Posted on 10/10/2008 10:42:09 AM PDT by mojito
The Obama campaign is trying to minimize the damage from a meeting attended by their “Muslim outreach director,” at which several notorious Hamas and Hezbollah supporters were present: Obama concedes mistake over Muslim outreach meeting.
The Obama campaign’s Muslim outreach director participated in a meeting in mid September that was attended by several controversial Muslim activists, NBC News has learned. The Obama campaign now concedes that was a misjudgment, and that its top Muslim staffer would not have attended the meeting if she had known the full participant list beforehand. “Would a campaign staffer have attended if they were aware of the complete list of attendees? No,” said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt in an email statement to NBC.
On September 15, newly named Muslim outreach director Minha Husaini spoke to a small group of Muslim leaders and potential Obama supporters at a hotel in Springfield, Virginia, several meeting participants and the campaign said. Two other Obama-affiliated Democratic Party workers joined Husaini and also spoke to the crowd. ...
One meeting attendee was Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society, several of the participants said. The MAS website describes Bray as an imam and “long time civil and human rights activist.” Bray’s critics say he has a history of defending terrorists. They point to a video of Bray at a rally in 2000, for example, in which he can be seen pumping his fist in the air in support of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah. In a 2004 interview, he called the Israeli assassination of a Hamas spiritual leader an “unlawful, cowardly and dangerous act of state-sponsored terrorism.” Bray did not return a call requesting comment.
Also attending the meeting was Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR is a Muslim-American civil rights group that has, as its website states, “consistently and persistently condemned terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians.” Nonetheless, the group has many critics, especially in law-enforcement circles, and is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case.
In an interview on Thursday, CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said that CAIR has consistently condemned “every act of terrorism” by groups including Hamas and Hezbollah. But he would not answer whether CAIR condemns those designated terrorist groups themselves. “I’ve already answered your questions,” he said, and abruptly ended the interview. Nihad Awad, the executive director, did not return a call seeking comment.
And that’s not all. Also attending the meeting was the Obama campaign’s previous “Muslim outreach director,” who abruptly resigned in August when the Wall Street Journal exposed his ties to extremists.
A second meeting participant speaking on condition on anonymity said he was stunned to learn that Awad and Bray had been invited to an event where Obama representatives would be present. The participant said Awad and Bray are considered politically “radioactive.” He said that some in the Obama group knew ahead of time that top CAIR officials would be in attendance—an allegation the Obama campaign disputes.
“Yes, when I knew they were coming it made me uncomfortable,” the attendee said. “There was some hope it wouldn’t get out” into the media, the attendee added. “There was some concern within the Obama camp that some of these people coming may be a political liability.”
Chicago-based lawyer Mazen Asbahi also attended the meeting. He is the Obama campaign’s former Muslim outreach coordinator, who abruptly resigned in August after the Wall Street Journal and websites that track fundamentalist Islam began questioning Asbahi’s involvement in an Islamic investment fund and various Islamic groups. When reached by NBC News, Asbahi would not comment about the September gathering or his brief stint eight years ago on an investment fund board which also included a fundamentalist imam.
When informed that Asbahi had attended the recent meeting, an Obama spokesman said: “Mazen Asbahi resigned from his role as the campaign’s Muslim American outreach coordinator and was replaced—he is not an employee of the campaign and does not speak on behalf of the campaign.”
Jewish voters, can you trust this guy?
His only Mistake? Getting caught. Just your every day community organizer, right?
Wow.
He’ll meet unconditionally with anyone.
...so how much in campaign contributions did they give him?
I’m not Jewish, but this worries me as well.
It’s this sort of continuing “gaffe” that is going to insure an Obama loss...
“a meeting attended by their “Muslim outreach director,” at which several notorious Hamas and Hezbollah supporters were present”
That can happen when you do Muslim outreach. No offense to peaceful Muslims intended.
