Posted on 04/28/2003 10:14:18 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker
DEARBORN, Mich., April 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A newly-formed group, calling itself Arab-American Republicans Against Bush (AARAB.org), will deliver a message to President Bush at his Dearborn, Mich. appearance today. Photo ops and hollow words are not enough to garner the community's support in his 2004 re-election bid. Arab-Americans gave critical votes and financial support to George W. Bush in key electoral states in 2000. Next time around, community leaders say their disappointment in the president's handling of critical domestic and foreign policy issues will lead them in another direction.
``We were lied to, plain and simple,'' said AARAB.org founder Khalid Turaani. ``In 2000, Bush came to us with promises of inclusion, integrity and responsibility in policies of particular concern to Arab-Americans. Over the past two years, we've been treated to ethnic profiling, detention without trial, INS dragnets, the closing of our community institutions and a foreign policy that seems designed to keep America at perpetual war with the Arab world. Arab-Americans deserve better. All Americans deserve better,'' he said.
Key to the group's opposition to Bush's reelection is the overwhelming influence being exerted by neo-conservatives and Christian-rightists. The president's unwillingness to distance himself publicly from their racist agenda has led many former Bush supporters within the Arab-American community to doubt the president's contention that his war on terrorism is not a war on Islam. ``When Franklin Graham, a man who calls Islam an ``evil and wicked'' religion, is invited to offer the Good Friday prayer service at the Pentagon, that tells us how Islam is viewed by this Administration,'' Turaani added.
Shock waves were sent throughout the Arab-American community when Bush recently nominated Daniel Pipes to the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), a federal taxpayer-funded institution created by Congress to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflicts. Pipes advocates that Israel ``raze'' Palestinian villages, and in a post-9/11 interview he said, ``What we need to do is snarl, not be nice. What we need to do is inspire fear, not affection.'' He openly supports the profiling of Arabs and Muslims and has refused to condemn the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Bush's selection of Pipes for USIP's board signaled a victory for those pushing the U.S. toward an unending, and wholly contrived, clash of civilizations with the Arab and Muslim worlds.
AARAB.org also notes the president's trampling of America's democracy as a key factor in their opposition. ``In the name of democracy, Bush waged a war of aggression that the majority of Americans did not support. In the name of security, he stripped us of our civil liberties and constitutional rights. He has made Americans less free, less safe and more resented around the world. America cannot afford to risk the damage he and his cronies could do with another four years in office. AARAB.org pledges to mobilize against Bush's reelection on behalf of all Americans and in support of true American values. I came to Dearborn in 2000 to campaign for President Bush. Today, I come with the many voices of AARAB.org to right that wrong,'' Turaani concluded.
AARAB.org is a grassroots initiative begun by Arab-American Republicans committed to mobilizing against the re-election of George W. Bush. AARAB.org will work with a broad coalition of groups who want a better choice for all Americans in 2004.
Khalid Turaani of Arab-American Republicans Against Bush, 202-256-2000; web: http://www.aarab.org
With any luck, this is the same group that showed up at a celebration the Muslims had on the day Saddam's big old statue fell in Baghdad.
They almost got their butts beaten by the good Muslims of Detroit who support Bush and this war. They had to call the police to get them safely out of there!
Probably the DNC. I smell Bonior.
Sponsoring Organizations are listed as:
American Muslim Alliance (AMA); American Muslim Council (AMC); Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR); Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA); Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); Muslim American Society (Ministry of Imam WD Mohammed).
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