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Esam Omeish

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Esam S. Omeish
Born (1967-12-19) December 19, 1967 (age 56)
Tripoli, Libya
Alma materGeorgetown University; Georgetown University
School of Medicine
OccupationSurgeon
Employer(s)Inova Alexandria Hospital; Washington County Hospital; Esam S Omeish MD PC (President)[1]
Known forResignation from Virginia Commission on Immigration
due to jihad controversy;[2];
former President of
Muslim American Society; 2009 State Assemblyman primary election candidate in the 35th District of the Virginia General Assembly.
Political partyDemocratic
Board member ofDar al Hijrah Islamic Center
SpouseBadria Kafala
ChildrenAbrar, Anwar, Yousof, Ibrahim
RelativesMohamed S. Omeish; brother—President of US branch of International Islamic Relief Organization
Websiteomeishfordelegate.com

Dr. Esam S. Omeish (born December 19, 1967, in Tripoli, Libya) is a Northern Virginia physician, chief of the Division of General Surgery at Inova Alexandria Hospital since 2006, former President of the Muslim American Society, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque.[2]

In August 2007, Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed Omeish to the Virginia Commission on Immigration. A month later Omeish resigned his seat on the commission.[2] In 2009 he ran for State Assemblyman in a primary election in the 35th District of the Virginia General Assembly.

Education and family

In 1982, he immigrated to the United States, not knowing any English.[2][3] Omeish attended J. E. B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia, where he and his brothers started the first Friday prayers in a high school in the District of Columbia area.

He attended Georgetown University.[3] Upon graduating with a double major in Government and Biology in 1989, he attended the Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he completed his studies in 1993. He has since won several awards as a physician and was a first responder on 9/11/01.[4]

Omeish helped start the first chapter of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at Georgetown, and chaired the MSA Council for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area during his tenure at Georgetown.

His wife, Badria Kafala, is a scientist with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and they had four children as of 2009: Abrar, Anwar, Yousof, and Ibrahim.[5]

Islamic leader

Dar al-Hijrah

Omeish is a former Vice President and current board member of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia.

In 2004 Omeish, at 36 then the youngest member of the mosque's Board of Directors, said there is "no question" that the mosque leadership needs to be more open and inclusive of younger people, including women. "The bottom line is that this is a mosque that is in the heart of Washington," he said. "Our goal is to make the congregation reflect that reality."[6]

Omeish acknowledged that some mosque members raised acceptable questions about the mosque's constitution, and that proposals under consideration in 2004 included direct elections to the mosque's board of directors, director term limits, and phasing out the board seats that the constitution assigns to officials of certain Muslim organizations.[6]

As of December 2009, he was still a member of the mosque's Board of Directors.[7]

Muslim American Society

In 2003, speaking at a rally on behalf of the Muslim American Society, he spoke as what the New York Daily News described as an "apologist" for Saddam Hussein."[8]

In 2004, as President of the Muslim American Society, Omeish wrote a letter to the Washington Post in which he disagreed with the conclusions of a Washington Post article, and described the Muslim Brotherhood, which he admitted influenced the MAS, as having "moderate" views.[9][10] Daveed Gartenstein-Ross reported in the Weekly Standard,

"Omeish ... wrote that the reason MAS draws inspiration from the Muslim Brotherhood is 'in order to espouse the values of human dialogue, tolerance, and moderation.' Yet both MAS's curriculum and also the scholars that MAS requires its members to read openly flout these values."[11]

Political career

Controversy re statements; Forced resignation from Virginia commission

In 2007 Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed Omeish to the Virginia Commission on Immigration, which was examining whether Virginia should do more to restrict illegal immigration.

On September 27, 2007, the Governor asked for Omeish's resignation as a commission member, and Omeish complied.[12][13][14][2][15] He resigned three hours after remarks he made were brought to the Governor's attention on a radio call-in show on WRVA radio in Richmond, Virginia, and only two days after having been sworn in at the commission's first meeting.[16] "That is news to me, what you say, and it's something we will check out," Kaine told the caller.[17][18]

Omeish told a news conference that jihad has nothing to do with violence, but instead is about inner struggles leading to spiritual triumph. Omeish said his remarks were "taken out of context."[19][20][2][3] He said Kaine was reacting to "speech excerpts taken out of context by proponents of a relentless campaign of ... Islamophobia."[21][3] He accused his critics of perpetrating a "smear campaign" against him.[22]


Candidacy for state assemblyman

In 2009 Omeish ran for State Assemblyman in a primary election in the 35th District of the Virginia General Assembly.[2][23] Omeish raised $143,734 for his campaign from January 1 to May 27, 2009 ($52,000 of which was his personal money), the fourth-largest amount of fundraising state-wide among all Virginia House of Delegates candidates.[24] His third-highest contributor was the International Institute of Islamic Thought.[25]

Omeish came in third in the primary on June 8, 2009, with 1,039 votes (15.7%).[26][27]

Clinton call

In June 2009, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited Omeish to join 100-200 invitees on a conference call that she held with Muslim leaders and academics after President Barack Obama delivered a speech in Cairo.[2]

References

  1. ^ ""Esam S Omeish; Statement of Economic Interests: Salary/Wages", Virginia Public Access Project, accessed January 18, 2010". Vpap.org. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Osborne, James (June 8, 2009). "Clinton Invites Controversial Muslim Leader on Conference Call". Fox News. Retrieved December 31, 2009. Cite error: The named reference "Fox" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d Fisher, Marc (April 29, 2009). "From Fairfax To Richmond, "The Jihad Way?"". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  4. ^ ""Omeish for Delegate, Meet the Candidate," accessed January 1, 2010". Omeishfordelegate.com. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  5. ^ ""Omeish for Delegate, Meet the Candidate," accessed January 1, 2010". Omeishfordelegate.com. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Facing New Realities as Islamic Americans," Caryle Murphy, Washington Post, September 12, 2004, accessed December 9, 2009
  7. ^ ""Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, Home, About us, Board of Directors", accessed December 10, 2009". Daralhijrah.net. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  8. ^ Chafets, Zev, "A Peace Movement that's going nowhere," The New York Daily News, January 22, 2003, accessed January 19, 2010
  9. ^ ""MAS President Letter to the Washington Post," Date Posted: Thursday, September 16, 2004, Muslim American Society, accessed December 9, 2009". Masnet.org. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  10. ^ Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed, "MAS's Muslim Brotherhood Problem; Does Muslim American Society Want an Islamic Government in the U.S.?," Weekly Standard, May 25, 2005, accessed December 9, 2009
  11. ^ Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed, "MAS's Muslim Brotherhood Problem; Does Muslim American Society Want an Islamic Government in the U.S.?," Weekly Standard, May 25, 2005, accessed December 9, 2009
  12. ^ Craig, Tim, "Republicans Seize on Muslim Appointment", Washington Post, October 4, 2007, accessed December 9, 2009
  13. ^ Craig, Tim, "Muslim on Va. Commission Quits After Videos Surface; In Videos, Surgeon and Muslim Activist Denounces Israel and Speaks of 'Jihad Way'", The Washington Post, September 28, 2007, accessed January 18, 2010
  14. ^ Craig, Tim, "2 GOP Lawmakers Allege Democrats Have Ties to Terrorism," Washington Post, p. C6, October 21, 2007, accessed January 18, 2010
  15. ^ Fiske, Warren, "Doctor resigns from state panel after comments caught on video," The Virginian-Pilot, September 28, 2007, accessed January 19, 2010
  16. ^ "Virginia Commission on Immigration — September 25, 2007 - Meeting Minutes" (PDF). Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  17. ^ Craig, Tim, "Republicans Seize on Muslim Appointment", Washington Post, October 4, 2007, accessed December 9, 2009
  18. ^ Lewis, Bob, "Va. Appointee Quits Over Video Showing Him Urging ‘the Jihad Way'," The New York Sun, September 27, 2007, accessed December 9, 2009
  19. ^ "Lewis, Bob, "Videos Spur Va. Appointee's Resignation", September 27, 2007, accessed December 9, 2009". .phillyburbs.com. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  20. ^ Thomas, Cal, "'Jihad way': Spiritual triumph, or euphemism for overthrow by Islam?," Tucson Citizen, October 3, 2007, accessed December 9, 2009
  21. ^ "Muslim Appointee To Virginia Immigration Panel Resigns," ABC News, September 28, 2997, accessed December 9, 2009
  22. ^ "Gardner, Amy, and Kumar, Anita, "Muslim Activist Denies Urging Violence; Remarks on YouTube Lead to Resignation," ''The Washington Post'', September 29, 2007, accessed January 19, 2010". Highbeam.com. September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  23. ^ ""2009 Elections > Virginia > House of Delegates (35) > Esam S. Omeish (D); About The Candidate", ''The Washington Post'', accessed January 18, 2010". Projects.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  24. ^ "O'Donoghue, Julia, "Lots of Cash Flowed Into 35th Delegate Primary," ''Vienna Connection'', June 10, 2009, accessed January 21, 2010". Connectionnewspapers.com. June 10, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  25. ^ "All Receipts Reported by Esam S Omeish Committees," VPAP, accessed January 26, 2010
  26. ^ "Manz, Donna, "Keam Wins Democratic Nomination for 35th District", ''Vienna Connection'', June 12, 2009, accessed December 9, 2009". Connectionnewspapers.com. June 12, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  27. ^ ""Esam S Omeish: June 2009 Democratic primary in House District 35", Virginia Public Access Project, accessed January 17, 2009". Vpap.org. June 9, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
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