Clinton Call on Obama's Speech Includes Jihad Advocate

By The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)

On the eve of a Democratic primary election in Virginia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has handed a public relations bonanza to an Islamist candidate who has praised Palestinians for choosing "the jihad way" to liberation.

Esam Omeish is considered a dark-horse candidate in the Virginia House of Delegates District 35 race. The primary is Tuesday.

On Thursday, Clinton invited Omeish to participate in a national conference call to discuss President Obama's Cairo speech aimed at repairing America's image with Muslims. In that speech, Obama made clear demands for Hamas to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist:

"Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed."

And

"Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel's right to exist."

That's more than Omeish has been willing to do. In a 2000 speech given at a rally recorded by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Omeish congratulated Palestinians for choosing the jihad way and said "we are with you and we are supporting you and we will do everything that we can, Insh'Allah, to help your cause."

Two months earlier, Omeish said "we need to congratulate our brothers and sisters in Filastin (Palestine) for their bravery, for their giving up their lives for the sake of Allah and for the sake of Al-Aqsa."

The speeches came during the early stages of the second Palestinian uprising, this one called the Al Aqsa Intifada, which featured a series of deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis.

Omeish's words came back to bite him in 2007. He had just been appointed to a state immigration panel by Gov. Tim Kaine, but he was forced to resign shortly after when Kaine learned about the video. Omeish since has claimed his words were taken out of context and that the use of the word "jihad" was not a call for violence:

"It means emotional, intellectual as well as physical struggle. And I think it's important for us, if we want to engage the Muslim community, it's not to allow ourselves to define them but to allow them to define themselves for who they are."

As the IPT reported last month, the videos represent but two examples of Omeish extolling jihad, Hamas leaders or the need for a transformation in American culture to make it more compatible with Islam.

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