Iftar meal at the While House

 There have been some "waves" made by some policital talking heads about the iftar meal just held at the White House, as though this were some new event, just started by the current occupant.  A very quick web search turned up some interesting information on the history of this meal in our national public life.

  copied from this entry:

United States

Iftar meals are often held at mosques, and Islamic communities, to which Muslim families are invited. Iftars are also commonly held at Muslim households as well. The United States Department of State holds an annual iftar dinner for community leaders from US society and faith groups as well as foreign policy officials.[1] The first President to attend an iftar was Thomas Jefferson.[2]

Also:  POTUS also talked about the history of Iftar in America, he said that the first iftar was held 200 years ago during the time of president Jefferson to the first muslim ambassador,a Tunisian ,he also talked about the oldest mosques built in seder rapid, Iowa. Pooler noticed few guests impressed with the info and heard one said, " oh,I didn't know that" .....

This is the second event that POTUS holds to celebrate with Muslims. Its a tradition started during the Clinton years and was followed during the Bush administration . President Bush hosted 8 iftars for each year he was in office.

 This one going back 4 years to a Republican President:

White House Iftar

Tuesday, October 17 2006 @ 07:00 AM EDT

Contributed by: Muslim Military Members Webmaster

General NewsMembers of Washington, DC's diplomatic community joined with American citizens and military personnel to pray together prior to the White House Iftaar dinner 16 October 2006.

The event, hosted by President George W. Bush, was but one of many such dinners that brought together friends from around the world for an evening of fellowship during the Holy Month of Ramadan. More than 4,000 men and women who wear the cloth of our Nation and proudly defend Freedom are Muslim.