Council for the National Interest - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
In 2000,
Pete McCloskey gave a speech at a conference of the
Institute for Historical Review, which publishes Holocaust denial material. When McCloskey ran in the 2006
Republican Party primary for Congress, which he would lose, there was a
public controversy over exactly what he said about
the Holocaust at the event.
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Abdurahman Alamoudi, a member of the CNIF Board of Directors, stated at a rally on October 28, 2000, against Israel in
Lafayette Park, across from the White House: "'Hear that, Bill Clinton! We are all supporters of
Hamas. I wish they add that I am also a supporter of
Hizballah."
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In 2004, Alamoudi pled guilty to financial and conspiracy charges related to terrorism and was subsequently sentenced to 23 years in prison.
[61] Eugene Bird explained that at the time he joined CNI Alamoudi was a highly regarded Muslim spokesperson who worked with the
United States Department of State. As soon as Alamoudi was convicted, CNI asked him to leave its board.
[62]
On May 4, 2004
Eugene Bird was interviewed by
Neil MacDonald on
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's ("CBC") National News and commented, "We know that the Israeli intelligence was operating in Baghdad after the war was over. The question should be, were there any foreign interrogators among those that were recommending very, very bad treatment for the prisoners?"
Honest Reporting Canada, a pro-Israel NGO objected to
Eugene Bird's comments and wrote complaints to the CBC. This resulted in CBC later stating "there was no evidence Israel was involved in the Abu Ghraib affair" and that CBC was negligent in not mentioning Bird's connection to the Council for the National Interest.
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In 2006 the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington cancelled a poetry reading by the Partners for Peace group because it rented office space from CNI. Center representative stated that because of Partners for Peace's "link to an anti-Zionist group, we decided it wasn't in the best interests of the center and the community to co-sponsor the event." Faith United Methodist Church in Rockville sponsored the event instead.
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