Muslim Minister Says He Tried to Avoid Shaking Michelle Obama’s Hand
- Posted on November 9, 2010 at 4:32pm by
Meredith Jessup
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Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) — A conservative Muslim government minister admits he shook hands with first lady Michelle Obama in welcoming her to Indonesia but says it wasn’t his choice.
Footage on YouTube shows otherwise, sparking a debate that has lit up Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the blogosphere.
“I tried to prevent (being touched) with my hands but Mrs. Michelle held her hands too far toward me (so) we touched,” Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring told tens of thousands of followers on Twitter.
While Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith. But Sembiring has flaunted his conservatism and says he avoids contact with women who are not related to him.
The minister was among the dignitaries in a receiving line that greeted President Barack Obama and his wife as they arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday — a homecoming of sorts for the president who spent part of his childhood here. Indonesians gathered around television sets across the country to watch the American president touch down. Children at the school he attended practiced a song dedicated to him just in case he visited.
In footage of the official welcome, Sembiring appeared to share his countrymen’s enthusiasm. He smiled broadly as he shook the president‘s hand and then reached with both hands to grasp Michelle Obama’s. But later he said she forced their contact.
His denial was in a response to tweets from Indonesians who noted the handshake and questioned his long-standing claims that, as a good Muslim, he restricts his contact with women.
Many posts had a “gotchya” quality to them.
One female journalist — who said the minister had refused to shake her hand — gleefully noted that now he would no longer be able to wriggle out of it.
Sembiring has often tweeted controversial comments, including blaming natural disasters on a lack of morality and joking about AIDS.
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Comments (92)
common everyday citizen
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:47pmHe was thinking that she may get all“jiggy wid dit” 8-)
Report Post »MUDFLAPS
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:46pmWell, at last I agree with one thing a muslim says
Report Post »USAPLISKENXI
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:40pmAll of you need to check this out, there are 4 parts then tell all of your friends!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9dGHuRExiM
Report Post »
Report Post »Ronko
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:28pmAre you kidding me she’s just a women its not a big deal I mean your not going to get smallpox from shaking her hand. The flaws of Islam it has way too many dumb rules. With Christianity its simple be good, don’t sin, and follow the 10 commandments. I bet thats why Mohammend went his own path instead of Christ’s path during the end of the 6th century to avoid the 10 commandments.
Report Post »BubbaGrump
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 10:43amIt’s even simpler thn that: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Report Post »The three greatest things in life are Faith, Hope, and Love. And of these, Love is the greastest.
Paraphrashing off…..
Patriot Z
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:22pmhe musta bee really uncomfortable when she slapped his ass and said “hows your wang hanging?”
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 4:58amHoly crap! That one had me rolling laughing & at 5:00 in the morning that’s a pretty good feat! hahahahaha.
Report Post »PA-Patriot
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:21pmI wouldn’t want to shake her hand either. And the same goes for her husband.
Report Post »MidAmerican
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:49pmIt’s ok, I know the feeling Haseem. I tried MY best to NOT have them in the White House where they could touch my life. What’s a guy to do????
Report Post »Sig Sauer Guy
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:10pmCan’t say that I blame the guy, I wouldn‘t want to shake her or her old man’s hand either.
Report Post »roberja
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:05pmThis has nothing to do with germs. Michelle is a women and not a moslem. Therefore, it is not permitted to be touched by her.
Report Post »Nvrforget
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:15pmShe’s a woman, no matter the religion. It is considered rude to touch or be touched by a woman that’s not in your family. It’s hard to find a parallel that works in our society, but it’s kind of like me greeting an unfamiliar woman with a kiss, which would be okay in southern or eastern Europe however. This is just a societal norm and doesn’t really have anything to do with Sharia law.
Report Post »teddlybar
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:02pmWhile on the one hand, it does point out the cleric’s hypocracy, it also points out a failure on the part of the Obama’s to learn the protocols of courtesy in a foreign land. Their protocol staff should have briefed them on proper greetings in this particular country . . . or are they choosing to ignore common courtesy once again?
Report Post »MissCherryJones
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:11pmAbsolutely correct. He claims to be devout, but is caught in a misstep. Now he‘s trying to backtrack because he’s told his countrymen he’s a strict follower. Oops.
Report Post »As far as Ms Obama, for someone who claims to be open to all (and the first lady!), she sure doesn’t know much about the customs of other countries. Kinda her only job on these trips.
