U.S. Rep. Allen West Accused Of Attacking Islam

South Fla. Congressman On Defense After Controversial Comments

POMPANO BEACH, Fla – Monday's confrontation between U.S. Rep. Allen West and Nezar Hamze with the Centers for American-Islamic Relations in Pompano Beach has made the rounds on YouTube.

Hamze, gripping a Qur'an, was seen asking about a statement West had made to a Marine during the campaign. Hamze believed the statement equated all Muslims with radical terrorists.

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In the amateur video, West replies with historical examples of violence.

?628, the Battle of the Trojans, 3,000 Jewish people were slaughtered?? West said as he began speaking.

Applause from the crowd drowned out both men.

Hamze then said that West had ?attacked Islam.?

West replied by shouting: "You attacked us!?

At a lecture at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Local 10 asked West to clarify his statement to Hamze.

?We wanted to ask you to clarify what you meant when you said, ?you attacked us.? He is an American after all,? said Local 10?s Janine Stanwood.

"Well, he was standing there representing an ideology. And for him to stand there and attack me and what I believe in -- that's what I was talking about. Is, you know -- you all and your belief has attacked the United States of America,? West replied.

Hamze said he was threatened after Monday?s confrontation.

?At the end of that event, a gentleman walked up to me and said, ?I'm going to have my kid kill as many of you as I possibly can.? And that is the type of anger and the type of backlash against the Muslims as a result of Allen West's rhetoric,? Hamze said.

Both men say they believe Muslims can be freedom-loving Americans. Neither think the other is helping relations.

?He is alienating every single person in the United States in the world that follows Islam,? Hamze said.

?I'm not trying to alienate anyone. I'm speaking the truth and fact,? said West.