Posted on 06/27/2002 2:05:36 PM PDT by Jean S
WASHINGTON (AP) - Clutching red booklets entitled "How Our Laws Are Made," Muslims fanned across Capitol Hill on Thursday to engage in a ritual of citizenship: lobbying Congress.
"We're particularly pleased that you have decided to come out as Americans," Eric Vickers, director of the American Muslim Council, told them during an orientation session.
But their presence in the nation's capital was not welcomed by all. FBI Director Robert Mueller is being pressed to cancel his Friday speech to the group's annual conference, amid accusations that the council supports extremists.
The citizen lobbyists themselves showed the pressures of this age of increased FBI surveillance. Many shunned media interviews, fearing they might invite police scrutiny of their activities.
The list of issues for which they seek political attention is heavy: a Palestinian state, Iraq, Kashmir, new FBI surveillance tactics and racial profiling of Muslims since Sept. 11.
"I think it will be tough," said Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute, a pro-democracy group. "There has been a realization that we need to resolve our internal issues and deal with the world, America specifically, in a very clear and concise manner. But with a weak community, you can't do the job you need to do."
So about 50 people, many of them women in Muslim garb, sat quietly in a House meeting room Thursday to bone up on the basics of talking to elected officials and using federal anti-discrimination laws to protect their rights.
The citizen-lobbyists also got the Islamic perspective on the need for a Palestinian state, the tumult between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and the failures of the oil-for-food program in Iraq.
"I've never done anything like this before, so I'm out here to watch and learn from the people who have the experience," said Zayed Yasin, 22, of Scituate, Mass., who found himself at the center of controversy for using the term "jihad" in his Harvard commencement speech.
"It's part of living in this country. Every community that has issues important to it needs to be involved in the political process to get those issues addressed," Yasin said, adding self-consciously, "I haven't been that good about it either."
Yasin planned to talk to the senators from Massachusetts and his congressman, Democratic Rep. Barney Frank. His primary concern was the impact of the Patriot Act, signed by President Bush last October, which broadened law enforcement's ability to search people, monitor them or detain them in the process of ferreting out would-be terrorists.
Yasin's worries, that the law would be used to trample on the civil liberties of Muslims, were echoed by many in the room. They whispered quietly among themselves about what happened in northern Virginia on March 20 - when 150 federal agents, some in SWAT gear, searched the homes of Asian, Arab and Muslim Americans, seeking evidence of terrorist ties.
"This kind of operation never happened in Enron," said civil rights attorney Ray Busch. "Your involvement in civil rights and attitudes on the Hill are more important than ever before. ... You are in the vanguard of change, and change for the better."
AP-ES-06-27-02 1649EDT
Duly noted.
But then, Ken Lay didn't fly a plane into the WTC.
Avoid the use of customs and habits that are culturally unfamiliar to American legislators. For instance, do not, if a Congressman opposes our position, disembowel him with a scimitar while shouting "Allah Akbar! Death to the Jews and their American imperialist patrons!"
AKA the American Musuem Council, when Hillary is reporting political donations.
If they're islamists, they're the enemy.
God forbid somebody should find out what they are doing BEFORE it happens.
Oh, we have a Harvard grad here pretending to be a country bumpkin. To continue with his theme of dishonesty, Yasin was NOT criticized for his use of "jihad" (Kampf, struggle) in his commencement speech, actually it was in the title. Yasin raised money for Hamas and Hezbollah via a Muslim charity. He supports terrorists, that was the problem, except for in the Liberal media, which focused on one word. Jeesh!
Jesus could have had the world domination that Islam seems merely to expect, by succumbing to temptation in the wilderness. That he was willing rather to sacrifice however....
There's really a lesson for all of us in that.
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