JohnnyJT
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:00pmHe must of seen her pick her nose and she didn’t wash her hands.
Report Post »Balladeer
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:55pmNo religion for me I wouldn’t shake hands with either of them…they are slime. Personally, I wold shake the hands of the Secret Service…they must work overtime keeping the most evil President to date alive
Report Post »Nvrforget
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:59pmIncompetent? Yes. Not quite anchored in reality with his ideas? Yes. Lacking determination? Yes. Too soft? Yes. Evil? Nah.
Report Post »NHABE64
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:26pmI would not want to shake hands with anyone either that said she was ashamed of America. I have never been ashamed of America only ashamed of Obama and that includes Aunt Jemima.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:33pm[poor Aunt Jemima and Mrs Butterworths.] no, queen michelle antionette is totally just a Chewbacca. no Class, no Grace, no ‘beauty’. just her ugly mean sneers [never will forget the pix of how she looked at the FL of France, yeow, such envy!] and her horrible toothy grimaces like she is trying to emulate a smile cos everyone else is..
Report Post »nordspan
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:18pmSo are you all calling Howie Mandell a relgion freak because he doesn’t want to shake hands. Really, relgion is not the bad guy here. The guy choses to use that as an excuse – that’s his right, but I do find it funny that it’s so easy for people to jump on one side or the other.
You’ve got to know that passing germs shaking hands is a big deal LOL!
Report Post »RiyekoLoradaeron
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:17pmMaybe his wife or family started to berate him enough to make him feel guilty by shaking her hand. If they had done any study about what religion these people were, and the consequences that the religion is supposed to bring, then Michelle is the one who is stepping on folks toes… but let me make it clear, im not defending anyone in this matter lol.
Report Post »NoToGlobalism
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:17pmYou think he may set himself on fire?
Report Post »LasVegas Lady
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:11pmyawn
Report Post »StalinsLoveChild
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:10pmI’d keep my hand on my wallet.
Report Post »cmsmik
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:04pmlmao
Report Post »HeavyMetalRooster
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:00pmMaybe he thought she was a dude. She kinda looks like one.
Report Post »HeavyMetalRooster
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 8:01pmYou mean you can see a picture? WTF? I can’t see any pictures. This is BS!!
Report Post »HeavyMetalRooster
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 8:13pm@NVRFORGET
It‘s yours for the petting but only if you’re a lovely hen. Gay roosters just aren’t for me. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a gay rooster.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:00pmThis has nothing to do with religion.
Report Post »lqtm
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:04pmYeah it does- religion and hypocrisy and politics. These are, unfortunately, closely related things in most countries these days.
Report Post »New-American-Saviors
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 4:59pmSo as a Muslim Family, the Obama’s should have the knowledge and courtesy to respect their own religion. Michelle was actually disrespecting the religion and the Man.
Report Post »lqtm
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:03pmLOL you’re one of those people who thinks Obama is Muslim. Way to face reality.
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 4:51amMy thoughts exactly. wouldn’t she have known this is a “no-no” seeing as how Presidents and family members are briefed on the taboos of other cultures beforehand? Just another example of being out of touch, uncooth & tacky.
Report Post »roberja
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 4:58pmThe poor minister now has to go purify himself. He is unclean. As a teacher, I had moslem fathers avoid any kind of handshakes or hugs. We are, after all infidels and kaffirs.
Report Post »independentvoteril
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:45pmand we are proud of it..
Report Post »Helen-of-Joy
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 4:57pmJust awful getting caught in blatant false modesty don’t you think?
Report Post »Handsome Pete
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 4:57pmI wouldn’t want to touch that either.
Report Post »lqtm
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:01pmIs it racist?
Report Post »Handsome Pete
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:15pmNope. I wouldn’t want to touch Pelosi either.
Report Post »HouseNegro
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:20pmPoor guy will have to cut his hand off now, then the masses will stone him to death. Another international incident. Thank God she didn’t bend over, like her husband does.
Report Post »opNorthwoods
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 4:56pm“Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”
Report Post »quote from: David Rockefeller -Random House published his Memoirs in 2002(On page 405 of the paperback edition)
Rational Man
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:11pm@opnorthwoods
I suppose you want minority status and a big handout!
Report Post »mrsclark
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:28pmSoooo what’s your point?
