Esam S Omeish was born on December 19,1967 and is a Libyan-born American physician and chief of the Division of General Surgery at Inova Alexandria Hospital since 2006.
19 Facts About Esam Omeish
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Esam Omeish is a member of the Board of Directors of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque and former President of the Muslim American Society.
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Esam Omeish finished secondary school in two and half years, excelled in gifted programs and advanced placement courses, and graduated with a near perfect grade point average.
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Esam Omeish was the only foreign student to gain admission from a pool of over 6000 candidates for less than 180 positions.
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Esam Omeish helped start the first chapter of the Muslim Students Association at Georgetown.
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Esam Omeish chaired the MSA Council for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area during his years as a student at Georgetown.
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Esam Omeish's wife is Badria Kafala, a scientist with a Ph.
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Esam Omeish is a former vice president and current board member of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church.
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In 2000, Esam Omeish was among those who recommended the board of directors hires Anwar al-Awlaki as the mosque's imam; at the time the American-born cleric espoused moderate Muslim views and appeared to bridge the American and Muslim cultures.
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In 2004, at 36 years of age, Esam Omeish was the youngest member of the mosque's Board of Directors.
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Esam Omeish said then that the mosque leadership needed to be more open and inclusive of younger people, including women.
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Esam Omeish acknowledged that some mosque members raised reasonable questions about the mosque's constitution.
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In 2004, as President of the Muslim American Society, Esam Omeish wrote a letter to The Washington Post in which he took issue with "inaccuracies" in the definition of the Muslim Brotherhood published by the paper.
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In 2007, Esam Omeish earned the prestigious "Outstanding Physician of the Year" award.
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Esam Omeish told a news conference that jihad traditionally was not about violence, but about the inner struggles leading to spiritual triumph.
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In 2009 Esam Omeish ran for State Assemblyman in the Democratic Party primary election in the 35th District of the Virginia House of Delegates.
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Esam Omeish raised $143,734 for his campaign from January 1 to May 27,2009, the fourth-largest amount of fundraising statewide among all Virginia House of Delegates candidates.
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Esam Omeish came in third in the primary on June 8,2009, with 1,039 votes.
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Esam Omeish expressed his support for President Barack Obama, and said that Muslim-Americans needed to get more involved in politics.