CAIR slams Nobel Committee for honoring ‘anti-Muslim fascism supporter’
US Muslim group says awarding Peace Prize to Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado ‘insulting and unacceptable’
WASHINGTON, United States (MNTV) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has denounced the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to award this year’s prize to Venezuelan politician Maria Corina Machado, calling it “an insult to the values of peace and justice.”
CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the US, said honoring Machado — who has expressed support for far-right movements in Europe and Israel’s ruling Likud Party — was “an affront to those risking their lives to oppose racism, fascism, and the genocide in Gaza.”
“The Nobel Peace Prize should go to individuals who have shown moral consistency by bravely advocating justice for all people, not to politicians who support racism, bigotry, and fascism abroad,” CAIR said in a statement from Washington, D.C.
Calls for retraction and accountability
The group urged Machado to renounce her past affiliations, including her participation in the far-right Patriots of Europeconference in Madrid earlier this year, where speakers such as Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen, and Viktor Orban called for a “new Reconquista” — a term referring to the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from Spain in the 15th century.
CAIR said if Machado refuses to disavow such associations, “the Nobel Committee should reconsider its decision, which has damaged its own credibility.”
“An anti-Muslim bigot and supporter of European fascism has no place being mentioned alongside the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” CAIR added.
Record of far-right alliances
Machado has voiced strong support for Israel’s far-right government and signed an alliance in 2020 between her party and Israel’s Likud Party, later declaring, “The struggle of Venezuela is the struggle of Israel.”
She has also pledged to move Venezuela’s embassy to Jerusalem, endorsing Israel’s illegal occupation of the city.
CAIR concluded that the Nobel committee should instead honor “students, journalists, activists, or medical professionals who have risked their lives to oppose the genocide in Gaza,” saying those individuals embody the true spirit of peace and justice.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
