Now see? Venturers post made me curious so I went out and looked...just a little. I ain’t liking THIS either.
http://www.the-two-malcontents.com/2008/04/texas-gov-rick-perry-to-host-muslim-sects-spiritual-leader-aga-khan/
Texas Gov. Rick Perry to host Muslim sect’s spiritual leader Aga Khan
Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans to host a private dinner followed by fireworks near Austin on Saturday to honor the Aga Khan, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad celebrating his 50th year as the spiritual leader of a Muslim sect.
Earlier in the day, the leaders are expected to be on hand as the University of Texas signs an agreement with Aga Khan University, which has campuses in Pakistan and other countries, fostering student and teacher exchanges between the institutions.
Khan, a wealthy, Harvard-educated businessman and philanthropist, leads the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, an offshoot of the Shiite branch of Islam, claiming 12 million to 16 million believers in 25 countries including tens of thousands in Texas.
Perry, 58, and Khan, 71, struck up an improbable friendship nearly a decade ago, resulting in a UT program exposing schoolteachers to Muslim beliefs and culture.
The jet-setting Khan grew up in Kenya and lives in France and owns hundreds of race horses. Perry was born and raised in West Texas before earning a degree at Texas A&M University.
In 2000, Perry, then lieutenant governor, visited the Aga Khan in Paris during a family trip to Europe.
Two years later, Perry and the Aga Khan visited during the opening of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center built in Sugar Land near Houston and at an Austin dinner hosted by Perry.
The Aga Khan Development Network subsequently funded the UT program, which has introduced 80 Texas schoolteachers to Muslim history and culture; 15 teachers have toured the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
In 2006, Perry visited a Pakistan relief center financed by the network. And last year, Perry looked at an unfinished Ismaili center in Dubai that a travel mate described as an architectural and cultural wonder that the Aga Khan is expected to replicate, to a degree, in Houston.
Eric Bearse, an outside adviser to Perry, said Saturday’s “golden jubilee” event at the Texas Disposal Systems Exotic Game Ranch and Pavilion in Buda is “an opportunity for His Highness to be in the presence of a vibrant Ismaili community in Texas as well as to be with his friend, the governor.”
Perry and his wife, Anita, will dine with the religious leader at a downtown hotel tonight.
Shahed Amanullah of Austin, editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, said the Aga Khan has a solid reputation among Muslims because of his good works, partly through the development network. The network spends $350 million a year on economic, social and cultural projects concentrated in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
“There are a lot of non-Ismaili Muslims around the world who wish they had a leader that is as organized and as visionary,” Amanullah said
Perry, who is a member of a Methodist church, and the Aga Khan emphasize the need for the Western world to understand Eastern values and vice versa. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Aga Khan said differences between Muslim-dominated countries and the Christian-dominant West don’t reflect the clash of civilizations so much as clashes of ignorance.
Neither Perry’s office nor members of the Ismaili community said who is paying for Saturday’s invitation-only party nor did they divulge who will attend it. Perry spokesman Robert Black said it would not be financed by the state or from economic development funds.
About 20,000 to 30,000 people are expected to hear the Aga Khan on Sunday in San Antonio.
The governor wrote in a letter Wednesday that he was concerned about two U.S.-flagged ships that plan to challenge the Israeli naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. He urged U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to take legal steps to stop Americans from taking part in the attempt to reach Gaza, or to prosecute them if they do….”
******
....Perry wrote in a letter dated Wednesday, “According to numerous recent media reports, American citizens and organizations, together with a coalition of violent anti-Israeli organizations from other countries, have organized efforts to breach Israel’s Maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip as early as this week.”
He continued, “The act of funding, supporting, organizing and engaging in these efforts appears to constitute participation in a naval expedition against a people with whom the United States is at peace,” as well as material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization and other violations.
Perry said at least two of the ships are registered in Delaware, including one named “The Audacity of Hope,” which was the title of President Barack Obama’s second book.
The letter concludes, “I respectfully request that the U.S. Department of Justice take immediate steps to investigate, enjoin and bring to justice all parties found to be in violation of U.S. law by their participation in these efforts.” Source
…………"David Ainsman really began to get worried about President Barack Obama’s standing with his fellow Jewish Democrats when a recent dinner with his wife and two other couples — all Obama voters in 2008 — nearly turned into a screaming match.
Ainsman, a prominent Democratic lawyer and Pittsburgh Jewish community leader, was trying to explain that Obama had just been offering Israel a bit of “tough love” in his May 19 speech on the Arab Spring. His friends disagreed — to say the least.
[snip]
“When Obama was running, there was a lot of concern among the guys in my group at shul, who are all late-30s to mid-40s, who I hang out with and daven with and go to dinner with, about Obama,” recalled Scott Matasar, a Cleveland lawyer who’s active in Jewish organizations.
Matasar remembers his friends’ worries over whether Obama was “going to be OK for Israel.” But then Obama met with the community’s leaders during a swing through Cleveland in the primary, and the rabbi at the denominationally conservative synagogue Matasar attends — “a real ardent Zionist and Israel defender” — came back to synagogue convinced.
“That put a lot of my concerns to rest for my friends who are very much Israel hawks but who, like me, aren’t one-issue voters.”
Now Matasar says he’s appalled by Obama’s “rookie mistakes and bumbling” and the reported marginalization of a veteran peace negotiator, Dennis Ross, in favor of aides who back a tougher line on Netanyahu. He’s the most pro-Obama member of his social circle but is finding the president harder to defend.
“He’d been very ham-handed in the way he presented [the 1967 border announcement] and the way he sprung this on Netanyahu,” Matasar said.
A Philadelphia Democrat and pro-Israel activist, Joe Wolfson, recalled a similar progression.
“What got me past Obama in the recent election was Dennis Ross — I heard him speak in Philadelphia and I had many of my concerns allayed,” Wolfson said. “Now, I think I’m like many pro-Israel Democrats now who are looking to see whether we can vote Republican.”.............. -- Jewish Dems losing faith in Obama
August 13, 2009 Gov. Perry Receives Defender of Jerusalem Award "JERUSALEM – Gov. Rick Perry has received the Defender of Jerusalem Award, which is given to public figures who have demonstrated support and commitment to the state of Israel and its capitol, Jerusalem. The governor accepted the award while on his trip to Israel, where he also met with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and business and academic leaders.
Well, which is it? One second, Perry is “too publically Christian in his profession of belief”, the next second he is too secretely pro-Muslim.
Pick one, for crying out loud.
See there? You learn all kinds of things in Free Republic you don’t find elsewhere.
This is a revelation to me.
What is it with politicians and Muslims?
The whole point of the Muslim political-religion is to destroy, enslave , or convert any non-Muslims.
Why is that so hard to understand ?