Quotes by Rich Carroll:
‘We did not become the greatest nation on earth by liberal politicians telling the world on global television that our soldiers are torturers, or that most Germans and Japanese were “peaceful.” Our enemies would have received the distinct message that they could defeat us with this disloyal and surrender rhetoric. The Islamics must feel that if they keep doing what they are doing, they will have us. ‘
‘Can we remain a free independent nation under a globalist with Muslim roots from another continent who says ‘I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction’? What does this statement tell you and how does it apply to today’s America of encroaching and demanding Muslims who will eventually insist on your conversion or beheading?’
‘Are we supposed to guess how many more terrorist-connected Muslims are on the staff of The Jihad Candidate, or are we supposed to not care? We do know by the unforgivable slip of a couple of newspaper reporters that he had Nations of Islam employees on his Illinois and campaign staffs. Our liberal mainstream media certainly won’t investigate, but I’m positive that American military forces would like to know someone running for commander in chief employs people who raise dollars to kill them. Is this an example of what he meant in his book “I will stand with the Muslims”?
.
ENOUGH!
FReep ‘EM OUT.
HOW LONG CAN McCAIN/MSM IGNOR A MILLION EMAILS?
McCain is losing this campaign because he refuses to fight Obama and his lies, and dirty tactics such as ACORN voter fraud. He’s just been rolling over (or bending over, I should say) and accepting the abuse heaped upon him- and expecially Sarah Palin.
The anemic attempts by the McCain camp to fight back within the last few days just ain’t gonna get it.
He should have been hitting Obama back hard months ago.
He needs to get out there every day and FIGHT BACK.
Email Republican headquarters/McCain.
FReep ‘EM OUT!
REMIND McCAIN THAT HE HAS AN OBLIGATION AS OUR CANDIDATE TO FIGHT BACK!
To h*ll with bipartisian BS!
To h*ll with PC!
To h*ll with ‘conducting a respectful campaign’as McCain has said, and vowed to do.
RESPECTFUL CAMPAIGNING WENT STRAIGHT OUT THE WINDOW WITH OBAMA’S NASTY, BRUTAL COMMENTS SUCH AS;
‘lipstick on a pig’ and ‘You can wrap AN OLD FISH in a piece of paper called change. It’s still going to stink after eight years.’
Take off the gloves, McCain!
Hit the Marxist/Muslim hard with Ayers, Acorn, Violation of Logan Act, abortion, 2nd admendment, Campaigning for Odinga!!
Get off the d*mned economy issue.
State that Obama/Democrats/ACORN caused this meltdown. State McCain offered a proposal to avert the meltdown,state your solution- and GET OFF IT.
Obama is counting on keeping this going to take the spotlight off his sordid past and dirty dealings!
NOTHING is more important than waking America up to this Marxist/Muslim!! DO IT. EXPOSE HIM!
FReep ‘EM!!!!
MCCAIN/REPUBLICAN PARTY
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When emailing. they won’t read mass emails so put just one email add in the “to” line then click on BBC at the end of that line. a BCC line will open just above subject line. copy paste the rest of the addresses in there and each recipient will see ONLY their name
FReep THE MSM!
SEND THEM DAMAGING INFO ON OBAMA. DEMAND THEY DO THEIR JOB AND INVESTIGATE.
HOW LONG CAN THEY IGNORE A MILLION EMAILS?
http://www.lauraingraham.com/asklaura
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Obama connection with ACORN http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI=
Obama goes to Kenya on the tax payer’s dollar to campaign for the murderous Islam-backed Odinga!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcpdUtxNQ&feature=related
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Obama talks about Ayers giving him a job:
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IMPORTANT
Be sure to add your name and town and email - or they won’t read them.
When emailing. they won’t read mass emails so put just one email add in the “to” line then click on BBC at the end of that line. a BCC line will open just above subject line. copy paste the rest of the addresses in there and each recipient will see ONLY their name
.
Good GRIEF!!!
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