NY senators clash over panel testimony on Muslims

Sen. Greg Ball, a Hudson Valley Republican, angered some Muslims and civil liberties groups by inviting Nonie Darwish and Frank Gaffney to discuss "the culture of jihad," or Muslim holy war, at a daylong hearing that was otherwise devoted to the nuts and bolts of homeland security preparedness.

Darwish, who was born in Egypt and converted to Christianity after immigrating to the U.S., has written books assailing Islam as oppressive to women, intolerant and diametrically opposed to American views about individual liberty.

Gaffney is a top proponent of the claim that there is a global conspiracy by Muslim leaders and institutions to overthrow the U.S. government and replace the Constitution with Islamic religious law.

During Darwish's testimony Friday before the Senate's homeland security and military affairs committee, she argued that Islam is a threat to the U.S. She said that schools and mosques throughout the Arab world commonly teach children to embrace violence as a way of dealing with nonbelievers and that women are brutally punished for perceived sexual crimes.

"You're supposed to hate America," she said. "You're supposed to hate Western culture."

That brought an angry response from Sen. Eric Adams, a Brooklyn Democrat.

"It wasn't the Quran that brought down our buildings," he told Darwish. "You are bringing hate and poison into a diverse country."

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