ISNA’s Ties to the Obama White House
By Aaron Klein, WorldNetDaily
A religion adviser to President Obama has close ties to a radical Muslim group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas.
The group, the Islamic Society of North America, has an extensive relationship with the Obama administration.
In February, Obama named a Chicago Muslim, Eboo Patel, to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Patel is the founder and executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, which says it promotes pluralism by teaming people of different faiths on service projects.
Patel is listed on ISNA’s official speakers bureau.
Here’s the rundown on Obama’s ties to “communists, socialists and other anti-American extremists” – all in “The Manchurian President.”
From his own comments, Patel apparently is a member of ISNA. Upon the August 2007 election of the group’s president, Ingrid Mattson, Patel told USA Today, “I’m proud to have her elected as my president.”
“The bulk of the American Muslim community is very young and overwhelmingly under 40. Increasingly our leadership needs to be people we can relate to,” Patel told the newspaper.
Patel also served last year on a panel at ISNA’s annual convention in Washington, D.C.
He has written columns for the Washington Post and Huffington Post that promote ISNA events.
ISNA, meanwhile, is linked to the Obama administration.
The relationship began even before Obama took office. One week before last year’s presidential inauguration, Sayyid Syeed, national director of ISNA’s Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances, was part of a delegation that met with the directors of Obama’s transition team. The delegation discussed a request for an executive order ending “torture.”
ISNA President Mattson represented American Muslims at Obama’s inauguration, where she offered a prayer during the televised event. Mattson also represented ISNA at Obama’s Ramadan dinner at the White House.
In June 2009 , Obama senior aide Valerie Jarrett invited Mattson to work on the White House Council on Women and Girls, which Jarrett leads. Continue