Report Post »Jamestown
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 8:57amNO…THAT IS NOT THE BIBLE…THAT IS THE TORAH…its amazing how stupid this black woman is…she understands Nothing….
Report Post »lqtm
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 4:54pmAnd this is why religion is a detriment to mankind- it creates the illusion of barriers where they do not exist.
Report Post »Large Eagle
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:35pmIslam i.e. Muslims is not a religion
Report Post »Nvrforget
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:41pmWhat, in your opinion, disqualifies it from being a religion?
Report Post »RobertCA
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:46pmNo hand shake but stoning raping torturing & killings by sharia law is ok but once again no hand shake .
Jezreel
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 5:47pmI thought maybe he didn’t want to shake her hand in case a demon jumped out of her onto him!
Report Post »MrButcher
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:14pmLQTM,
you are absolutly right.
I’ll go you one further; religion will be the end of humanity as we know it.
Report Post »JohnEightOne2Ten
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 6:59pm“Religion” as in subjection to God’s final judgment will indeed be the end of mankind, but not because they practiced, because they didn’t. Islam is more cult than religion because it requires almost slavish devotion and following of an imam’s desires no matter how perverse.
Rational Man
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:02pmHe probably didn’t want to get any porkchop grease on his hands………Think about it!
(non-politically correct joke, don’t hate me)
Rational Man
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 7:32pmWho cares!!
Report Post »NoToGlobalism
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:12pmOh my gosh. I’m so sick and tired of the snits and tirades against religion whenever there is any little flap. You atheists and agnostics need to get over yourselves. We all know you think we’re crazy for believing in a god, and yes, sometimes we misplace our priorities but we all make mistakes.. sometimes pretty huge ones.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:12pm@LKETCHUM – nice try demonizing Islam, Professor. If you want to remain credible, I challenge you to quote the Koran to support your baseless ideas of Sharia Law. Since we’re just making up statistics out of thin air (”80% are studying Sharia law, not practicing religious faith” – Professor give us all the source of that information) I’ll say that 99.9% of those of Islamic faith would say you don‘t have a clue what you’re talking about.
I think you missed the word “moderate.” You don‘t quote the Koran because you’ve never read it (neither have I). Your post starts with a plausible opinion on the history of the religion then you wander off into an pseudo-intellectual, unsupported, opinions on the Evil of Islam without a single quote from the Koran, a book you present yourself as an expert on.
Well, maybe I’m an expert. Here are some quotes from that book.
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.”
“Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death”
“If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death.”
“All who curse their father or mother must be put to death.”
“But if this charge is true (that she wasn’t a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death.”
“I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.”
Actually, that’s the Bible, and only a small sampling. There are plenty of others about killing other people who disagree with you. Here are the references in order:
Exodus 21:7-11 NLT
Exodus 21:15 NAB
Leviticus 20:10 NLT
Leviticus 20:9 NLT
Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB
Exodus 31:12-15 NLT
I’m not a Muslim, only someone who wishes to live a Christian life. But, if so motivated, you can find justification in any religious book for killing whomever you choose. I’m not an expert on religion as you present yourself as. But I do think there is a common morality among moderates of every religion. And, my religious friend, I don’t think your ideas do much to promote peace in the world.
Report Post »bullcrapbuster
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:24pmReligion is here to stay. So deal with it.
Report Post »Caitlinmd
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 12:25am@JZS
I definitely appreciate your comments as I have seen a lot of posts here which demonize everyone who claims the Muslim religion. Christianity gets that sort of crap from atheists all the time, so why are we doing it to others? Coming from a religion myself which is misinterpreted by those who claim to know more about my faith than I do, I would rather give these people the benefit of the doubt as I am not an expert on their religion. I’m not at all denying that there are extremist Muslims. I’m not denying that some Muslim countries adopt the extreme side of the religion. I just don’t think blanket statements saying that all Muslims all over the world believe like they do should be made. I lived with a Muslim girl from Bangladesh for quite a while and have to say, her family sounded just as normal as any. She attended a private Christian university with me and was nothing but curious and kind about Christianity. Although legal in her country, her mother told her father that if he ever married another wife, she’d beat the living tar out of him. Now I can’t make a blanket statement saying all Muslims are like her and her family either, but I can definitely say she doesn’t fit the mold some people on here are trying to cram her into just because of her religion.
