CAIR calls for Arizona Rep. Gosar to be expelled from Congress

Offensive statement made about religious holy site

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KYMA, KECY) - On December 10, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called for Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to be expelled after he made a comment about destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Rep. Gosar recently made a statement about the mosque, “It remains an abomination that a mosque was allowed to be built over this temple. The United Nations should be finding ways to dismantle and move that mosque, which is an affront to all religions.” 

The Al-Aqsa Mosque remains a holy site in Islam and was first used as a prayer direction.

CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad responded to Rep. Gosar by saying, “There should be no room in Congress for those who incite religious violence and use Islamophobia as a tool to gain influence. Representative Gosar’s call for the destruction of an Islamic holy site may be just another attempt by a political extremist to gain cheap publicity, but he still must be expelled and repudiated by state and national Republican leaders in the same way that they should reject previous Islamophobic statements by members of their party nationwide. We must never normalize, ignore or excuse calls for religious or racial hatred and division.”