Two writers we highly respect are worried about an American-Islamist attempt to influence the Obama Administration.
M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, takes note of a resume book prepared by a Muslim congressional staffers organization. The group is tied to Islamists, or people who want more than the freedom to practice their faith. They want their faith to influence, and ultimately govern, society. The whole concept of an organized effort to place Muslims in government jobs offends Jasser, who argues anyone is free to apply and be judged on individual qualification:
"At AIFD we have a mantra, which is that 'we are Americans who happen to be Muslim rather than Muslims who demand to be American.' My parents came to the United States in the 1960s because they understood our nation to be a meritocracy and not one plagued with the inequities of political correctness which are more concerned with immutable characteristics of individuals such as race or religion than with real equality and merit. Islamists thrive on identity politics and the deceptive collectivization of Muslims into one 'bloc'. This resume book and the Islamist interests of the CMSA feed into that mentality where the faith identity of Muslims is not a private matter of concern only in the mosque and at home. Their resume book is all about influence for Islamists under the banner of 'being Muslim.'"
Read the whole essay here.
Meanwhile, journalist Douglas Farah writes about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's acceptance of an invitation to be a keynote speaker at the 10th anniversary conference of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), which he describes as "a sort of umbrella organization for many of the [Muslim Brotherhood] groups in the United States."
Some CSID officials have long been suspected of terror financing and Muslim Brotherhood ties. As an organization, CSID advocates for American support for Islamist movements in other countries. About Muslim Brotherhood-tied groups in the U.S., Farah writes:
"To be clear: these groups have a clearly enunciated and never renounced policy of toppling the government, hollowing out the institutional structures, and imposing the caliphate here, where Sharia law is the law of the land. As I have often said, if they want to openly join the political process and espouse this, they are welcome and they will be marginalized, even within the Muslim community."
He also points to Dalia Mogahed's appointment to the President's Advisory Council Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships as a disturbing sign. Mogahed is a protégé of Georgetown University Professor John Esposito, and the two work together at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. Esposito was a defense expert witness at the Hamas-support trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a consistent defender of admitted Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Sami Al-Arian and worked with a think tank that was part of a U.S.-based Hamas support network.
Esposito also is a frequent speaker at fundraising banquets for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), identified as a Hamas front by an FBI agent in the HLF case, and listed among the entities in the Hamas-support network – which was called the Palestine Committee.
CAIR issued a press release to congratulate Mogahed on her appointment.
Farah's article can be seen here.