We've talked about Dalia Mogahed before. You remember, she's "the first veiled Muslim woman to serve in the White House" and has described her role there as "to convey... to the President and other public officials what it is Muslims want."
Well, she's in the news again, this time at Breitbart's BIG PEACE:
Dalia Mogahed, a member of President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is fighting controversy over her online remarks about Israel.
On March 10, Mogahed tweeted her opposition to embattled Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, listing as one of his flaws the allegation that he "cannot deliver...resistance to Israel," though Syria has been implacably hostile to Israel for decades.
Until recently, the Assad regime sheltered the Hamas terrorist group, among other anti-Israel organizations, and recently organized a march on the Israeli border that was treated as a legitimate protest by the international media.
After bloggers noticed Mogahed's tweets, she began defending her remarks, explainingthat they were aimed at Assad's supporters, and not Israel. However, it is clear from other, unrelated tweets that she also holds anti-Israel views.
Mogahed's Twitter feed indicates that her views are her own, and therefore not necessarily those of the White House or her employer, but she would not be the first Obama administration advisor with known anti-Israel views.
According to IPT News (April 2010), she claims to have played an important role in the drafting of Obama's "Cairo Speech" to the Muslim World. And that's not all that's interesting about her...
.... Since joining the White House council, Mogahed has worked quietly to ensure that CAIR and ISNA are active participants in its work. And she has reached out to radical Muslim groups like the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) as well.
Mogahed denies any connection between radical Islam and terrorism. Speaking to the Religion Newswriters Association in September 2008, she said that "'Islamic terrorism' is really a contradiction in terms" to mainstream Muslims "because terrorism is not Islamic by definition." As for the countless terrorist attacks that are committed in the name of Islam, Mogahed suggested that the linkage was ridiculous: "My response to that is, you know, Cuba calls itself a democracy, but that's not what we call it."
And there's more. She apparently founded the national campaign called MuslimServe, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if she were found to be involved in the "NATIONAL SHARIAH EDUCATION" campaign launched just last week:
ICNA’s campaign,
"Defending Religious Freedom,
Understanding Shariah"
will include a 25 city education tour
to introduce the Islamic faith to the American public.
A "multi-million dollar" response to "efforts to ban Sharia law over the last two years in state legislatures and on ballot initiatives..."
ICNA is also promoting awareness through a public service announcement campaign, billboards across the country, college campus seminars, radio ads and a national hotline dedicated to addressing questions about Shariah and the Islamic faith.
Outreach has already started, including a seminar in Pittsburgh, billboards and radio ads in Kansas City and public service announcements in San Francisco. The next scheduled event will be in Miami on March 10th, followed by Washington, D.C. on March 27th and Los Angeles on April 17th. More dates will be announced shortly.
The campaign will include these elements:
- Shariah education and interfaith events, town hall forums and activities in 25 cities including New York City, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Kansas City, Detroit and Hartford
- Billboards in 15-20 cities nationwide including Kansas City, New Jersey, New York (near the Lincoln Tunnel, seen by 120,000 people each day), Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Miami
- 40 national ICNA chapters mobilized, including thousands of volunteers
- National hotline dedicated to answering questions about Shariah and the Islamic faith. The toll-free number is: 1-855-SHARIAH
- A public service announcement campaign distributed and aired in 20 cities nationally
- Seminars on 20 college campuses including George Washington University, Bradley University, George Mason, and University of Delaware in March and April
- Radio ads aired in approximately 20 cities nationally
- Local media outreach by trained spokespeople and leaders from 30-35 ICNA chapters across the country
- ICNA annual convention in Hartford, CT, during Memorial Day weekend, attracting over fifteen thousand people as it did last year
Enough.... for now.
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