Nezar Hamze’s application to become a member of the Broward Republican Executive Committee and to create a Muslim Republican Club was denied Monday. Hamze is the executive director of the South Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose mission is “to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.” The Miami Herald reports today : Islam and tea-party activism clashed at a raucous meeting Monday night when a group of Broward County Republicans blocked a Muslim activist as a member of the party’s executive committee. Republicans, who changed their rules to publicly vet Nezar Hamze and then vote on his application by secret ballot, said they didn’t oppose him because he was a Muslim — but because he is associated with the Center for American-Islamic Relations, whose Washington-area affiliate was an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terrorism indictment