Posted on 09/01/2003 12:14:25 PM PDT by veronica
Even before the Sept. 11 attacks and the crackdown that followed, American Muslim leaders generally had come to believe they had made a mistake.
In 2000, they made their first unified endorsement in a presidential race, backing George W. Bush. Many thought he would take a harder line against Israel, and, based on statements he made while campaigning, would protect the rights of immigrants facing deportation.
Muslims say they were disappointed on both counts. Now, feeling the additional sting of being scrutinized in the domestic hunt for terrorists, they are mobilizing to express their anger at the polls in 2004.
At their largest convention of the year, which ends today, national Muslim leaders announced plans to register 1 million Muslim voters and make civil rights a top issue in any endorsement of a presidential candidate.
"A defining moment of Islam in America is approaching," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group based in Washington. "We cannot surrender our future and our destiny to hate in this country."
Agha Saeed, head of the Muslim American Congress, led the crowd in a chant. "I am an American, I am a Muslim and I vote," he said, joined by thousands gathered for the Islamic Society of North America meeting.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Mr. Bush won points with American Muslims by visiting a mosque and declaring Islam a peaceful religion.
But since then, the federal government has detained hundreds of immigrants, shut down U.S. Muslim charities suspected of terrorist ties and gained broad new powers to monitor citizens under the USA Patriot Act.
The Bush administration said these moves have been crucial for U.S. security. American Muslims say they are being scapegoated.
A White House spokesman referred questions about the presidential race to the Bush campaign, whose spokeswoman did not immediately reply to a request for comment Sunday.
It is unclear what effect Muslims can have in the 2004 elections.
Estimates of the number of U.S. Muslims vary dramatically from 2 million to 6 million. But immigrant Muslims generally are highly educated professionals with the means to make significant campaign donations.
Also, their community has matured dramatically in the past four years.
The assault on Islam that followed the suicide hijackings that killed thousands in New York and Washington compelled Muslims around the country to defend their faith.
National Muslim organizations, including Mr. Awad’s, reported a dramatic increase in donations and membership.
That should give you some idea of what I almost all of them have in mind for the rest of the world.
Although the ones you know are DIFFERENT, of course...
BTW, the one I THOUGHT I knew was a native born US citizen. Not an American, IMHO. A REAL AMERICAN wouldn't ever object to someone putting a US Flag in his cubicle.
Let alone on 9/12/01...
Just what their holy book says:
Convert or Kill.
Women are property.
Enslaving infidels is A-OK.
It is proper to lie to any non-møøselimb, if it forewards the goals of islam.
Anyone who converts to Christianity (or any other religion) MUST be killed
Surrender is forbidden, closest you can come is a truce, no more than 10 years long, and you must use this time to build up arms to defeat the enemy.
These are CORE beliefs of islam.
I'm naïve enough to take them at their word. Especially since I've never been able to get one to renounce any of these goals.
And fortunately, your humble opinion doesn't determine who is an American and who's not. I think being born here is a pretty good claim to being American. I don't remember reading anywhere that agreeing with you was a required test for nationality.
Point conceded. Any traitor or saboteur can be a citizen. (BTW I didn't say he wasn't a citizen, indeed I specifically said he is a citizen, I said he isn't an American. I base this on his behavior - when push comes to shove, with thousands of Americans dead bare hours earlier, he objected to my daring to put a US flag in my own cubicle, it's pretty clear where his loyalties lie).
Further, I recognize that DOAIJV's friends may be møøselimb in name only, and have in the privacy of their own hearts renounced the more virulent aspects of their nominal religion. Maybe.
They just might be afraid of the potentially lethal consequences of going public.
That, by itself, speaks volumes about islam, doesn't it?
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