Community News (V11-I9)

Essam Omeish in bid for Viriginia House Delegate

FAIRFAX, VA– Essam Omeish, a pediatric surgeon from Northern Viriginia, has announced his candidacy for the Virignia House of Delegates from the 35th district.  The district includes the areas of Fairfax County just north and west of the city of Fairfax.

A vocal community leader he had served as the president of the Muslim American Society. His association with MAS was brought into limelight two years ago when Gov. Tim Kaine appointed him to the Commission on Immigration. The appointment was criticised  by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, a fellow member of the commission, who claimed that MAS is closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

A spokesman for the governor at the time dismissed Gilbert’s concerns as “innuendo, moving dangerously close to slander,” and challenged Gilbert to offer proof. Omeish resigned less than a day later, after online videos came to light in which Omeish accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians. He later clarified that his comments were quoted out of context and defended MAS.

A high achiever since his childhood Omeish graduated from Georgetown University with a double major in Hovernment and Biology in 1989. He earned a medical doctorate from the same university in 1993.  To date he has reportedly performed over 5,000 surgeries and treated over 7,500 patients.

Arif Khan, among top McDonald’s managers

VERO BEACH, FL–Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Arif Khan, 43, says he is living the American Dream. He came to the United States at age 17 to join his family. He attended Elgin Community College in Elgin, Ill. He and his wife, Julie, have eight children. He had several different jobs before joining a crew at a McDonald’s restaurant in Chicago. This year, Khan has been awarded the prestigious Ray Kroc Award, designating him as among the top 1 percent of McDonald’s 14,000 managers. He operates the store at U.S.1 and Oslo Road in Vero Beach.

A three-time Outstanding Store Manager award winner, Khan currently manages the McDonald’s restaurant on Route 1 in Vero Beach. “I enjoy working at McDonald’s not only for the career opportunity but also for the chance to support my community,” said Khan.

Asian American Coalition awards talent, service

CHICAGO, IL–The Asian American Coalition of Chicago has awarded several Pakistani Americans at its annual award ceremony.

Kamran Khan, founder and president of Nexgen Cosmetics, was awarded the Pan Asian American Ping Tom Memorial Award.

Faisal Rashid, Trustee and Tax Collector, DuPage Township, was given the community service award.

Students Sheena Anissasari La-Reine Quick and Nudrat Zoha were given the youth excellence awards.

IMAN director gets leadership honor

CHICAGO, IL–Rami Nashashibi, executive Director of Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), was honored with the Norman Bobins Leadership Award  Monday at the 15th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA).

Distributed for the first time in 2008, the Norman Bobins Leadership Award was established by LaSalle Bank to honor the leadership, innovation and long-time commitment to Chicago communities embodied by Norman Bobins, retired chief executive officer of LaSalle.

This award recognizes an emerging leader at a non-profit community development organization who has enhanced his or her own organization and demonstrated the potential to become an innovative and instrumental leader in the field of community development.

As a founder and now executive director of IMAN, 2744 W. 63rd St., Nashashibi has been a leader in Chicago Lawn and beyond, according to the presenters of the award. He has fought for social justice and broken down cultural, religious and racial barriers through an inspiring range of projects and programs.

At the community level, IMAN provides direct services from food distribution to career development to health care. Under Rami’s leadership, IMAN also fosters cross-cultural understanding through its arts and culture programming and events.

But Nashashibi’s work reaches far beyond the Southwest Side. IMAN’s organizing and advocacy efforts have formed statewide alliances and affected change on issues like criminal justice and human rights, including drafting and organizing for the passage of legislation to provide alternatives to incarceration for low-level, non-violent drug offenders.

The Norman Bobins Leadership Award includes a $20,000 grant to the non-profit organization that employs the winner. Up to $6,000 of the grant can be used for general operation support for the non-profit to underwrite the time the applicant devotes over the year to professional development.

Unravelling Islam at Montana State

The Muslim Students Association is holding a host of events this week as part of its Islam Awareness Week. The activities including screening of films, panel discussions, and lectures.

Guest speakers included Hussam Ayloush of Southern California, executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Aminah Assilmi of Knoxville, Tenn., director of the International Union of Muslim Women.

“I’m hoping to change many misconceptions people have of Islam,” said Raima Amin, 19, a student in cell biology and neurobiology, to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Most American Muslims live peacefully with their neighbors, she said.

“There are over 1.2 billion Muslims in the world n only a small fraction are creating terror,” she said. “It’s up to normal Muslims like us, civilians, to spread the word. There’s definitely hope, because we are the majority.”

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