This is a related article to the one that Masterwolf posted:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/06/18/2008-06-18_barack_obama_aide_says_sorry_to_two_musl-2.htmlBarack Obama aide says sorry to two Muslim women
BY MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Wednesday, June 18th 2008, 9:47 PM
Barack Obama's presidential campaign apologized Wednesday for refusing to seat two Muslim women wearing traditional head scarves behind the candidate - and in clear view of TV cameras - during a rally in Michigan on Monday.
The women were reportedly told they couldn't sit in the high-profile location because of "a sensitive political climate."
The Illinois senator has been dogged for more than a year by false Internet-fueled rumors that he's Muslim. Obama spokesman Bill Burton released a statement saying campaign volunteers' decision to bar the women from the seating area behind the lectern is "not the policy of the campaign."
"It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," the statement said. "We sincerely apologize for this behavior."
Hebba Aref, one of the women refused a spot in the special seating area, demanded that Obama personally apologize to her and Shimma Abdelfadeel.
"He needs to take the matter seriously and send a strong message against any kind of discrimination," Aref said, according to The Associated Press.
She also demanded invitations to sit behind Obama at a future campaign event.
Obama aides did not respond to an e-mail from the Daily News inquiring whether the senator planned to issue a personal apology to the women.
The presumptive Democratic nominee has been walking a tightrope for months, working feverishly to disabuse voters of the idea that he's Muslim while not insulting the Muslim faithful.
Obama is Christian. In December, Obama sparked controversy when he repeatedly refused to criticize an Iowa voter who said a Muslim would be unfit to be President.
"There's no doubt that there are going to be voters for whom religious affiliation is important," Obama told The News at the time. "I don't know that that's the majority, but I think the main thing I want to do is just make sure that people know who I am, know my background."
At the time, the candidate's decision to punt rather than confront the Iowan's bias prompted a strong rebuke from the Muslim community.
Aref, who was born in the United States to Egyptian immigrants, said she had defended Obama during the primary season against rampant Muslim rumors that he was Muslim.
"I don't want to be called something I'm not, but I felt like ... everyone was treating this accusation of being Muslim as though it were some sort of crime or sin," Aref said.
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I highlighted a couple of sentences ( using the color red ) from the article. This helps illustrate the bias that Michael Saul is using. He's automatically assuming that Barack Hussein Obama is a Christian and he clearly wants the readers of the article to believe this. This is an example of what we are up against in attempting to expose the truth to the vast majority of people in the United States.