Litigation Jihad 

MOBILE, Ala — The owner of a large southwest Alabama car dealership derided as “Taliban Toyota” by a competitor has been awarded $7.5 million in damages after a jury trial for his slander claim.

Iranian-born Shawn Esfahani, owner of Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, Alabama, sought $28 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Bob Tyler Toyota, claiming employees at that Pensacola, Florida-based dealership falsely portrayed him as an Islamist militant to customers.

“The feeling I received in the courtroom for the truth to come out was worth a lot more than any money anybody can give me,” Esfahani told Reuters on Tuesday.

Esfahani’s lawsuit said that Bob Tyler sales manager Fred Kenner told at least one couple considering buying from Eastern Shore Toyota in 2009 that Esfahani was of Middle Eastern descent and was “helping fund the insurgents there and is also laundering money for them.”

Sweden rewards praying Muslim for creating nuisance on train:

(Sweden) A Muslim, who refused to show his ticket to a ticket inspector as he was in the middle of his prayers, was kicked off the train by the ticket inspector. He in turn complained and won a $152 payout.

• Payout for praying Muslim kicked off train in Sweden (eye on the world)

A Northern Virginia (Musel-)man is suing one of the nation’s most secretive intelligence agencies, claiming it revoked his security clearance because his wife attended an Islamic school and works for a Muslim nonprofit. (Mahmoud M. Hegab, 30)

Former Czech PM  tells truth about Islam!

War on free speech follows instantly…..

Retired politician Milos Zeman, Czech prime minister in 1998-2002, said Islam is far more aggressive and intolerant than present Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism and other world religions.   He added that the Koran includes passages calling for the subjugation, enslavement and even elimination of non-believers.

• “There Are Only Muslims and Communists”

Islamic ummah instantly cranks up the litigation machine:

• Former Czech PM sued over statements on Islam

“Zeman has been known for his strong statements.”

Retired politician Milos Zeman, Czech prime minister in 1998-2002, faces a criminal complaint over the statements on Islam he made in June at an international conference on Europe.

“The enemy is the anti-civilisation spreading from North Africa to Indonesia. Two billion people live in it and it is financed partly from oil sales and partly from drug sales,” Czech news servers quoted Zeman as saying about Islam at the recent conference.

Zeman said Thursday Muslims believe in the Koran like Nazis believed in racial supremacy and anti-semitism and communists in class struggle and dictatorship of the proletariat.

He said Islam is far more aggressive and intolerant than present Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism and other world religions.

He added that the Koran includes passages calling for the subjugation, enslavement and even elimination of non-believers.

Zeman has been known for his strong statements.

‘Revert’ Marisol Rodriguez-Colon

And when she has an accident, she can sue the skating rink for breach of safety regulations. Either which way we lose…. An update from this:    Hijab Jihad, Grievance Jihad, Litigation Jihad

Muslim woman says roller rink discriminated against her by not making exception to its no-headgear safety policy so she could wear hijab

Update: Litigation Jihad

Thuggery & Buggery from the Hamas Front CAIR:

This is a safety issue, but for Marisol Rodriguez-Colon and Hamas-linked CAIR, it’s another opportunity to reinforce the idea that Americans must change their behavior to accommodate Sharia norms. “Muslim woman says roller-skating rink discriminated against her,” by Jeane MacIntosh for AP, November 25 (thanks to Pamela Geller via JW):

A Muslim woman claims that a Connecticut roller-skating rink discriminated against her because it wouldn’t allow her to skate in her headscarf.Marisol Rodriguez-Colon, 40, said she was “mortified” when she and another female relative showed up for a niece’s birthday party at the Ron-A-Roll rink in Vernon and were barred at the door.

The venue’s rules, posted at the entrance, read: “No Hats. No Headwear. No Exceptions.”

Colon said her religious hijab shouldn’t count under that policy — and tried to appeal to a rink manager.

“We wear this for religious reasons,” Colon said. “But they didn’t want to hear that.”

The manager, Colon said, gave the women two choices: take off the headscarves, or wear a helmet over them.

Taking off the hijabs was “not an option,” Colon told WTIC-TV in Hartford. [...]

Ron-A-Roll management issued a statement spelling out its “no headwear” policy.It said helmets are offered for safety purposes.

“You are not allowed — you are not welcome here. That is what that says to me,” Colon said of the statement.

She said she was insulted that the rink would deny entrance to people “because of what they believe and what they are wearing because of those beliefs.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said yesterday it filed a complaint with Connecticut’s Human Rights Commission.

No mention, of course, of the fact that CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case. CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounceHamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several of its former officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. Two of its other officials have madeIslamic supremacist statements. CAIR also was involved in the Flying Imams’ intimidation suit against the passengers who reported their suspicious behavior.

Several years ago, University of Albany student Zahra Shah was barred from wearing her headscarf at an upstate New York roller rink.That arena, citing insurance reasons, also banned headwear.

An employee at the time told Shah that other skaters could trip and get hurt if the hijab fell off.

When Shah explained that she wore the scarf for religious reasons, one rink employee told her it was like a cowboy “religiously” wearing a cowboy hat.

After a barrage of phone calls from activist groups and others, the rink management apologized and said Shah could skate with her headscarf.

Of course. And so what if someone gets hurt? At least we won’t be “Islamophobic.”

Associated Press

“Revert” was asked to remove hijab at skating rink, sez she was “shocked”- so the Islamic grievance machine goes in top gear. Of course, if she had caused an accident (like here) she and her backers would have sued as well. Either which way we lose. Wanna bet that the skating ring backs off once the “racist-bigot-Islamophobic” accusations fly?

Woman Says Vernon Skating Rink’s Policy Discriminates Against Muslims

VERNON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut woman says a roller rink’s request that she either remove or cover her traditional Muslim head scarf was discriminatory.

“We couldn’t enter the facility because we had our scarves on,” said Rodriguez-Colon, who has worn the scarf, or hijab, for 16 years.

(Nothing “traditional” to see here. Just in-your-face Islamic supremacy. Islam tops your kafir laws, back off, infidel!)

Marisol Rodriguez-Colon of Windsor tells WTIC-TV that she and her sister-in-law went to the Ron-A-Roll indoor rink in Vernon on Sunday for her niece’s birthday party. She says inside, a woman who identified herself as a manager, told them they would have to either remove their hijabs or wear helmets. She was told the rink has a policy prohibiting headwear.

Rodriguez-Colon said removing her scarf was “not an option,” and they left.

Rink management issued a statement reiterating the no headwear policy and saying helmets are offered for safety purposes.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it has filed a complaint with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

British Pay Jihadists to Tell Tall Tales of Torture

“Never surrender”— unless you are sued by jihadists.

Massive Taxpayer Payoff to Gitmo Terrorists (Moonbattery)

Binyam Mohamed: among the terrorists who hit the taxpayer jackpot.

Only the most bloodthirsty Islamic maniacs earn the honor of a stay at Guantanamo Bay. Unfortunately for the terrorists, even the most well-earned vacation can’t last forever. Fattened up on gourmet halal meals, some have had to return to the daily grind of murdering the innocent. But at least the British government is mitigating the disappointment with massive handouts of taxpayer money:

Around a dozen men who accused British security forces of colluding in their transfer overseas are to get millions in compensation from the UK government.

Some of the men, who are all British citizens or residents, were detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

At least six of them alleged UK forces were complicit in their torture before they arrived at Guantanamo.

Only six of them? The rest must not have read the al Qaeda manual that instructs all captured terrorists to pretend they’ve been tortured. As the enemy well knows, our own sanctimonious liberal idiocy is their most effective weapon against us.

Odds that the terrorists really were tortured in any genuine sense are remote. However…

In May, the Court of Appeal ruled that the government could not rely on secret evidence to defend itself against the six cases, saying allegations of wrongdoing had to be heard in public.

Therefore the government has to pay off the terrorists to avoid assisting their cause by releasing secret information to the public.

Once again we see that Islam is only an opportunistic infection. The underlying disease that makes us vulnerable to it is moonbattery.

Weekly Standard

The UK government has decided to award seven former Guantanamo detainees millions of dollars in an out-of-court settlement, according to multiple press accounts. Why? The ex-Gitmo detainees claim that British authorities knew they were being tortured during their detention by the U.S. and other countries. And the Brits reportedly do not want their intelligence officials to become embroiled in costly and time-consuming litigation.

When the proposed settlement was first announced earlier this year, UK prime minister David Cameron explained his government’s rationale. “Our [intelligence] services are paralysed by paperwork as they try to defend themselves in lengthy court cases with uncertain rules,” Cameron said. “We cannot have their work impeded by these allegations.”

Cameron’s reasoning makes sense from a certain point of view. But he is still wrong.

Related: Litigation Jihad

Great piece over at Human Events by Robert Spencer,“The Law as Weapon.“ Indeed. Lawfare is a major front in the stealth jihad war on the West. It is wildly expensive, laborious, and time-consuming to fend off these cases of harassment designed to shut down the truth. Read it.

The Law as Weapon Robert Spencer, Human Events

• Torture prescribed by Muhammad, profit of Islam
• A Filipina maid and her Bangladeshi lover will receive 100 lashes and be deported for having sex out of wedlock in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, a newspaper said.

The struggle against the West’s jihadist foes is as much an information war as it is a military conflict. The contest for hearts and minds, both in the Muslim world and in the West, is a significant part of the war. Britain’s capitulation to the former Gitmo detainees might be evidence that the West is losing this battle.

To defeat the UK government, all the former Gitmo detainees and their lawyers had to do was claim they were tortured and then bury government officials in paperwork. It didn’t even matter that their claims have been repeatedly investigated and disproved. I’ve written about this previously, so I will not recount all of the facts again. (See, for example, here and here.)

However, consider two striking examples.

One of the former Gitmo detainees who is profiting from his phony torture claims is Moazzam Begg. The U.S. government has investigated Begg’s claims four times – that’s right, four times. The DoD investigated his story three times. The Department of Justice’s Inspector General also investigated Begg’s claims as part of its comprehensive review of the FBI’s involvement in detainee operations around the world.

What did they find? There is no evidence to substantiate any of Begg’s allegations. Moreover, Begg willingly signed an eight-page confession that detailed his Taliban and al Qaeda ties. (I reproduced the relevant excerpts from the inspector general’s report here.)

Begg stands to receive a large payout from the UK government nonetheless.

Binyam Mohamed is another one of the seven detainees who will reportedly be getting paid. Mohamed claims that his private parts were repeatedly sliced with a razor over an 18-month period while he was detained in Morocco. If this is true, then it certainly amounts to torture and it should be condemned in no uncertain terms.

The problem is, there is no evidence that it is true, and the U.S. government’s medical records do not substantiate Mohamed’s story. Mohamed is represented by lawyers working for Reprieve, a radical British outfit that spreads anti-Gitmo, anti-American myths. Reprieve has repeatedly pushed Mohamed’s razor-torture story, forcing the U.S. to respond. You can read part of the U.S. response in a PDF document published on Reprieve’s website. Here, according to Reprieve, is what U.S. officials found:

There is no evidence to support counsel’s claim that Mr. Mohamed’s genitalia were brutalized. Nothing abnormal about his genitalia is noted in any of his medical records. He received complete medical intake evaluations after he arrived in DoD control and upon arrival at Guantanamo. The doctors did not identify any scarring on his genitalia. He has never complained to doctors about his genitalia…

Reprieve’s response is laughable. The organization did not dispute the U.S. government’s claim that there is no scarring on Mohamed’s genitalia. Instead, Reprieve argued:

Mr. Mohamed explained in his original allegations three years ago that he was cut with a razor – and any person who shaves will understand that this is a torturer’s weapon of choice because cuts heal relatively quickly, and leave little obvious evidence in the long term (else every shaver would have the face of Frankenstein).

To compare shaving one’s beard to 18 months of genital mutilation is absurd on its face. A nick on the face is one thing. Deliberate cuts on one’s most sensitive parts over the span of a year and a half are quite another. But that is what Reprieve argued. The reason is straightforward. When Binyam Mohamed arrived at Guantanamo after being held at other detention facilities (including in Morocco), there was no physical evidence to back up his outrageous claim. His story, when compared to the actual evidence, falls apart. In fact, the only publicly available evidence suggests that Binyam was subjected to treatment that was far less severe, such as sleep deprivation, while he was detained abroad.

Binyam Mohamed stands to receive a big payday regardless.

And on it goes. The UK government has decided that it is not worth fighting these false claims. That is the wrong decision and to see why we only need to look at the warnings of another British prime minister, Tony Blair.

In his autobiography (A Journey: My Political Life), Blair warned that the West has failed to combat the jihadists’ “narrative.” That is, the West is not fighting the information war, which requires the UK and U.S. to dispute the jihadists’ propaganda. The jihadists portray the West as being at war with Muslims in general. As part of this supposed religiously bigoted war, the jihadists claim that America routinely abuses and tortures innocent Muslims. In the jihadists’ anti-American, anti-British propaganda, Binyam Mohamed (who plotted with senior al Qaeda terrorists to strike the American Homeland in 2002), and Moazzam Begg (who is an avowed jihadist and admitted to the FBI that he conspired with the Taliban and al Qaeda in a variety of ways) become victims.

Now the British government has added additional grist for the jihadists’ propaganda mill. David Cameron and other senior UK officials may not want to fight a lengthy and costly lawsuit. But they have, in many respects, taken a far more costly route. They have allowed jihadists to frame the narrative through which this war is viewed.

They are not alone in this regard. The U.S. has failed, too. But at least the American government has not rewarded the jihadists for spreading their propaganda.

Thomas Joscelyn is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

What we need to learn from from our enemies

A message from Pamela Geller: Truth is the new hate-speech

The Silence of the Lambs

There are lessons that we can learn from the enemy. There is little admirable in the evil machinations of the left’s tactics, but their defense of their own people is one of them. When one of their own is under attack, they circle the wagons, hunker down, dig in their heels and defend to the death, no matter how egregious the act (think John Edwards, Barney Frank, Charles Rangel, et al — a veritable rogues’ gallery).

• $10.000 000 Lawsuit Against Pamela Geller
• The Lawfare Case Against Pamela Geller
• War against the freedom of speech heating up in America and Europe …

The right lacks this quality. We tend to eat our own, and then wonder why we have no real leaders. The right allowed the jackals, the vultures to destroy Sarah Palin; even now we hear that she is unelectable (for 2012). Why? She’s perfect. Palin is the most glaring example, but she is but one in a long line. It has to stop. Would Tom DeLay have resigned if he had been a Democrat? Would Jack Ryan have pulled out of the US Senate race (against Obama, no less) if he had been a Democrat? The list is too long. The right has to man up.

Robert Spencer published this piece at Front Page magazine. He has been a staunch defender of me and my work, a rare and wondeful quality. Thanks, Robert.

* The Demonization of Pamela Geller (read it all)

Richard Warman Sues Blazingcatfur For Linking To “Far Right” Mark Steyn

Warman is suing me for $500,000.00 Dollars. A ridiculous amount for an equally ridiculous lawsuit. Nonetheless even nuisance suits such as this must be defended against. To date legal fees have run me about 10K. I’ve covered that from my own pocket. I am now asking for your help. I know times are hard for many of us but if every reader who visited daily were to contribute 5 or 10 dollars then that would go a long way to helping all of us out.

This is your fight too, well except for the lawyer stuff anyway;)   (read more, here)

Elisabeth’s Voice: Fighting for Free Speech in Austria (Thanks to Vlad Tepes)

Amsterdam Demo 30th October – Free Speech – No Sharia

Kitman TV

When the story broke we pointed out instantly that this hijabbed nutcase waited 2 years (until she had citizenship)  before she insisted to wear her scarf in order to sue Disney.

However,  it seems that too many people are getting fed up with these dirty little Islamic games as the word spreads and the message gets out.

CNN’s Don Lemon speaks to the Muslim litigation jihadist who is suing Disneyland because she says the company dress code is discriminatory:

Pretzel Logic:

Reporting Islamic terrorism makes Muslims furious,  which causes ….. Islamic terrorism!

ADELE HORIN from the Sydney Moonbat Herald offers up another gushing piece of  Islamic victimhood and helps Muslims blame “the media” for  Islamic terrorism, which makes Muslims “furious”.  Now, we all know who controls the media and if we could only catch some of them Jooozzzz…..

Aussie News & Views has some interesting comments

On the other side of the world the Muslim litigation jihad is in full swing:

• A Pakistani-American airline engineer from Brooklyn is suing his firm for allegedly allowing co-workers to taunt him by calling him “bomb-maker.”
• New Jersey: Muslim woman sues hospital over religious discrimination

Nadia Saleh with her children, Mohsen, 20, Kamal, 19, Rana, 17, and Hady, 16.

AUSTRALIAN-MUSLIM families have good relations with other Australians, and feel safe and happy here. But they are furious with the media for depicting Muslims as terrorists and criminals, a report for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship reveals.

”The families felt strongly the media was gunning for Muslims; it was a huge concern for them,” said Ilan Katz, the director of the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW, and a co-author of the study. The research is part of a wider project commissioned by the department to understand the concerns and needs of Muslim Australians.

Based on in-depth interviews with 72 family members, it found people traced a change in the media’s depiction of Muslims from the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

”They felt community attitudes had hardened towards them since then because of the media,” said Dr Katz.

So if we stop reporting acts of Islam terror it will go away?

An Iraqi father said: ”The media portrays us as terrorists; the media is against us.” A man from Sudan said, ”Australians listen to the media, that is what they believe.”

• Perhaps more Australians should listen to ‘Dr’ Zakir Naik instead?

Yet the Australian-Muslims were mainly positive about their daily interactions with ordinary Australians, friends, workmates, and passers-by. On the whole they felt accepted and appreciated what Australia could offer. Another father said: ‘‘Australian government high schools even have a mosque [prayer room] … and the students perform midday and Friday prayers there.”

However, a major concern was low income, with some blaming workplace discrimination. Some parents were troubled their children had become more religious than they were. ”The daughters were wearing the hijab but the mothers weren’t,” Dr Katz said. Others were anxious about their children’s involvement with drugs, sex or alcohol.

Nadia Saleh, 42, of Punchbowl, calls Australia ”this remarkable country” that she came to from Lebanon 21 years ago. With her husband Karl, 52, she has raised four children.

”We have got some people who do the wrong thing but it is unfair to criticise the entire Islamic community,” said Mrs Saleh, a manager at the Riverwood Community Centre.

The study highlights the diversity of Australian-Muslims, who come from countries as disparate as Albania and Nigeria.

Dr Katz found Imams were a main source of guidance for parents with family problems and needed more help and resources from government and non-government agencies to do a better job of pastoral care.

The imams are “a source of guidance” alright. Does Dr Katz have any idea what kind of “guidance” they offer?

In Sowdi Barbaria, its business as usual:

Its their culture, you see. Its the way Allah wills it. Who are we to judge?

Saudi Arabia executed two murderers including a Yemeni whose body was nailed to a cross after he was convicted of killing a fellow countryman and his daughter, the interior ministry said on Monday. Fox News

Good news for Sowdis:

Kingdom’s gold reserves more than double/JEDDAH: A World Gold Council (WGC) report revealed Monday that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the country’s central bank, holds more than twice the amount of gold previously estimated.

Ask a Harvard Genius: Does Sharia Law Mandate Child Rape?

Revisiting Aiisha & Muhammad:

Hamza Yusuf attempted to render this event comprehensible to Western students:

For the Muslim, obviously, it’s going to be, ‘What does the Sharia say?’ But it’s important to realize that this was a normal thing within their society….. (the rest is taqiyya)  Right Side News

UAE: Gang rape victim gets one year in prison

Its all her fault, she made ‘em do it. No outrage in the West:

Islamic law requires four male Muslim witnesses who actually saw the act to establish rape or adultery. Absent those witnesses, a woman who makes such an accusation is incriminating herself — even in modern, moderate Abu Dhabi. “Woman who reported rape jailed for one year,” by Hassan Hassan, Marten Youssef and Rym Ghazal in The National, June 14 (thanks to JW)

(actually, the penalty is dead by stoning. Think any of our PC wankers would wake up to reality  if they did kill her for being raped?/ed)

Hijab Grievance Theater

A MUSLIM woman has complained after allegedly being told to remove her face veil during a job interview at a Northern Territory hospital. Herald Sun /  21 comments on this story

Never Enough Shrouds in Iran:  Islam is a Work in Progress!

Iranian police have issued warnings to 62,000 women who were “badly veiled” in the Shiite holy province of Qom as part of a crackdown on dress and behaviour.  Telegraph UK

The One about Iran: What do you call the fusion of democracy and sharia? One man, one hand.

Tit-less Mannequins: Mad Mullahs Mandate Mannequin Mastectomies

You  really couldn’t have made this one up. Apparently the Iranian Vice Police have ordered the breasts to be removed from store front dummies, during the latest crackdown on female dress ’standards’.

In reality of course, it’s just another example of the extraordinarily bizarre doctrine of Islam, which has, despite some of its supporters’ best efforts to have you believe otherwise (and those of the slick advertising agencies it employs); a dark misogyny combined with extreme sexual jealousy, where its heart should be.

It would be completely hilarious, if it weren’t so disturbing and sinister. FromIranian.com via Creeping Sharia/TROP

Cry your heart out:

Your “Islamophobia” causes “The Making of the New Muslim Enemy”, yammers Deepa Kumar

NY Slimes Plays Obama Race Card against Israel…

‘War is deceit”, said Muhammad, prophet of Islam. The Obama bastard is following  his command….

NY Slimes discovers: Obambi could be a closet Muslim…..

Full text below the fold!

“Our boy, our Muslim POTUS…” CAIR Praises Obama for Pro-Islam Policy Shift…

Killed by a Demon Named Muhammad: Chicago Killer “Possessed by Demon”

WKOW

The two had arguments like any married couple, they say, but nothing violent.

As far as abuse — he never physically beat her with his fists or none of that.”

James Larry’s criminal record says differently. He recently served 45 days in jail for allegedly battering his wife in a Walmart parking lot.

Twanda’s outgoing nature likely made her a target. Family members say Larry, a devout Muslim, always carried a Koran and wanted Twanda to wear traditional Muslim clothing.

She refused.

“He preferred for her to wear it,” Anderson said. “She said no, she’s not wearing nothing.”

Demons? Demons???

Ayatollah  Blames Iran’s Earthquakes on Extramarital Sex…

“Many women who dress inappropriately … cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes.”

“We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers.”

This is, of course, a completely unprovable assertion. Because even if every Iranian heeded the addled and apparently sex-obsessed Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi and did his or her best to cut out the extracurricular activities and immodest dress, human nature being what it is and religious standards being what they are, there would always be more to do. Human beings are imperfect. Every religious person in every religious tradition can always examine himself and find some way he could be more observant, more religious. And so even if this crazy man were listened to, Iran would still have earthquakes — and that would not make anyone think, Maybe Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi is nuts. Instead, they would just think, What we need now to fix this problem is evenmore Islam.

“Extramarital sex fuels earthquakes, warns Iran cleric,” from AFP, April 17 Iranian cleric says immodest dress, extramarital sex cause earthquakes/JW

Litigation Jihad:

Ohio: Muslim bank employee sues, says he was fired because he was Muslim

More precisely, he says he was fired because he filed a complaint with the EEOC, claiming he was being harassed for being a Muslim. In any case, lots of people have unpleasant work environments, and have to work with people who are rude or unkind or cruel to them. So what? It’s a part of life — unless you’re a Muslim who can seize the opportunity to claim protected victim status and cash in in the courtroom. “Lawsuit claiming firing was retaliation is headed for trial,” by Peter Krouse for The Plain Dealer, April 17 (thanks to JW):

Reaching Out Quietly to Muslims in America

By ANDREA ELLIOTT/NYT

When President Obama took the stage in Cairo last June, promising a new relationship with the Islamic world, Muslims in America wondered only half-jokingly whether the overture included them. After all, Mr. Obama had kept his distance during the campaign, never visiting an American mosque and describing the false claim that he was Muslim as a “smear” on his Web site.

Nearly a year later, Mr. Obama has yet to set foot in an American mosque. And he still has not met with Muslim and Arab-American leaders. But less publicly, his administration has reached out to this politically isolated constituency in a sustained and widening effort that has left even skeptics surprised.

Muslim and Arab-American advocates have participated in policy discussions and received briefings from top White House aides and other officials on health care legislation, foreign policy, the economy, immigration and national security. They have met privately with a senior White House adviser, Valerie Jarrett, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to discuss civil liberties concerns and counterterrorism strategy.

The impact of this continuing dialogue is difficult to measure, but White House officials cited several recent government actions that were influenced, in part, by the discussions. The meeting with Ms. Napolitano was among many factors that contributed to the government’s decision this month to end a policy subjecting passengers from 14 countries, most of them Muslim, to additional scrutiny at airports, the officials said.

