Ahmed and his family sare moving to Qatar where he can refine his clock making skills.
Ahmed Mohamed will move to Qatar Avi Selk Follow @aviselk Email aselk@dallasnews.com Published: October 20, 2015 2:40 pm
After finally meeting President Obama last night, Ahmed Mohamed and his family plan to leave the United States for the foreseeable future.
Schools from across the country have made offers to Ahmed since he was arrested at Irving’s MacArthur High last month—his homemade clock confused with a hoax bomb, transforming him into a symbol of perceived anti-Muslim bias.
But apparently it was an offer from the Middle East that most intrigued the family. The Mohameds announced today that they’ve accepted a foundation’s offer to pay for the 14-year-old’s high school and college in Doha, Qatar, which Ahmed visited a few weeks ago as he began a world tour
His sister, Eyman Mohamed, said Ahmed will study at Doha Academy, while she and his other siblings find schools in the rich capital city, which hosts a huge university complex called Education City.
“Looking at all the great offers we’ve had, it’s the best decision,” said Eyman, 18. “They even have Texas A&M at Qatar … It’s basically like America.”
She spoke as the family boarded an airplane from Washington, where Ahmed concluded his world tour at the White House this week, back to their smallish house in Irving.
But they’ll only be here for a few days, Eyman said, before they jet off to a new life on the other side of the world.
Not that their story in the United States is done. Before leaving Washington, Ahmed appeared with a U.S. Congressman who, along with nearly 30 other members of congress, have asked the federal government to investigate whether anti-Muslim discrimination prompted Ahmed’s arrest.
Meanwhile, Ahmed has become a villain—dubbed “Clock Boy”—on right wing websites that claim the family has Islamist ties and plotted his celebrity. There’s been zero evidence shown for those conspiracy theories, though Ahmed probably didn’t help his optics by meeting last week with Omar al-Bashir, dictator of the country he was born in and an accused war criminal.
“We are going to move to a place where my kids can study and learn and all of them being accepted by that country,” said Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, before he got off the phone and stepped onto the airplane.
"Meanwhile, Ahmed has become a villain—dubbed “Clock Boy”—on right wing websites that claim the family has Islamist ties and plotted his celebrity. There’s been zero evidence shown for those conspiracy theories, though Ahmed probably didn’t help his optics by meeting last week with Omar al-Bashir, dictator of the country he was born in and an accused war criminal."
Isn't that rich! We're being schooled on the art of diplomacy. I can think of several other ways he "didn't help his optics". Bringing what looked like a bomb to school and calling it a clock for one.
******* The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil ... but by those who watch them and do nothing. -- Albert Einstein