Arafat (left) with Siljander (right)
“We were the first white American Christians to speak on a Friday afternoon at the Khartoum mosque. That happened, not because we’re so good looking, but because we built bridges of respect,” said Siljander in November 2007. That comes from a very illuminating article in which he describes his evolution from a born-again Christian who aggressively proselytized among Muslims to a Christian apologist for Islam who sees no contradictions between what the Bible and the Qur’an say about Jesus.
Is he still building those bridges?
“AP: Former Congressman, U.N. Delegate Indicted as Part of Terrorist Fundraising Ring,” from AP:
WASHINGTON — A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying — money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development….
UPDATE: Here’s an interesting article from 2005:
Edinburgh Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies – Special Lectures 2005
Dr. Mark Siljander will present two lectures this week, in a series entitled “The place of Muslim-Christian dynamic in international negotiations”.
[…]
Ambassador Siljander is a student of several languages, including Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and has spent over ten years studying the Scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
These experiences have led him to develop what he describes as “a unique paradigm for the peaceful resolution of conflict that has been successfully applied in several challenging areas of the globe”.
Unique indeed!
In 1996 he received the 1996 Mohandas K. Gandhi International Peace Award, for “…recognition of his courageous statesmanship in international reconciliation.”
Congressman Siljander is affiliated academically with the Edinburgh Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies.