The Rise and Fall of Dr. Esam Omeish

Late yesterday afternoon Charles Johnson broke the story of the appointment of Dr. Esam Omeish, president of the Muslim American Society, to the Virginia Commission on Immigration. Early this morning we posted our own account of the event. Then, less than twenty-four hours after the story surfaced, Dr. Omeish resigned from the commission.

I’d like to think that this was the power of the blogosphere at work. It’s nice to suppose that the blogswarm generated by this issue put enough heat under Governor Kaine’s feet to cause him to jettison the jihad doctor. And I’d love to think that Gates of Vienna played its own tiny part in this process.

But I don’t think the blogs are that significant yet. The most we probably did was to hasten something that would have happened eventually anyway. Regardless, it’s good that he’s gone. It’s one small rollback of the shari’a juggernaut — one down, 100,000 more to go.

According to The Washington Post:

An Islamic activist appointed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to the Virginia Immigration Commission was forced to resign Thursday after videos surfaced of him making controversial statements about Israel.

Kaine (D) appointed Esman [sic] Omeish, president of the Muslim American Society, last month to a 20-member panel that is spending the next six months examining whether Virginia needs to do more to curtail illegal immigration.

But Kaine requested Omeish’s resignation Thursday after reviewing statements Omeish made last summer about Israel’s war with Lebanon.

The governor’s office did the usual: they tried to paint the resignation as a result of the “controversy”, rather than what Dr. Omeish actually said in his recorded speeches:

“Omeish indicated he did not want this controversy to distract from the important work of the commission,” said Kaine, who added he will replace him with another Muslim representative.

As if the man didn’t really say those things; as if everyone simply wanted to prevent all this unwarranted ruckus from interfering with the commission’s work; as if the jackals of the Fourth Estate were smearing a good man…

But a statement released by Governor Kaine left no doubt as to what was really going on:
- - - - - - - - -

I have accepted Dr. Esam Omeish’s resignation as one of the 10 gubernatorial appointees to the 20-member Virginia Commission on Immigration. Dr. Omeish is a respected physician and community leader, yet I have been made aware of certain statements he has made which concern me. Dr. Omeish indicated that he did not want this controversy to distract from the important work of the Commission. I intend to name another representative of the Muslim community to the Commission in the near future.

“Certain statements”, eh? Statements, perhaps, that the governor would rather not bring to the attention of his Jewish constituents?

For example:

“The invasion of Lebanon, the destruction of its infrastructure and the deliberate targeting of civilians during the barbaric and disproportionate Israeli war machine is indeed criminal and must end now,” Omeish states on the video.

Dr. Omeish was apparently an affirmative-action hire:

Administration officials say Kaine appointed Omeish, an Alexandria surgeon, to the immigration panel because the governor was looking for diversity. The legislation establishing the panel also required that a physician sit on it, administration officials said.

And then the governor was shocked — shocked! — to learn of some of the things Dr. Jihad said:

Kaine said he did not know of Omeish’s remarks on the videos until a caller to a Richmond radio station asked him about them Thursday.

So his staff didn’t vet Dr. Omeish’s background properly. Or maybe nobody cared?

Bear this in mind: Governor Kaine said that he “will replace him with another Muslim representative.”

This time they’ll get a pliable and innocuous Muslim figurehead, the kind who shows up at all those ecumenical prayer breakfasts and mouths the standard bromides about peace and love and mutual understanding.

Or instead maybe they’ll find a jihadist who’s more circumspect with his words when he’s being taped.