Posted on 09/26/2006 8:41:32 AM PDT by HasanDaddy
Muslims For America Endorses Senator George Allen - The Senator Allen That We Know
By Muhammad Ali Hasan
As an American Muslim activist, I am growing upset over the accusations that Senator George Allen is facing. Granted, the use of the word “macaca” was completely inappropriate, but I forgive Senator Allen for good reason. I have met Senator Allen personally, our organization has provided advice to his campaign, and I want to confirm it now and for all – Senator Allen is not racist; in fact, he is one of the Senate’s most open-minded and unbigoted leaders. Senator Allen has maintained an excellent track record of confronting major issues within the War On Terror, without having to alienate Muslims in order to do it.
It was in January of 2004 that I first met Senator Allen. A large group of American Muslim organizations, in conjunction with Americans for Tax Reform, organized a gathering between American Muslim activists and Republican officials, in hope of establishing a stronger dialogue. Aside from Muslims For Bush/America, other groups included the Muslim Public Affairs Council and Free Muslims Against Terrorism, among others. Almost every Republican Senator and Congressman/woman was invited, along with many major RNC officials. While many officials showed up to support a strong dialogue, there was only one Republican Senator who attended our meeting and gave us a significant portion of his time – that was Senator George Allen.
Personally, I was shocked that Senator Allen attended at all. After all, Senator Allen had just completed his work as the Chair of the Republican Senatorial Committee, putting him in charge of every Senatorial election that year; his work was most impressive. Republicans stormed 2004 winning a great majority of their Senate seats, despite being blamed for a lagging economy and deficiencies within the War On Terror. Most impressively though was the fact that hardly any Republican Senatorial candidates criticized Islam or blamed Muslims for our problems within the war. Instead, most Republican candidates stayed upon a logical message of separating the terrorists from Muslims and talking about the great advances that could be made within the War On Terror, provided that we continue working with peace-loving, moderate Muslims.
Obviously, such directives were coming from the Chair of the campaign, Senator Allen. In hindsight, there was only one Republican Senatorial candidate who openly criticized Muslims and that was Peter Coors of Colorado, one of the few Republicans to lose his Senate bid that year. When confronted with his management over Coors, Senator Allen was quick in letting us know that Coors was not advised to criticize Muslims, was told to apologize, and most surprisingly, Senator Allen himself said, “On behalf of Peter Coors and the RNC, I apologize to all of you for his remarks.”
There was no need for the apology; after all, Senator Allen was the only Senator who showed up to the meeting and his time was certainly in demand. Yet, as the meeting wore on, I was impressed with Senator Allen’s care of making sure that he listened to all of our concerns, opened the dialogue with us, and promised to do his best to institute the best policies possible for America, without alienating American Muslims.
Most importantly, Senator Allen kept that promise. No Senator has worked harder to resolve the matters between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir debacle. Senator Allen has traveled to both countries, in an effort to create a dialogue between Pakistan and India that will lead to a peaceful resolution. His efforts have proven well, as both countries are engaged in a dialogue today that could lead to great peace. Imagine the benefits to this – Kashmir, along with Chechnya and Palestine, is one of the major issues that Osama Bin Laden, among other terrorist motivators, use to energize negative will against America, in claiming that America is allowing the oppression of Kashmiri Muslims to take place without action or justice.
In turn, I am deeply impressed that Senator Allen has worked so tirelessly to bring peace to the Kashmiri issue, and should he be given another Senatorial term or possibly, a Presidency, I have great faith that he will also go on to confront and solve the problems we are facing in Chechnya, Palestine, and other areas of Muslim strife that are motivating far too many people to credit the claims that Al-Quaeda puts out. His actions led our organization, Muslims For America, to declare him as America’s best Senator last February, and it is a claim that we proudly stand by.
With all this in mind, I call upon the American Muslim activists who were in attendance at that meeting, to get out and spread the good word of Senator Allen’s work and positive dialogue with the American Muslim community.
We were activists of Islamic faith, with skin complexions of brown and black, and ethnic heritages that went beyond the American borders. Our appearance and backgrounds didn’t stop Senator Allen from shaking our hands, giving us his time, and working hard to implement our suggestions. A man of such nature is no racist to me; based upon his strong track record, it would be suffice to say that America, the world, and our Muslims need Senator Allen back in Senate.
Muslims For America proudly gives its endorsement to Senator Allen, in his 2006 Senatorial re-election bid.
ibz
Welcome to FR.
Clean up on isle three please...ping.
so what do you think about this?
Hmmmm...seems to me you're over-reacting a bit. Have you checked out their site and other posts?
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