Esam Omeish

Local Virginians described him as "a very logical person" that is very patriotic and who speaks the people's language. Jim Hyland, the Republican candidate for the seat, said Omeish was a poor choice to represent his region's growing Muslim community. "What criteria were they using to select people?" he said. "I think (his views) come from a small-minded perspective—got to fight Israel and all that sort of rhetoric. Some people have tried move beyond that." John Carroll, who ran against Omeish in the primary, said: "I was surprised (when I watched the video). He's about as nice a guy as you can meet," and "He's really championed health care for the uninsured."

His wife is Badria Kafala, a scientist with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics. They have four children as of 2009: Abrar, Anwar, Yousof, and Ibrahim. In 2008 their daughter Anwar participated in an episode on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The show included children from across the U.S., of different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.

In 2009 Omeish ran for State Assemblyman in the Democratic Party primary election in the 35th District of the Virginia House of Delegates. Omeish raised $143,734 for his campaign from January 1 to May 27, 2009 ($52,000 of which was his personal money), the fourth-largest amount of fundraising statewide among all Virginia House of Delegates candidates. His third-highest contributor was the International Institute of Islamic Thought.

Omeish came in third in the primary on June 8, 2009, with 1,039 votes (15.7%).

In June 2009, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited Omeish to join 100-200 invitees on a conference call that was billed as a forum in which to discuss how to bridge the divide between the United States and the Muslim community. Omeish expressed his support for President Barack Obama, and said that Muslim-Americans needed to get more involved in politics. A press statement from his campaign office included a message from him expressing his hope that,

In August 2007, Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed Omeish to the Virginia Commission on Immigration. In 2009, he unsuccessfully ran for State Assemblyman in a primary election in the 35th District of the Virginia House of Delegates.

In 2007, Omeish earned the prestigious "Outstanding Physician of the Year" award. That same year, Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed him to the Virginia Commission on Immigration, which was evaluating issues related to illegal immigration.

Following public revelations of controversial remarks by Omeish in several videos, which criticized Israel and the United States government and appeared to encourage jihad, Kaine asked for Omeish's resignation from the commission on September 27, 2007, and he complied. A caller noted Omeish's remarks when the governor appeared on a radio show.

Omeish was filmed at an August 12, 2006, rally in Washington near the White House, denouncing Israel's invasion of Lebanon that year and the "Israeli war machine." He accused Israel of genocide and massacres against Palestinians, and said the "Israeli agenda" controlled Congress.

As President of the MAS in 2005, Omeish represented the organization at a news conference announcing an anti-terrorism campaign launched by a coalition of US-based Muslim groups.

As President of the MAS in 2005, Omeish represented the organization at a news conference announcing an anti-terrorism campaign launched by a coalition of US-based Muslim groups. He told reporters: "The fact of the matter is we know of no sleeper cells, we don't know of that phenomenon to exist in our community." He attributed this success in part to the teaching of moderate, authentic Islam: "What has protected our community far before 9/11 from extremism and violent ideology is that balanced mainstream advocacy of Islamic principles." He was President of MAS through 2007, but resigned in 2008.

In 2004, at 36 years of age, Omeish was the youngest member of the mosque's Board of Directors. He said then that the mosque leadership needed to be more open and inclusive of younger people, including women. "The bottom line is that this is a mosque that is in the heart of Washington," he said. "Our goal is to make the congregation reflect that reality."

Omeish acknowledged that some mosque members raised reasonable questions about the mosque's constitution. In 2004, proposals for change under consideration included direct elections to the mosque's board of directors, director term limits, and phasing out the board seats that the constitution assigns to officials of certain Muslim organizations. As of December 2009, Omeish was still a member of the mosque's Board of Directors. In early 2010, he resigned from the Board of Directors because of lack of major reform in the center's policies.

In 2004, as President of the Muslim American Society, 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. It was discussed in John Mintz and Douglas Farah's article, "In search of friends among the foes, US hopes to work with diverse group," (September 11, 2004). Omeish wrote,

In 2000, Esam Omeish was among those who recommended the board of directors hire 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. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki: "has no inclination or active involvement in any events or circumstances that have to do with terrorism."

He attended Georgetown University. Upon graduating with a double major in government and biology in 1989, Omeish attended the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He was the only foreign student to gain admission from a pool of over 6000 candidates for less than 180 positions.

Esam Omeish was born in Tripoli, Libya. In 1982 he immigrated at the age of 15 with his family to the United States, not knowing any English. They settled in Falls Church, Virginia, where he attended J. E. B. Stuart High School. He and his brothers started the first Muslim Friday prayers in a high school in the Washington, DC area. He 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.

Esam S. Omeish (born December 19, 1967) is a Libyan-born American physician and chief of the Division of General Surgery at Inova Alexandria Hospital since 2006. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque and former President of the Muslim American Society (MAS).