That emergency directive, enacted after a failed Dec. 25 bombing plot, has been replaced with a new set of intelligence-based protocols that law enforcement officials consider more effective.

Also this month, Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Muslim academic, visited the United States for the first time in six years after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clintonreversed a decision by the Bush administration, which had barred Mr. Ramadan from entering the country, initially citing the U.S.A. Patriot Act. Mrs. Clinton also cleared the way for another well-known Muslim professor, Adam Habib, who had been denied entry under similar circumstances.

Arab-American and Muslim leaders said they had yet to see substantive changes on a variety of issues, including what they describe as excessive airport screening, policies that have chilled Muslim charitable giving and invasive F.B.I.surveillance guidelines. But they are encouraged by the extent of their consultation by the White House and governmental agencies.

“For the first time in eight years, we have the opportunity to meet, engage, discuss, disagree, but have an impact on policy,” said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington. “We’re being made to feel a part of that process and that there is somebody listening.”

In the post-9/11 era, Muslims and Arab-Americans have posed something of a conundrum for the government: they are seen as a political liability but also, increasingly, as an important partner in countering the threat of homegrown terrorism. Under PresidentGeorge W. Bush, leaders of these groups met with government representatives from time to time, but said they had limited interaction with senior officials. While Mr. Obama has yet to hold the kind of high-profile meeting that Muslims and Arab-Americans seek, there is a consensus among his policymakers that engagement is no longer optional.

The administration’s approach has been understated. Many meetings have been private; others were publicized only after the fact. A visit to New York University in February byJohn O. Brennan, Mr. Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, drew little news coverage, but caused a stir among Muslims around the country. Speaking to Muslim students, activists and others, Mr. Brennan acknowledged many of their grievances, including “surveillance that has been excessive,” “overinclusive no-fly lists” and “an unhelpful atmosphere around many Muslim charities.”

“These are challenges we face together as Americans,” said Mr. Brennan, who momentarily showed off his Arabic to hearty applause. He and other officials have made a point of disassociating Islam from terrorism in public comments, using the phrase “violent extremism” in place of words like “jihad” and “Islamic terrorism.”

While the administration’s solicitation of Muslims and Arab-Americans has drawn little fanfare, it has not escaped criticism. A small but vocal group of research analysts, bloggers and others complain that the government is reaching out to Muslim leaders and organizations with an Islamist agenda or ties to extremist groups abroad.

They point out that Ms. Jarrett gave the keynote address at the annual convention for theIslamic Society of North America. The group was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Texas-based charity whose leaders were convicted in 2008 of funneling money to Hamas. The society denies any links to terrorism.

“I think dialogue is good, but it has to be with genuine moderates,” said Steven Emerson, a terrorism analyst who advises government officials. “These are the wrong groups to legitimize.” Mr. Emerson and others have also objected to the political appointments of several American Muslims, including Rashad Hussain.

In February, the president chose Mr. Hussain, a 31-year-old White House lawyer, to become the United States’ special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The position, a kind of ambassador at large to Muslim countries, was created by Mr. Bush. In a video address, Mr. Obama highlighted Mr. Hussain’s status as a “close and trusted member of my White House staff” and “a hafiz,” a person who has memorized the Koran.

Within days of the announcement, news reports surfaced about comments Mr. Hussain had made on a panel in 2004, while he was a student at Yale Law School, in which he referred to several domestic terrorism prosecutions as “politically motivated.” Among the cases he criticized was that of Sami Al-Arian, a former computer-science professor in Florida who pleaded guilty to aiding members of a Palestinian terrorist group.

At first, the White House said Mr. Hussain did not recall making the comments, which had been removed from the Web version of a 2004 article published by a small Washington magazine. When Politico obtained a recording of the panel, Mr. Hussain acknowledged criticizing the prosecutions but said he believed the magazine quoted him inaccurately, prompting him to ask its editor to remove the comments. On Feb. 22, The Washington Examiner ran an editorial with the headline “Obama Selects a Voice of Radical Islam.”

