At a three-day Islamic conference in Toronto titled “Reviving the Islamic Spirit,” one of the featured speakers was William Baker—a neo-Nazi “evangelist” with a long history of connections to antisemitic groups: Pluralism is key, Muslim forum told. (Hat tip Randall.) The Toronto Star spends the first part of their account of the conference painting a rosy picture of the “pluralistic” atmosphere, before mentioning the fact that a neo-Nazi was invited to speak.

In reference to another speaker at the conference, Chanicka denied that organizers knowingly invited someone who is alleged to have ties with American groups that have a racist agenda.

“We have no business being involved in inviting anyone who shares any agenda of hate and racism, because we don’t find that to be anything within the realm of Islam or beliefs as Muslims, especially within the purpose of this conference, which is promoting a pluralistic Canadian society,” Chanicka said.

He was responding to allegations made by Bernie Farber, executive director of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Farber alleged that panelist William Baker, founder of Christians and Muslims For Peace, had been connected with American groups with a racist agenda.

Farber also suggested that “serious questions” had to be addressed to the organizers as to why they had invited “someone like Baker” to speak.

The Orange County Weekly did a story on William Baker when he was fired from Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral after his affiliations with extremist groups came to light:

The Reverend Robert Schuller has quietly told self-styled “interfaith leader” William Baker to vacate his Crystal Cathedral office. The order came after an investigation published in OC Weekly revealed that Baker, who runs Christians and Muslims for Peace (CAMP), has a long history of anti-Semitic politics and held a leadership position in neo-Nazi organizations. The investigation also revealed that Baker had manufactured much of his alleged academic qualifications.

“We have separated ourselves from the CAMP ministry, and Mr. Baker will be off the campus as of May 31,” a Crystal Cathedral spokesman said.

Sources at Crystal Cathedral stated that the decision was based largely on revelations made in OC Weekly (“Hour of White Power,” Feb. 15). Soon after that story appeared, the Crystal Cathedral removed from the church’s website a link to Baker’s CAMP site, where Baker had peddled an anti-Semitic book titled Theft of a Nation.

Baker was chairman of the neo-Nazi Populist Party in 1984 and organized its national convention that year. The Populist Party was established and directed by Willis Carto, head of the now-defunct Liberty Lobby. The dean of American neo-Nazi politics, Carto also founded the Costa Mesa-based Institute for Historical Review, a group whose central purpose is Holocaust denial. In a written statement, Baker claimed he did not know the Populist Party was racist and that he never shared Carto’s racist politics.