Mayor Bloomberg practiced his version of verbal jujitsu Wednesday, mangling a greeting to Muslim leaders at a Ramadan gathering with “shalom alaikum.”
Hizzoner was shooting for “salaam alaikum” – the traditional Arabic “peace to you” greeting.
“He just got a little confused,” one witness said.
Imam Omar Abunamous of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York said it was an understandable mistake for the Jewish mayor.
“Well, it’s common to both religions,” Abunamous said. “They are the same thing. The same idea.”
The latest gaffe came in front of several hundred Muslim and community leaders at a Ramadan conference at Police Headquarters in Manhattan.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the department would beef up security at mosques for the holy month of fasting, which starts Monday.
(Source: NY Daily News)
The Muslims copied our Shalom Aleichem? What else is new. The Christians and Muslims like to copy — and then mess up — whatever they copy from us.
The Muslims didn’t do it, per se. Arabic (the language) did, and this is a very common language for Muslims to speak. Remember, the Rambam spoke Arabic and he also would have said “Saalam Aleikum”.
What is Abunamous in English?