Muslim leaders watched carefully as the story migrated to Fox News. They had grown accustomed to close scrutiny, many said in interviews, but were nonetheless surprised. In 2008, Mr. Hussain had co-authored a paper for the Brookings Institution arguing that the government should use the peaceful teachings of Islam to fight terrorism.

“Rashad Hussain is about as squeaky clean as you get,” said Representative Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat who is Muslim. Mr. Ellison and others wondered whether the administration would buckle under the pressure and were relieved when the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, defended Mr. Hussain.

“The fact that the president and the administration have appointed Muslims to positions and have stood by them when they’ve been attacked is the best we can hope for,” said Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America.

It was notably different during Mr. Obama’s run for office. In June 2008, volunteers of his campaign barred two Muslim women in headscarves from appearing behind Mr. Obama at a rally in Detroit, eliciting widespread criticism. The campaign promptly recruited Mazen Asbahi, a 36-year-old corporate lawyer and popular Muslim activist from Chicago, to become its liaison to Muslims and Arab-Americans.

Bloggers began researching Mr. Asbahi’s background. For a brief time in 2000, he had sat on the board of an Islamic investment fund, along with Sheikh Jamal Said, a Chicago imam who was later named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Mr. Asbahi said in an interview that he had left the board after three weeks because he wanted no association with the imam.

Shortly after his appointment to the Obama campaign, Mr. Asbahi said, a Wall Street Journal reporter began asking questions about his connection to the imam. Campaign officials became concerned that news coverage would give critics ammunition to link the imam to Mr. Obama, Mr. Asbahi recalled. On their recommendation, Mr. Asbahi agreed to resign from the campaign, he said.

He is still unsettled by the power of his detractors. “To be in the midst of this campaign of change and hope and to have it stripped away over nothing,” he said. “It hurts.”

From the moment Mr. Obama took office, he seemed eager to change the tenor of America’s relationship with Muslims worldwide. He gave his first interview to Al Arabiya, the Arabic-language television station based in Dubai. Muslims cautiously welcomed his ban on torture and his pledge to close Guantánamo within a year.

In his Cairo address, he laid out his vision for “a new beginning” with Muslims: while America would continue to fight terrorism, he said, terrorism would no longer define America’s approach to Muslims.

Back at home, Muslim and Arab-American leaders remained skeptical. But they took note when, a few weeks later, Mohamed Magid, a prominent imam from Sterling, Va., and Rami Nashashibi, a Muslim activist from Chicago, joined the president at a White-House meeting about fatherhood. Also that month, Dr. Faisal Qazi, a board member of American Muslim Health Professionals, began meeting with administration officials to discuss health care reform.

The invitations were aimed at expanding the government’s relationship with Muslims and Arab-Americans to areas beyond security, said Mr. Hussain, the White House’s special envoy. Mr. Hussain began advising the president on issues related to Islam after joining the White House counsel’s office in January 2009. He helped draft Mr. Obama’s Cairo speech and accompanied him on the trip. “The president realizes that you cannot engage one-fourth of the world’s population based on the erroneous beliefs of a fringe few,” Mr. Hussain said.

Other government offices followed the lead of the White House. In October, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke met with Arab-Americans and Muslims in Dearborn, Mich., to discuss challenges facing small-business owners. Also last fall, Farah Pandith was sworn in as the State Department’s first special representative to Muslim communities. While Ms. Pandith works mostly with Muslims abroad, she said she had also consulted with American Muslims because Mrs. Clinton believes “they can add value overseas.”

Despite this, American actions abroad — including civilian deaths from drone strikes in Pakistan and the failure to close Guantánamo — have drawn the anger of Muslims and Arab-Americans.

Even though their involvement with the administration has broadened, they remain most concerned about security-related policies. In January, when the Department of Homeland Security hosted a two-day meeting with Muslim, Arab-American, South Asian and Sikh leaders, the group expressed concern about the emergency directive subjecting passengers from a group of Muslim countries to additional screening.

Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, pointed out that the policy would never have caught the attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid, who is British. “It almost sends the signal that the government is going to treat nationals of powerless countries differently from countries that are powerful,” Ms. Khera recalled saying as community leaders around the table nodded their heads.

Ms. Napolitano, who sat with the group for more than an hour, committed to meeting with them more frequently. Ms. Khera said she left feeling somewhat hopeful.

“I think our message is finally starting to get through,” she said.