*About Those 14 "Muslim-American Leaders" Who Met with Obama*
*by Daniel PipesThe Blaze <http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/about-those-14-muslim-american-leaders-who-met-with-obama/>February 10, 2015* *http://www.danielpipes.org/15503/muslim-american-leaders-obama <http://www.danielpipes.org/15503/muslim-american-leaders-obama>* For the first time in his six years as president, Barack Obama met behind closed doors with an exclusively domestic group of Muslims for about an hour on Feb. 4. They covered the boringly predictable topics, judging by the official readout <http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/04/readout-president-s-meeting-american-muslim-leaders>, accounts <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/04/muslims-infiltrate-the-white-house-me-included.html> by participants <http://www.mpac.org/blog/meeting-the-president-to-expand-muslim-civic-participation.php>, and news <http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/02/05/muslim-american-leaders-meet-obama-white-house/22919455/> reports <http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obama-participates-in-long-requested-meeting-with-muslim-americans/2015/02/06/4fe1d45a-ae10-11e4-abe8-e1ef60ca26de_story.html> . What about the guest list? It includes a curiously unimpressive and motley collection of modestly accomplished individuals of little renown: - Diego Arancibia, Ta'leef Collective - Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, Indiana State University - Azhar Azeez, Islamic Society of North America - Maya Berry, Arab-American Institute - Hoda Elshishtawy, Muslim Public Affairs Council - Rahat Hussain, Universal Muslim Association of America - Sherman Jackson, University of Southern California - Farhana Khera, Muslim Advocates - Farhan Latif, Institute of Policy and Understanding - Mohamed Magid, Adams Center - Haroon Mokhtarzada, Webs - Kameelah Mu'Min Rashad, University of Pennsylvania - Dean Obeidallah, radio host - Arshia Wajid, American Muslim Health Professionals Some thoughts on these participants: It hardly needs to be said, but I'll say it anyway: Almost all the guests are Islamists while not a single anti-Islamist made the cut. [image: http://www.danielpipes.org/pics/new/large/3066.jpg] One of the organizations represented, the Arab-American Institute, isn't even Muslim. Eight participants are affiliated with organizations, though one of them, the Arab-American Institute, is ethnic, not Islamic. Has the White House staff not yet learned that not all Arabs are Muslims, and especially not all Arab-Americans? Six participants do other things: a basketball coach (Abdul-Qaadir), a professor (Jackson), an imam (Magid), a businessman (Mokhtarzada), a "comedian" (Obeidallah), and a university chaplain (Rashad). Hard to see how these folks are "leaders." A White House decision to tone down what is by nature a controversial meeting probably explains the absence of notable religious figures such as Zaid Shakir, Siraj Wahaj, or Hamza Yusuf. This would also explain the absence of big names from Muslim-American institutional life such as Nihad Awad or Louis Farrakhan. The list contains several surprises: Two lowly staffers represented MPAC and Ta'leef. The obscure Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir represented basketball, rather than the famed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Hakeem Olajuwon. And where are such Muslim-American stars such as Muhammad Ali, Farouk El-Baz, Omar Sharif, McCoy Tyner, and Ahmed H. Zewail? [image: http://www.danielpipes.org/pics/new/large/3065.jpg] Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, Muslim-American leader? MPAC made the cut but not the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); the latter must be seething, especially as it is hoping for U.S. government assistance <http://www.danielpipes.org/15220/cair-terror-group> to get off the UAE's terrorism list. This fits a long-term pattern of preferring tamer Islamists over more aggressive ones. Same story with ISNA and Islamic Circle of North America. In conclusion, this meeting appears to have been pro-forma, part of the political preparation for the "Summit on Countering Violent Extremism <http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/11/statement-press-secretary-white-house-summit-countering-violent-extremis>" to be held at the White House on Feb. 18. The president invested an hour to protect his standing among his Islamist constituency. Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org <http://www.danielpipes.org/>, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. *© 2015 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.* __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdGFpZGNmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MjM2ODY2NjI-> [image: Yahoo! Groups] <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbHA1bmtvBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQyMzY4NjY2Mg--> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
