Kerry: ‘The Real Face Of Islam Is A Peaceful Religion’ [VIDEO]

11:22 AM 09/03/2014

Brendan Bordelon

Secretary of State John Kerry took pains to separate the brutal Islamic terror organization ISIS from its broader religious affiliation on Wednesday, taking time out from a statement on beheaded journalist Steven Sotloff to claim that “the real face of Islam is a peaceful religion.”

Kerry spoke to a largely-Islamic audience at the State Department Wednesday, which had assembled to recognize State’s new “special representative for Muslim communities,” Shaarik Zafar. But the planned event was overshadowed by the brutal beheading of Sotloff by ISIS fighters in Iraq, pushing the secretary to again publicly condemn the group.

“Those who have murdered James Foley and Steven Sotloff in Syria need to know that the United States will hold them accountable, no matter how long it takes,” he warned in his speech.

“But here today, what is really important — and I want to take advantage of this podium and of this moment, to underscore as powerfully as I know how — that the face of Islam is not the butchers who killed Steven Sotloff,” he continued, to immediate applause. “That’s [ISIS].”

Read more: The Daily Caller