Jihadist Appointed To Virginia State Commission

Virginiaâ??s Democrat governor appointed the head of an extremist Islamic group who publicly advocates â??the jihad wayâ? to an important new state commission.

Like a good politician, Gov. Timothy Kaine claimed ignorance and said he had no idea about his new appointeeâ??s radical history until damaging videos appeared on a popular web site this week.

They featured the new appointee, Esam Omesh, condemning Israel and advocating the jihad way. Omesh also accuses Israel of genocide and massacre against Palestinians and says the â??Israeli agendaâ? controls the United States Congress. He also tells a group of Washington Muslims that the jihad way is the way to liberate their land.

The videos are only a tiny part of Omeshâ??s very public life as the head of the radical Muslim American Society (MAS), an anti-western group that strives to establish Islamic rule in America. Founded in 1993, the group is headquartered in Alexandria and has 23 local chapters nationwide.

MAS was actually founded as the U.S. chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical group with a violent religious ideology that aggressively promotes terrorism against U.S. interests. The group recently issued a public fatwa deeming it a religious duty to for Muslims to fight America in Iraq.

Omesh has made many public appearances on behalf of his Islamic organization, which makes no secret about its mission. The question is, how could the governor of Virginia not know about his radical, anti-America work?

Early last month Gov. Kaine appointed Omesh to a new 20-member panel created by the General Assembly to assess the benefits and costs of immigration as well as the effects of federal immigration policies on Virginia.