Obama Pays Tribute To Muslim Americans At Ramadan Dinner

President Obama honored the sacrifices that Muslim Americans have made for the country on Wednesday night at the White House's annual Ramadan dinner. With only a month to go before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Obama emphasized the role that Muslim Americans played in the wake of the attacks, and their contributions to the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Muslim Americans were [the] first responders ... the EMTs %E2%80%A6 the nurse who tended to so many victims, the naval officer at the Pentagon who rushed into the flames and pulled the injured to safety," the president told approximately 100 guests before the meal. Obama paid tribute to the "brave service of our men and women in uniform, including thousands of Muslim Americans %E2%80%A6 [and] some [who] have made the ultimate sacrifice." Obama recalled Army Specialist Kareem Khan, who was killed in Iraq, and thanked Khan's mother for attending the dinner. "We must be the America they lived for, and the America they died for," he said. The dinner is known as an "iftar," and it breaks the daylong fast Muslims observe from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. The tradition of hosting an iftar at the White House was begun by President Bill Clinton, and continued by George W. Bush. This will be Obama's third as president. In the audience were the two members of Congress who practice Islam, Reps. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), as well as Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.). Also attending were government officials, Muslim community leaders and other leaders of faith groups. Ramadan follows a lunar calendar and has occurred in late August and September during the past two years, but this year it runs from August 1 to 30. Fittingly then, Obama opened his speech by saying, "This year, Ramadan is entirely in August. That means the days are long, the weather is hot and you are hungry. So I will be brief." In addition to those names released by the White House, below, members of the press observed White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, State Department Special Envoy to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith, the Special Assistant to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Huma Abedin, Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan, White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and Obama Special Assistant for Multilateral Affairs Samantha Power. Guests at Wednesday's iftar, as released by the White House: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS The Honorable Andre Carson, United States Representative The Honorable John Conyers, United States Representative The Honorable Keith Ellison, United States Representative The Honorable Donald Payne, United States Representative DIPLOMATIC CORPS Her Excellency Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador, African Union Mission His Excellency Abdallah Baali, Ambassador, People%E2%80%99s Democratic Republic of Algeria His Excellency Yashar Aliyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan Her Excellency Huda Ezra Nonoo, Ambassador of Bahrain His Excellency Akramul Qader, Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh His Excellency Bienvenu Joseph Charles Foe-Atangana, Ambassador of Cameroon His Excellency Adam Bechir Mahamoud, Ambassador of the Republic of Chad His Excellency Roble Olhaye, Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti His Excellency Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt His Excellency Mory Karamoko Kaba, Ambassador of Guinea His Excellency Bayney Ram Karran, Ambassador of Guyana His Excellency Dino Patti Djalal, Ambassador of Indonesia His Excellency Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida%E2%80%99ie, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq His Excellency Micahel Scott Oren, Ambassador of Israel His Excellency Aziz Mekour, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco Her Excellency Aminata Maiga Djibrilla, Ambassador of Niger Her Excellency Hunaina Sultan Ahmed Al Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman His Excellency Husain Haqqani, Ambassador of Pakistan His Excellency Mr. Maen Areikat, Ambassador, PLO Mission His Excellency Ali Bin Fahad Faleh Al-Hajri, Ambassador of the State of Qatar His Excellency Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, Ambassador of the Russian Federation His Excellency Adel A.M. Al-Jubeir, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Her Excellency Fatou Danielle Diagne, Ambassador of Senegal His Excellency Bockari Kortu Stevens, Ambassador of Sierra Leone His Excellency Subhas Chandra Mungra, Ambassador of the Republic of Suriname His Excellency Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar, Ambassador of Tanzania His Excellency Edawe Limbiye Kadangha Bariki, Ambassador, Togo His Excellency Namik Tan, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey His Excellency Yousif Mana Saeed Alotaiba, Ambassador, United Arab Emirates His Excellency Ilhomjon Tuychievich Nematov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan His Excellency Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri, Ambassador of the Republic Yemen His Excellency Ufuk Gokcen, Ambassador and Permanent Observer, Organization of the Islamic Conference The Honorable Damir Dzanko, Charg%C3%A9 d'Affaires at Interim of Bosnia The Honorable Sufyan Salman Qudah, Charg%C3%A9 d'Affaires at Interim of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan The Honorable Jetish Jashari, Charg%C3%A9 d'Affaires at Embassy of Republic of Kosovo The Honorable Tarek Ben Youssef, Charg%C3%A9 d'Affaires at Interim of Tunisia COMMUNITY MEMBERS Mr. Hamza Abdullah, Arizona Cardinals Mr. Husain Abdullah, Minnesota Vikings Ms. Dina Amer Mrs. Durriya Badani, Brookings Institute Ms. Faiza Arain, Los Angeles Police Department Dr. Mahmoud Eboo, Aga Khan Mr. Mohamed Ali Malouche, Tunisian American Young Professionals Mr. Akram Syed, National Association of Indian Muslims Mrs. Mansura Shajahan Mr. Yusuf Shajahan Dr. Manzoor Tariq, Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/10/obama-pays-tribute-to-mus_n_924011.html



• Is anyone concerned about the economy anymore?

• Hamzah Abdullah wants the 911 mosque. Just saying. This is going to backfire on asshole Obama in Florida, OH and PA. I hate him anyways, he''ll be gone soon enough.

• r2 I don''t think anyone really cares. The Ramadan Dinner isn''t important enough to influence 2012.

• Oh when Mitt''s 2012 or Perry''s 2012 ads hit the airwaves in the states that matter, yes it will matter.

• R2: God, I hope you are right. This country cannot sustain another 4 years of his incompetence.

  Anonymous

• R2, R5 - you are cretinous Republican assholes. What stupidity and ignorance. Honestly.\ \ Good for Obama, btw. He is doing the right thing.\ \ Webmaster, can''t we go back to red-tagging far-right mpaid mouthpieces like R2 and R5? They and their ilk seem to be spreading a lot of disinformation and hate as of late.

• [quote]President Obama honored the sacrifices that Muslim Americans have made for the country on Wednesday night at the White House''s annual Ramadan dinner.\ \ Yes, let''s not forget the sacrifices that Mohammed Atta, Abdulaziz al-Omari, and the other 17 Muslims made.

• So what religion was Timothy McVey again?

• R7 - you are a racist xenophobe.

• You''re right R7, let''s not forget their contributions. How dare Obama not mention them! Those 17 people represent the billions of other Muslims, and we needed you to remind us of that.

  How much do you get paid to post here?