Posted on 09/04/2004 1:39:22 PM PDT by pilgrim
Pro-Bush Booth Stirs Anger at Convention
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- They stop abruptly when they see the 5-foot-tall photo of President Bush, with "muslimsforbush.com" above his head.
Then come the outbursts.
"Disgusting," said one onlooker. "Take that down," said another.
At the largest annual convention of American Muslims, a pro-Bush booth has stirred anger among attendees who believe the president's actions since Sept. 11, 2001, have hurt more innocent Muslims than terrorists.
"I think President Bush has misled not only the United States, but the world," said Noor Maciael, an educator who called the booth "disgusting" and planned to vote for Democrat John Kerry. "He has put us in a situation where the whole world is hating this country."
The display was funded by Muhammad Ali Hasan and his mother, Seeme, who recently created the group "Muslims for Bush." Seeme Hasan said in a phone interview that she and her husband Malik, a Colorado physician who earned his wealth in the health care industry, have donated more than $1 million to Bush and Republican causes since the 2000 campaign.
"The reason we are doing this is that Muslims don't have a lobbyist," Seeme Hasan said. "We want to be there. We are going to give contributions at the highest level."
Bush has other supporters in the Muslim community. Some are Iraqi-Americans overjoyed that Saddam Hussein has been ousted. Others are entrepreneurs who view the GOP as more friendly to business interests. And many devout Muslims prefer the Republicans' conservative stand on social issues such as gay marriage.
But many Muslims at the nonpartisan Islamic Society of North America convention were not grateful for the Hasans' activism.
An older man gawked at the photo of the president with his arms wrapped around Muhammad and Seeme Hasan, and said, "I'm numb. I'm speechless." He then joined a group that had cornered a conference official, demanding that the display be taken down. A volunteer staffing the booth said some people were taking campaign material and throwing it out.
Asma Gull Hasan, the elder Hasan's daughter, who was also at the booth, said she had expected negative remarks. However, she said she was encouraged that some passers-by had quietly told her they would vote for the president.
Bush has a complex relationship with American Muslims.
He declared Islam a peaceful religion when some other U.S. leaders were condemning the faith, and honored Muslim holidays in the White House.
After Sept. 11, the president made a gesture of enormous significance for the community when he visited a Washington-area mosque and warned the public that anger over the suicide hijackings should not be directed toward U.S. Muslims.
However, his subsequent policies have caused deep resentment.
Muslim leaders say the domestic war on terror and the USA Patriot Act, which extended controversial law enforcement powers, have cast so wide a net that all Muslims and their institutions have become suspect. Many also saw the war in Iraq as the extension of a misguided U.S. policy in the Mideast that foments terrorism instead of stopping it.
Leading American Muslim organizations endorsed Bush in 2000 over Democrat Al Gore, expecting the Texas governor would be more sympathetic to their concerns. But Muslims have said since that they regretted their decision.
Surveys of U.S. Muslims indicate a majority will vote for Kerry, even though they fear he will not go far enough in repealing parts of the Patriot Act. Volunteers at a Kerry booth at the convention, in a far corner of the vendors' hall away from the Bush display, were busily distributing campaign stickers.
Both candidates have been reaching out to Muslim voters. Muslims are concentrated in some battleground states, such as Ohio, Michigan and Florida, and they hope their presence in those areas will help them gain political visibility.
Muhammad Hasan said that since the convention began Friday evening, critics who have approached him have been more open to hearing his views. He said he was not discouraged by the response so far.
"I have a lot of faith in the fact that the Muslim vote is up for grabs," he said.
If people think it takes guts to freep liberals on a street corner they should see some folks who are doing pretty much the same thing at an Islamic convention.
Um. The painting isn't for YOU, it's for American Muslims. The image in the artwork - and just the fact that it IS art is extraordinary, since strict Islam represses any creativity, showing this man has thrived in freedom and appreciates it - is a cultural icon. He's got President Bush depicted in a way that Muslims can culturally relate to. Very 16th century. But powerful for the audience it was intended for.
The press IS NOT going to report news that is favorable to the WOT and/or our President by Muslims. However, that doesn't mean the information isn't getting out there.
If you take the time and look you can actually find numerous posts to FR that are quoting directly from our troops in or coming back from Iraq. What they say is totally different from the far more popular type of Muslim threads...and the positive threads get very few hits and comments.
Last night on FR these posts were made:
- I wonder how many more Ameriacn dead it will take until we are forced to implement the final solution to the "Islamic" problem.
- The bottom line is that it will be necessary have to eradicate Islam and its subhuman adherents to preserve the human race.
- There is only one way to solve the "Islamic" problem and its what the left calls "genocide". It will be extremely difficult for these subhuman monsters to perpetrate anymore bestial acts if they are all dead. It will be no loss to the human race and make the world a better place. Eventuallty the ragheads will get what they have been asking for. (This post was on four different threads.)
When was the last time the world heard the words "subhuman" and "final solution"?
Bin Laden should be boiled in a big pot.......very slowly, videotaped and distributed via Al Jezeera to the middle east as a warning to all Muslims.
what percentage do voting muslims have?
What disgusting sentiments. Though wretten by a few wackos, they make us ALL look bad. Maybe that was the real intent. To make the maintream look like the drooling Nazis the left and their Islamist terrorist allies SAY we are.
"Leading American Muslim organizations endorsed Bush in 2000 over Democrat Al Gore, expecting the Texas governor would be more sympathetic to their concerns. But Muslims have said since that they regretted their decision."
This is all code for "we wouldn't vote for Gore because he had a Jew as a running mate."
I know how you feel. In private debates, I jump down the throat of anyone who makes any reference to lower level humans. To group and class an entire race as evil, stupid, deserving of death or any other reference to what the Nazis called 'untermenchon' drives me nuts. Don't these fools realize that once that precedent is set in America, anyone is eligible for that treatment?
That is why I am so dismayed by the Bush Administrations treatment of prisoners, both foreign and domestic.
People, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION. None!!! Once we find an excuse to keep Jose Padilla in jail without trial, no one is safe from the same treatment. Bush deserves defeat and prison just for that one act.
Boiled in a vat of pig lard maybe
You don't want to look to deep into those threads.
Boiled in a vat of pig lard maybe
TRULY truly IGNORANT. Why have so many parents raised a society of idiots? It didn't happen overnight, and we can't fix it overnight..if ever. This is what the hippie generation has wrought in their children.
This is funny!!! They don't even know they're screwed up
What I'm getting at is that it serves nobody loyal to any religious faith to go about showing works of art which promote the very sickness within the nation of Islam. That painting could just as well have saddam on the horse with Bush senior with his head severed. He probobly got the idea from the side of some building in Baghdad or Tehran.
Hey, Noor, let me know when the whole world gets to elect our President. Until then: STFU...!
This is getting really tiresome seeng these anti-muslim comments whenever Islam or Muslims are mentioned. This story show how some Muslims are supporting the President. We should all be applauding this. These ignorant comments are surely turning off Muslims who visit this site and making them less likely to vote for Bush. This who post these things are making it harder for these few couragous people to change minds. Great job ignoramouses!
what percentage do voting muslims have?
No idea. There were some Arabs living down the street and about three or four months ago they DISAPPEARED!! One day they were there and the next..............gone and the house for sale. Made me wonder.
By the way you need more links to the loonies website?
"If people think it takes guts to freep liberals on a street corner they should see some folks who are doing pretty much the same thing at an Islamic convention." piasa
Would that be an understatement?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.