The Informationist

A Cautionary Tale of our Times

Continuing with my theme of making up for April’s delinquency, here’s another disturbing story.

A few weeks ago, The San Francisco Chronicle ran a bizarre, largely fictional anti-Israel screed written by Omar Ahmad. At the end of the article, the newspaper identified the author:

“Omar Ahmad is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He is the CEO of a Silicon Valley technology company.”

This identification interested me for two reasons. First, it is disconcerting to see major media outlets running posts from CAIR. CAIR is a well-known apologist for Islamic terror, funded by foreign sources unfriendly to the U.S. and the West. Ample documentation explains who CAIR really is. Nevertheless, its leaders continue to dupe major media outlets into accepting it as a valid spokes-organization for the “mainstream” American Muslim community. It is precisely this sort of misidentification that makes life difficult for people who wish to be both good Americans and good Muslims; it alienates liberal Muslims by elevating the status of soft-spoken radicals.

It was the second point of interest that motivated this posting, however: I have a friend named Omar Ahmad who heads a Silicon Valley technology company.

While running a search on the author of this piece, I ran across biographical information that clearly described my friend Omar (e.g., work history). I found that discovery both disturbing and disconcerting. Did I know someone who led a double life? How could our mutual friends—who know both of us better than we know each other—not have mentioned his very public political involvement? Who else might I know who leads a double life? I decided that I had to keep digging.

Eventually, I found a photo of CAIR’s founder—clearly, not my friend. Then I found biographical information inconsistent with the man I know. Finally I found an article interviewing my friend Omar about his difficulties with TSA, and the frequency with which he receives hate mail intended for his namesake.

That left me with only one question: What happened to cause the confusion?

I tracked the answer to a wikipedia entry on “Omar Ahmad.” It seems that the Omar Ahmad of CAIR (the one prominent enough to warrant a wikipedia entry), often describes himself as CEO of a Silicon Valley technology company, but rarely if ever identifies that company. Some enterprising wikipedia participant decided to do a bit of sleuthing. He found my friend’s company, connected the two people by name, located biographical information pertinent to my friend, and built it into his namesake’s wikipedia bio—from whence it propagated. Fortunately, that error seemed to be but a few weeks old when I found it.

What could I do? I corrected the wikipedia entry in a manner that might appear odd at first, but that should deter a replication of such sleuthing, and notified Omar.

With my good deed thus performed, I nevertheless left the experience feeling rather dismayed. A stupid if well-intentioned Internet entry led me to doubt someone I know. What if we had just met? What if he had given me his card in the hopes of doing business? What if a comparable situation applied to a woman I was considering dating? What if I find myself on the receiving end of such confusion some day? (For the record, my Internet searches have led me to find unrelated Bruce Abramsons involved in the fields of ophthalmology, law, and real estate, as well as one who works for the UNHCR. I suppose I could do worse—a lot worse).

Therein lies a cautionary tale of our times.

Posted by Bruce Abramson from on 04/30 at 09:46 PM in The Not-Quite-Yet Information Economy