It’s not sufficiently divisive, apparently, that a controversial imam wants to erect a mosque near Ground Zero; now the Obama folks have him conducting “outreach” to Arab countries on behalf of the United States — and on the taxpayers’ dime, no less.
Can anything be more ill-considered?
As Claudia Rosett first reported at
Forbes.com, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is headed to the Arab world for a month-long “outreach” tour, courtesy of the State Department. His wife, Daisy Khan, is to make a similar trip.
Just what they’ll be doing — their scheduled stops include Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar — remains a bit of a mystery.
A State Department aide yesterday told The Post that Rauf’s mission is “to foster a greater understanding about the region around the world among Muslim majority communities.”
Whatever that means.
To be sure, Rauf and Khan have their backers. The State Department hails him as “a distinguished Muslim cleric.” But are they truly America’s best envoys to a region rife with Islamic extremism — given, say, Rauf’s refusal to label Hamas a terror group or his onetime claim that US policies contributed to 9/11?
The trip could also help Rauf drum up some dubious cash for the mosque. After all, he told an Arabic newspaper that he plans to raise funds from Saudi Arabia and other Mideast nations.
Khan says neither of them will do any “fund-raising,” and the State Department says such activity would be barred.
But as Rosett notes, “fund-raising, especially in the bargaining halls of the Middle East,” often “begins with drinking tea, rubbing shoulders and moseying towards the eventual deal.”
Meanwhile, families of 9/11 victims and others continue to see a mosque near Ground Zero as needless provocation. And Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, to his credit, yesterday defended them: “Disagreement is one of the fundamental principles of our country,” he said.
Given such disagreement, it’s a wonder how Rauf can manage to foster greater “understanding” — and what, exactly, Obama & Co. could be thinking.