WASHINGTON, August 11, 2012 (WAFA) – Anti-Islam statements by a United States Congressman provoked strong condemnation from Arab American organizations.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said in a statement issued Thursday that it was “appalled and shocked at the irresponsible and bigoted statement made by Republican U.S. Representative Joe Walsh on Wednesday at a townhall meeting in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.”

Responding to a question from the audience, Walsh asserted that Muslims are “trying to kill Americans every week,” according to the ADC statement.

He said Islam is a threat in America, “It’s a real threat...and it’s a threat that is much more at home now than it was right after 9/11.”

Walsh continued his tirade by letting the audience know, “It’s here,” referring to “radical Islam” in the suburbs of Chicago. “It’s in Elk Grove, it’s in Addison, it’s in Elgin. It’s here,” asserted ADC, the largest grassroots Arab-American civil rights and civil liberties organization in the United States.

“Walsh is yet another example of a Congressional member who has made a mockery out of the House of Representatives,” said ADC, adding that “Walsh, and other politicians who engage in such rhetoric, are directly responsible for the culture of hate and violence that leads to violent and tragic.”

M.S.