Palin's Alaska spokesman doesn’t know whether Palin has "specifically" ever met a Muslim

[sabra]

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/11/palin-and-alaska-s-muslim-population.aspx

Palin and Alaska's Muslim Population

By Michael Isikoff


Most Alaskans may seem excited about Governor Sarah Palin’s selection as John McCain’s running mate. But there’s at least one group of her constituents that has had a more subdued reaction: the state’s Muslims. There are only about 2,000 to 3,000 Muslims in Alaska, and, while there are no mosques, Anchorage (which is home to most of the state's Muslims) does have an Islamic Community Center, located in a rented office in a strip mall, where members pray on Fridays. But Osama Obeida, the center’s vice president, said his group has never had any contacts at all with Alaska’s governor. No meetings, no invitations to state ceremonies, no pro forma letters commemorating the observance of Islamic holy days. “She has never taken the initiative,” Obeidi told NEWSWEEK.

...

Bill McAlister, the governor’s spokesman, said Palin’s lack of interaction is not by design. “I don’t know that it's ever came up” he said when asked why the governor has never met with the state’s Muslims. “Certainly there was no attempt to exclude Muslims.” By contrast, Palin has visited with members of the state’s Jewish community (about the same size as the state’s Muslim community) and spoke at an Anchorage synagogue last year. (Escorted by Sen. Joe Lieberman, she also met with representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at the Republican National Convention last week and told the group how she has an Israeli flag in her office in Juneau, according to David Gottstein, an Anchorage investment banker who invited her to meet with the AIPAC group.) But McAlister said this does not signify any bias against Muslims on Palin’s part—even if, as McAlister conceded, he doesn’t know whether Palin has “specifically” met any Muslima. “She’s not a bigot,” he said. “I’m not aware of anyone she has snubbed.”

[LaurenG]

1. oh dear, undereducated and so not ready for this.

:rofl: