – are prepared to hold a large protest outside the annual Orange County Human Relations Commission dinner if the group doesn't withdraw an award it plans to present to a local imam.

The protest organizer, Steve Amundson of Garden Grove, says Imam Muzammil Siddiqi has ties to terrorist organizations and supports repressive aspects Sharia law, including bans on homosexuality and some speech.

"The OCHRC individuals do not have much gray matter between their ears if they are going to give him this award without looking into his past," Amundson wrote in an email to me. I asked Amundson if the group was going to stage another protest. The one in Yorba Linda on Feb. 13 to protest two Muslim speakers at a private fundraiser drew between 500-1,000 people, and ended with ugly anti-Muslim heckling of families. Amundson says he did not organize or condone the splinter group that taunted the families.

Human Relations Commission director Rusty Kennedy told me he fully intends to give Siddiqi a Community Leader award at its May 5 banquet at The Grove in Anaheim. Other O.C. leaders being honored that night include the Sisters of St. Joseph and Rabbi Allen Krause.

Dr. Siddiqi has served 30 years as the Imam of the first and largest Mosque in Orange County. Despite the hate and vandalism the mosque has too often faced, Dr. Siddiqi has always reacted with compassion. He brings a moderate, forgiving, open and embracing approach to his efforts. Dr. Siddiqi co-found the Academy for Judeo, Christian and Islamic Studies in the late 1970's to build understanding between these three Abrahamic faiths and to emphasize their commonalities, despite the political conflict that at times drives wedges between them. He has led and organized many interfaith dialogues, spoken at the World Assembly of Churches and participated in many seminars organized by the National Council of Churches and the National Council of Christians and Jews. In September 2001, President Bush invited him to lead a Muslim Prayer at the Interfaith Prayer Service at Washington’s National Cathedral. The Los Angeles Times, in recognizing Dr. Siddiqi as one of the 100 most influential people in California, described him as “...the religious leader of thousands of Southern California Muslims at a time when xenophobia is running high, he has been a leader in driving home the point that Muslims in the U.S. are peace loving.”

http://articles.ocregister.com/2011-04-13/news/29419096_1_muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-group-holy-land-foundation
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http://www.ocsd.org/ocgov/Info%20OC/Departments%20&%20Agencies/OC%20Human%20Relations/Human%20Relations%20Awards