Dr. Walid Fitaihi, one of the trustees of the Islamic Society of Boston, apologized last week to selected members of the Jewish community for making "allegedly" anti-Semitic statements. From The Jewish Advocate:
"A central figure in the ongoing controversy between the Islamic Society of Boston and members of the Jewish community spoke to Jewish leaders on April 6 to apologize for statements he made that many alleged were anti-Semitic. In a meeting closed to the media, about 25 religious and lay leaders from the Boston area gathered at the Workmen’s Circle building on Beacon Street in Brookline, according to Attorney and Vice President of the Workmen’s Circle Michael Felsen, to listen and respond to comments by Dr. Walid Ahmad Fitaihi. The event was organized by the Workmen’s Circle and the Interreligious Center for Public Life, the public policy center at Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College of Newton."
The Interreligious Center for Public Life has been attempting to insert itself and mediate between the Islamic Society of Boston and The David Project. More on the group's background and members here.
"Fitaihi, who serves on the ISB’s board of trustees and was a longtime director for the ISB, caused an uproar when comments he made in Arabic newspapers were translated and re-printed in the Boston Herald in March 2004."
Part of the uproar was because Dr. Fitaihi was engaging in local interfaith dialogue at the exact same time as he made his comments in Arabic newspapers. Dr. Fitaihi was ISB treasurer at the time. His comments included applauding anti-Israeli violence as "a great thing," and statements about Jews having "perpetrated the worst of evils and ... brought the worst corruptions to the earth."
Back to The Jewish Advocate article:
"And though Fitaihi, now the chairman of the board and chief executive officer at the International Medical Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, left the country Sunday, Felsen said that Fitaihi 'recognized that there were wounds in both directions, to both the Jewish and Muslim communities, and he came with the stated desire to begin to heal the wounds caused by some of his words.' ”
Wounds in both directions? Hmppph. That sounds like a qualified apology to me. Dr. Fitaihi may indeed have had some sort of change of heart, and he perhaps truly regrets his earlier statements. Or perhaps he's doing what's needed to help the ISB be seen in a better light so that they're able to raise funds again and complete their mosque. I expect that the Interreligious Center for Public Life will now re-approach The David Project, looking for apologies from them. (I wasn't always such a cold-hearted skeptic...)
Dr. Fitaihi has been extremely busy in Saudi Arabia working on the design and construction of an international medical center/hospital, a joint project with a Cleveland OH firm, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Sami Angawi, the renowned architect who designed the International Medical Center, is the same architect who designed the ISB mosque in Boston. (The architect was reportedly paid upfront for the ISB mosque design work, a percentage of the original estimated construction cost. ) Dr. Fitaihi's father started the dream of an Islamic International Center back in the mid-1990's. The medical center opened late last year, which is pretty quick work for such an ambitious project. Dr. Fitaihi (the son) strongly encourages Saudi women to enter the medical profession. He recently commented on women in the work force at his medical center:
"(Dr. Fitaihi) says hiring women makes solid business sense because it gives him a staff on whom his patients can depend. “It is easier for me to find an intelligent, hard-working, dedicated Saudi woman than a Saudi man in the market,” Dr. Fitaihi told Arab News. “This has been my experience at IMC. We have more than 50 percent women working with us. They are successful because they, Saudi women, have a drive to excel and to prove to themselves that they can do it — and do it better..... They’re doing much, much better than their male counterparts.”
That certainly sounds like a wonderful project and a gorgeous medical center. I'm not sure why Dr. Fitaihi still serves as a trustee for the Islamic Society of Boston, but that's the ISB's business. My understanding is that all trustees reside overseas (KSA, UAE, Qatar) at this time. None reside in the U.S., let alone in Massachusetts.
Update: I see I'm not the only skeptic here. Solomonia asks, "Apologized to who? For what?"
"We don't have any wording from the "apology," nor do we know who, exactly, was at the meeting. How do we measure this? Fitaihi jetted into town, then just as quickly jetted out after facing what looks like a friendly audience and no serious or skeptical questioning -- a group who then...surprise...pronounce him absolved."
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