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 7:38am“But, if so motivated, you can find justification in any religious book for killing whomever you choose”
So you‘re saying it’s just a coincidence that MOST terrorist just by some wild chance happen to be Muslim? If similar things are in the Bible AND the Quran, then why aren’t a bunch of Christians running around blowing up innocent people all over the world IN THE NAME of their religion?
The left always tries to equate Tim Mcveigh with Christianity (to refute the cold hard fact that most terrorist attacks are carried out by Muslims) but what’s the difference? The Muslims unabashedly do their evil work IN THE NAME of their sick religion (I believe Mcv didn’t even mention his), claiming it makes them good Muslims. All the while, the so called “moderate” Muslims condone these acts with their deafening silence.
For the record, I don’t practice any religion, but it is baffling how people can defend an obviously sick religion like Islam while demonizing moderate religions like Christianity and Judaism.
Report Post »CharlieCobra
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 12:14pmHe must be a racist…
Report Post »jzs
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 12:48pmCaitlinmd, good post. The Founding Fathers would be support your views of the horrors of religious persecution, something they sought to eliminate in the United States.
BS, not so good. Every heard of the Crusades? Three million dead in the name of Christianity. Assassinations of abortion providers? The lynching of Blacks by those who wielded a noose in one hand and a bible in other? I could go on, but I will only repeat the obvious: religion, any religion, has extremists who justify their abhorrent actions by their religious beliefs. That doesn’t make the religion “sick” it makes the people who commit the acts sick.
Of course, you have no religion, therefore no morality or conscience, therefore any act of murder, theft or hatred is justified in your mind, just like John Wayne Gacy (a Christian) or Jeffery Dahmer, two people, interestingly you will not say a word against (sorry, just try to go one up on your ill informed hyperbole).
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on November 11, 2010 at 7:55amAh yes the Crusades, when the Christians went to take back lands they used to control, which were taken from them by Muslims in the first place. A time when Christians and Muslims had already been at odds militarily (as opposed to mostly ideologically today) for decades if not centuries.
Now, after Centuries of relative peace, Islam is waging its own Crusades (read: Jihad) against all other religions of the world. I love the Crusades analogy because it is so ridiculous and easy to refute if you actually know history.
The lynching of black people during reconstruction is another apples to oranges comparison. How so? It was condemned by the vast majority of Christians in America and was put to an end relatively quickly. If there are moderate Muslims out there, why do they not condemn the equally vile acts of their fellow Muslims as the Christians did?
So JZS, that last paragraph gives us quite a bit of insight into your thought process. It shows that you are too ignorant to listen to facts and reason, which is why you must paint me as a heathen mass murdering psychopath, even though it has nothing to do with our discussion.
Report Post »Typical lefite. When the trust comes out, the mud starts slinging!
BSdetector
Posted on November 11, 2010 at 7:58amerr truth not trust, lol!
Report Post »jzs
Posted on November 11, 2010 at 10:49pmThe last paragraph was irony BS. An effort to convey to you the idea of be judged as evil based on your religious associations or practices. I don‘t really think you’re like John Wayne Gacy or Jeffrey Dahmer. Please. Nor is Obama the reincarnation of Hitler.
BS, you’re seriously backpedaling. Three million people were killed during the Crusades in the name of Christianity. That was my point remember? The justification for killing people based on religion, in that case Christianity.
But I don’t understand your point on that. You say Christians and Muslims have been fighting for centuries. That’s my point, my argument, not yours friend. Murder in the name of religion, that’s the point of discussion remember? If you’re suggesting that death in the name of Christianity during Crusades was was justified because the other guy started it, well, I think you’ve just explained why all wars start. I don’t feel too refuted with regard to my point that any religious text can be used to justify war and murder.
With regard to lynchings you say “it was condemned by a vast majority of Christians in America.” Prove that. You made that up didn’t you? I doubt you’d been born during the several incarnations of the Klan. Can you send a link about how the “vast majority of Christians condemned the Klan?” You can’t BS, true to your name. That’s a challenge. Christians accepted slavery and segregation for 200 years, so why should I believe the fact you made up while you posted.
You know what though? I agree with you that they did. The reason you can‘t point to anything to prove your point is because Christians didn’t speak up about the about the things happening in this country because they were afraid of the bullies and kept their thought to themselves. That’s exactly the same “crime” your accusing the 1 billion Muslims (minus a few thousand) of – not speaking out.
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