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July 13, 2011

Al-Jazeera invite prompts Rockland backlash

ROCKLAND — Some people are angry that an Arabic news network journalist will deliver the keynote address at a fundraiser for a museum honoring an American Revolutionary War hero in Maine.

Ellen Dyer, executive director of the General Henry Knox Museum, said the museum saw an opportunity for a timely discussion of what's going on in the Arab world with its invitation to Abderrahim Foukara, Al-Jazeera's Washington bureau chief. He'll speak at the Strand Theatre in Rockland on July 28.

The Bangor Daily News says enough people have written emails and made phone calls to express dissatisfaction that officials have moved the post-speech reception to a private home.

Mackenzie Andersen of East Boothbay said the invitation creates legitimacy for a news organization that she describes as "a front for recruiting jihadists."

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