by The Need for a Latino-Islamic Public Affairs Council
Ernesto Cienfuegos
La Voz de AztlanLos Angeles, Alta California - December 2, 2002 - (ACN) Visitors to the Alhambra in Granada, Spain will most likely hear the story of the Moorish Princess who, while walking along the beautiful gardens that surround the palace, came across a blind beggar. Her companion, a poet, seeing the deep sadness in the Princess' eyes, took out a gold coin and said to the Princess, "Here, go give this coin to that poor beggar, for there is no greater tragedy in this world than to be blind in Granada."
The beauty of Granada and of many other towns and cities in Spain can be attributed to the Islamic Moorish architectural influence in the Iberian Peninsula that lasted for over 800 years. The Moors had a tremendously positive impact on European cultural, socio-economic, scientific and political institutions. The Moorish civilization enlightened Europe and brought it out of the dark ages to usher in the Renaissance. Much of the Islamic positive contributions to Spain were then brought to Mexico and other countries in the New World during the Spanish colonization. Today, this Islamic architectural influence can be seen in downtown Mexico City colonial buildings and cathedrals and in buildings in such diverse places as Santa Fe, New Mexico and Santa Barbara, Alta California.
Unfortunately, we are currently witnessing the "demonization" of Islam by certain perverse racists and religious bigots with a well defined political and economic agenda. These "Anglocentric xenophobes", right wing Fundamentalist Christians and International Zionists have launched a well funded global campaign to destroy the legacy of Islam and its contributions to world culture. These elements have declared war on all of Islam and their actions have now created a "Clash of Civilizations." Because of these reckless, racist and economically motivated actions, the globe is now in danger of a major conflagration that may eventually end in the much prophesied "War of Armageddon."
Among the worst of the "Islamophobes" are the pseudo-Christians who are more commonly known as "Evangelicals." Among the most notorious of these religious bigots is Jerry "Viper Tongue" Falwell and Pat Robertson. The Reverend Jerry Falwell recently said "I think Muhammad the Prophet was a terrorist" in an interview that was broadcast on the CBS program "60 Minutes." Pat Roberston, another high profile Evangelist, said Islam was a violent religion that wants to "dominate and then, if need be, destroy."
Much of the religious bigotry against Islam is being widely disseminated through television. One of the worst offenders is the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Last week, on TBN, the John Hagee Ministries featured a full program devoted to Benjamin Nethanyahu of Israel. A major part of the "religious" program was a pro-Israel speech by Nethanyahu that demonized the Palestinians. Pastor John Hagee's introduction of Nethanyahu included a U.S. Marine Band and the side by side lowering onto the stage of huge flags of Israel and the USA.
Throughout the history of "White Christian Evangelism", there has been a long series of unsavory characters that have included hucksters, fake healers, sexual perverts and scammers . Among the most notorious of these are Elmer Gantry, the Reverend Billy, the Reverend Jimmy "I have sinned" Swaggart and the shameless swindlers Jim and Tammy Baker of the PTL Ministry. Characters like Falwell and Roberston are just two more in this long series of malevolent Evangelicals. It now appears that these pseudo-Christians have found a "new gig" with the International Zionists.
Leading the effort to demonize Islam are, of course, the International Zionists. Because of their immense influence and control of the mainstream media and the curricula of public and private education in the USA and other countries , these Zionists have had a major impact on the attitudes of non-Muslim youths towards Islam. This impact is most apparent among Latino youths in the USA. By and large, any study that may exist of Islam in the public schools is biased and reflects the views of Zionists and anti-Muslim Evangelicals. This is especially true in the second largest school district in the USA, the Los Angeles Unified School District where the majority of the school board members are Jews. This situation also exists at the State College and the University of California system where Zionists have now consolidated their power and control. There are now six Jewish members on the UC Board of Regents. The latest appointments are the Israeli citizen Haim Saban and the husband of the Zionist U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein.
Another front that will be launched against Islam in February of next year is the creation of a "Latino-Jewish Leadership Council" in the USA. The driving force behind the project is B'nai B'rith (Sons of the Covenant) International. Dina Siegel Vann, the Mexican-American director of Latin America and U.N. Affairs at B'nai B'rith International said, "The Latinos are the largest minority in America, the fastest-growing population group, and they will have more and more voting power, so we need to reach out to them." According to, yet unverified, information La Voz de Aztlan received, the Council's board will include five Jewish groups. They are B'nai B'rith International , the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Hillel and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. The five participating Latino organizations are the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and the New America Alliance. The creation of the Council was approved, according to our information, in a closed-door meeting in Washington in September of this year. One of the goals for the Zionists, according to Ann Schaffer, Director of the American Jewish Committee's Belfer Center for American Pluralism, is an agreement by the Jewish community to support increased aid to Latin America in exchange for Latino backing for higher levels of aid to Israel.
It is anticipated that the Latino-Jewish organization will be overwhelming to advanced Zionist interests because at least two of the Latino organizations named are in reality already tools of the Jews. They are the National Council of La Raza and the New America Alliance. The NCLR is headed by the Sephardic Jew, Raul Izaguirre and was founded by Emily Gantz-MacKay who also works for the New Israel Fund. Ganyz-MacKay has been named as a possible director for the new Latino-Jewish organization. Raul Izaguirre on the other hand, is also a co-founder of the New America Alliance, one of the other five participating Latino organizations in the new Latino-Jewish organization. Izaguirre has been much criticized by Mexican-Americans for taking large donations from the liquor and tobacco industries in return for him "pushing" their products in the Latino community.
Unlike the "White Christian Evangelicals", Latino Christians have no conflict with Islam. We see much that connects both cultures and religions. We see a need to advance unity instead of division between the groups. We see no conflict between the Qur'an and the New Testament as they relate to Jesus Christ. We see that the divisions that may exist between Latinos and Islam are mostly the consequences of the activities of the Zionists who rejected Jesus as the true Messiah. These same Zionists have now infiltrated the right wing branch of the Evangelical Christian Fundamentalist Movement which is in reality a pseudo-Christian movement led by self-serving and corrupt white religious bigots.
We reject the new Latino-Jewish Leadership Council to be formally launched early next year. The organization will be clearly unrepresentative of the true sentiments of the majority of Mexican-Americans and other Latinos. It will instead be a Jewish front organization established to advanced Zionist interests. This organization will be using known lackeys of the Hispanic community who have a long history of "selling out" our community in return for personal financial gain. La Voz de Aztlan instead proposes the formation of a "Latino-Islamic Public Affairs Council" comprised of legitimate Islamic and Latino organizations.
