THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 123, May 13, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
PRO-MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD CANDIDATE EYES PUBLIC OFFICE
By Shireen Qudosi
THE ENEMY WITHIN: THE ISLAMIST MOVEMENT & ITS POLITICAL ACTIVITIES INSIDE THE U.S.A. -- ISLAMISTS IN THE
U.S. MEDIA & IN AMERICAN POLITICS -- AN ISLAMIST POLITICAL & PUBLIC POLICY AGENDA FOR AMERICA -- ISLAMIST
IDEOLOGY & SHARIA (ISLAMIC LAW) AS THE BASES FOR GOVERNING AMERICAN SOCIETY -- AMERICA AS PART OF AN
ISLAMIST GLOBAL TOTALITARIAN CALIPHATE -- ISLAMISTS USING U.S. MEDIA OUTLETS & THE AMERICAN ELECTORAL
PROCESS TO SUBSTITUTE ISLAMIST SUPREMACY & TYRANNY FOR AMERICA'S CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES OF LIMITED
GOVERNMENT, THE RULE OF LAW, INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY UNDER THE LAW, & EQUALITY OF CITIZENS BEFORE THE LAW
FULL STORY:
In an April, 2004, speech at a Muslim American Society (MAS) conference in Overland Park, Kansas, Dr. Esam Omeish
stated that either Islam will "become the dominant religion of the next century" or "we may be forcibly ejected from
the West because of forces of intolerance, racism, and bigotry."
In 2006, the Muslim American Society made a bold statement at their regional conference in Los Angeles, California,
encouraging Muslims to redirect their traditional career paths as doctors, lawyers, and engineers to taking on key roles
in media and politics. Speakers hailed media and the political arena as the new battlegrounds where power could be
united to forge a Muslim agenda for the United States. One such speaker was Dr. Esam Omeish.
Present at this conference, I found it interesting that, while several speakers from the Muslim American Society spoke
of a dual identity, being American and Muslim, Omeish's charged rhetoric was distinctly Islamist. Islamists believe
Islam is not merely a private faith, but a religious-political movement that should be the basis for governing society.
Fast forward to 2009. Omeish is now a candidate for the 35th. district of the Virginia House of Delegates. Omeish's
candidacy draws across-the-board scrutiny on the difference between American Muslims and Islamists.
In the United States, many Islamists are mistakenly considered moderates because they work to lawfully indoctrinate
Islamic ideology "by persuasion," rather than force. Such "progressive" Islamists denounce the violence of groups
like al-Qa'ida and the Taliban, but not the ideology behind them.
Omeish now brings this rhetoric to the voters of Virginia's 35th. district, who, on June 9, 2009, will decide whether
Omeish should represent them as the Democratic Party candidate. It is critical that Virginians examine Omeish's
previous public statements and question his allegiances to determine whether they are in conflict with the duties he
will assume, should he be elected.
Islamism was founded by Egyptian Hasan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. U.S. President Barack Obama
has called this desire for a global caliphate "repressive." Omeish, it seems, feels otherwise. In a 2004 letter from
Omeish while President of MAS to the Washington Post, he stated that "the influence of Muslim Brotherhood
ideas has been instrumental in defining our understanding of Islam within the American and Western context."
An online video captured Omeish calling for "the jihad way" at a 2000 rally. He was subsequently forced to resign
from his appointment to a Virginia immigration commission in 2007.
Recently, on April 11, 2009, in Oakton, Virginia, Omeish held a "meet the voters" rally, where he publicly stated Sharia
is "wonderful" for the rest of the world. Sharia, or Islamic law, though differing in specifics from Muslim country to
Muslim country, has consistently raised human rights issues regarding women's rights, minority rights, and gay rights.
In the U.S.A., such extreme humanitarian violations are not likely.
Islamism is considered dangerous by its critics because it does not hold the U.S. Constitution as the supreme law of
the land. Islamists who do not wield a sword or strap on a bomb are more dangerous than violent Islamists because
they take advantage of "soft" political language like minority rights rhetoric in secular democracies to turn those
principles on their head, once in political power. By encroaching in the public sphere with individual innocuous
challenges to separation of church and state, Islamists impose their religious beliefs on the rest of society.
Some examples include cab drivers refusing to give rides to individuals carrying alcohol in Minnesota, public schools
using taxpayer money to provide footbaths in Michigan, and attempts to enforce hijab on Muslims who do not wish to
wear them in the United Kingdom.
One critic of Islamism is an organization in Virginia, called Responsible for Equality and Liberty (REAL.). REAL.
focuses on protecting human rights in the U.S.A. and has denounced Islamist supremacism as a threat to Western
universal principles of equality.
Spearheading REAL, Jeffrey Imm stresses the group is "focused on tactical issues to educate 35th Virginia district
voters on Esam Omeish" so voters can make an informed voting decision in June. Imm believes that a candidate for
office should encompass democratic values rather than a supremacist worldview. He stresses that "we must recognize
that supremacist organizations have been leveraging these freedoms to gain institutional support within America by
disguising their supremacist goals with 'religious' identities."
REAL is planning a rally at the U.S. Capitol challenging Islamist supremacism on May 17. Readers wishing to support
or question Esam Omeish's candidacy are encouraged to participate.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
The Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Islamism & U.S. Elections -- Ethnic & Racial Politics in the U.S.A.
Lawfare -- The Use of Law as a Weapon in War & Politics:
Islamist Lawfare & the "Legal" Jihad Against America & the West
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Shireen Qudosi is a writer on Islam in the 21st. century and Editor-in-Chief of The Qudosi Chronicles. She is
also a regular contributor to Islamist Watch, with a special focus on Southern California. To contact her directly,
email Shireen.Qudosi@hotmail.com.
The foregoing article by Ms. Qudosi was originally published in Family Security Matters, May 13, 2009, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/2135/pro-muslim-brotherhood-public-office)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
May 13, 2009
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity