The
U.S.
presidential election - the Muslim factor
By Jamal
Hasan
I am writing this piece on the Halloween night- the night of ghouls,
goblins and dancing Bush and Kerry masqueraders. The
U.S.
presidential election, for some obvious reasons, became a life or death
situation for American Muslims. Many Muslim devotees firmly believe that
the Bush administration has a hidden agenda to marginalize the Muslim
communities in this country. They think President Bush’s War on
Terrorism is nothing short of Crusade against Muslim aspiration in this
country. Now, the question is, do the average Americans care what the
Muslims think?
A few minutes ago, the latest NBC poll on TV indicated 48 percent
support for the incumbent president, 47 percent for John Kerry and 1
percent for Ralph Nader. Regarding the issue or terrorism and social issue
49 percent Americans are concerned while 39 percent are worried about
economy.
The Republican Party has historically been deeply close to oil rich
Arab countries. While externally, under Republican administrations,
relations with Arab nations were thriving, internally Saudi influence was
a pivotal factor in calling many shots. The Saudi Ambassador to
USA
became a privy to anti-Communist
U.S.
inspired insurgencies in the South and
Central America
under the Republican administration's watch. Many Arab hegemonists took
the Republicans for granted. The Bush Senior reinforced that idea in
regard to
U.S.
- Israeli relations. His antipathy towards furtherance of Jewish
settlements in the
Israel
occupied territories made him a darling in the Arab world. While the
Republicans were perceived to be quite chummy with the Arabs in general
and Muslims in particular, the Democrats were thought to be
Israel
and Jewish lovers in the eyes of Muslim Americans. Al Gore's choice of Joe
Lieberman as his running mate in the last Presidential election could be a
clear landmark.
During the presidential election of 2000, a great majority of the
Muslim Americans along with their coreligionists all across the world
decided to give their full support for the Republican contender George W.
Bush. To many Muslim devotees, Jews are the most hated human beings on
earth. From the childhood days, the common indoctrination in many Islamic
societies is to spread hatred against Jewish people. No wonder, for a firm
believer in Islam, a Christian is a better choice than a Jew. In
America
during the volatile election season of 2000, the
U.S.
mosque system was propagating a hilarious conspiracy theory. The idea was
if ever President Al Gore took office, Jewish agents would assassinate him
in no time. And within a short period of time Joe Lieberman, the Jew,
would become the President of the
United States
. For a true Muslim, living under a Jewish leader would be the worst
nightmare. That could be the reason, Muslim Americans decided to vote for
George Bush in droves. Many crossed party lines to enhance their religious
agenda. I know of one Bangladeshi-American of Islamic heritage. He was a
card carrying Democrat. He decided to vote for George Bush in 2000.
It is true that many Muslims with liberal inclination have identified
themselves with the Democratic Party. Like a good percentage of fellow
Americans of European descent, these liberal Muslims are pacifists,
anti-globalization, anti-big business and definitely have strong opinion
about Arab-Israeli conflict. It is true, the mosque dominated culture was
impacting heavily in the thinking process of American Muslims.
Nonetheless, a good number of liberal Muslims decided not to abandon their
Democratic platform during the uncertain election year of 2000.
George Bush of 2000 did not dishearten the Muslim Americans who had
been greatly religiously inclined. In one of the last debates of 2000
election, the burning issue of secret evidence was raised. Al Gore with
his good oratory skills bypassed the issue. George Bush was quite
forthright in denouncing the policy. That little drama gave a significant
motivating zeal to the Muslim voters in
USA
.
The Republican Party's Christian right faction was ambivalent on the
equation of Arab-Israeli conflict and they were hardly concerned about
global Jihadism. The tragedy of September 11 turned the table totally.
George W. Bush, once close to such controversial figure like the
Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian (who has been deported from
USA
), realized one thing. It is dangerous game to sleep with the appeasers of
global Islamism. Historically one aspect of American politics had been
very much evident. The Republicans had been very adroit flexing
U.S.
muscle in the global arena. The September 11 hijackers made a big blunder.
They angered a political entity in
USA
, which is very decisive in war strategy. The September 11, 2001 tragedy
was a watershed event that culminated in the end of honeymoon between
political Islamists and the Republican Party of USA.
While Democrats used to be viewed as staunchly pro-Israel, today they
have proved to be naive in understanding the machinations of global
Jihadists and their American apologists. Last year I attended a
Congressional Hearing on Dr. Daniel Pipes' nomination to be a board member
of U.S. Institute of Peace. I was simply dumbfounded to note that many
veteran Democrat senators were showing their total ignorance about the
danger of Islamic fundamentalism in the global sconce. I was also
frustrated to note, some senators' diatribes against Dr. Pipes were
unusually similar to the messages emitted by such Islamist appeasing group
like Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
U.S.A.
had been too liberal in allowing the wheeler and dealer of global jihadism
into its soil. After the tragedy of September 11 of 2001, the dynamics
changed totally. The new intelligence tools are unearthing the more
detailed activities of once assumed innocent individuals from abroad.
Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens' deportation from
USA
in September of this year is a case in point. Even a few months ago, Cat
could slip into this land of great opportunity without raising any
eyebrow. In the present high alert homeland security situation, a small
slippage on an Islamist's part could be the enough reason for not being
welcomed in the
United States
. Bangladeshi-American Osman Siddique, a U.S. Ambassador under Clinton
Administration, denounced Yusuf Islam's deportation. This is visible on a
website launched by a group who call themselves Muslims for Kerry. Does it
make anybody wonder that Ambassador Siddique is a Kerry advisor too!
In the beginning of my essay, I talked about Muslim Americans'
enthusiasm about American elections. I recall, during the last
presidential election, some cyber active Bangladeshi-Americans with clear
Islamist agenda advocated supporting candidate Bush. A few days ago, the Washington
Post carried a news story, which disclosed that activist
Muslim-Americans of
Bangladesh
heritage were dedicating their time and energy to put John Kerry into the
White House.
Halloween night is still going on in full swing in our neighborhood. An
hour ago I talked to a Bangladeshi-American Muslim friend of mine in
Florida. He told me he voted yesterday (October 30, 2004) taking advantage
of the early election in the Sunshine State. He told me he and his wife
waited in the line for six hours to cast their votes. I am aware it is not
proper to ask who was their favorite candidate but I know the answer very
well. Do you?
=============
Jamal Hasan writes from
Washington
DC
. His email address is [email protected]
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