OS ANGELES, Oct. 24 — Ever since terrorists razed the World Trade Center, Michel Shehadeh says, his tongue has grown sore from biting it so much. He is being only somewhat facetious.Posted on 10/25/2001 1:37:53 PM PDT by white trash redneck
October 25, 2001
OS ANGELES, Oct. 24 — Ever since terrorists razed the World Trade Center, Michel Shehadeh says, his tongue has grown sore from biting it so much. He is being only somewhat facetious.
In speeches at businesses, police departments and schools in recent weeks, Mr. Shehadeh, the West Coast director of the Arab-American Anti- Discrimination Committee, had tiptoed around contentious topics like Israel or Iraq, careful not to enrage the very audiences he was appealing to for tolerance.
Then, on Oct. 11, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York rejected a $10 million gift from a Saudi prince who chastised American foreign policy, and Mr. Shehadeh decided it was time to weigh in on the subjects he tried so hard to avoid.
"It's not politically correct to talk about the grievances people have against the United States," Mr. Shehadeh said. "So we're going out there and trying to fill that vacuum."
Racing to prove their loyalties to the nation, Arab-American and Muslim groups have praised President Bush's handling of the crisis, promised to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation unearth terrorist cells and even circled religious edicts, called fatwas, that cite their right to fight fellow Muslims overseas.
Now, however, many organizations in California and elsewhere say they are shifting gears.
Whether preaching in mosques, lobbying Congress and the Bush administration or debating on nationally televised talk shows, the groups are swiftly returning to the positions they have long held: that military aid to Israel and sanctions against Iraq create the ideal atmosphere for recruiting terrorists.
"We kept quiet on that in the initial stages, not wanting to be seen as insensitive or political opportunists," said Aslam Abdullah, editor of The Minaret, North America's top-selling Muslim magazine, based in Los Angeles.
This month's issue of The Minaret condemned the Sept. 11 attacks and mourned its victims.
The next issue will argue that anti- American sentiment, born of the United States' support for undemocratic governments in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, is partly to blame for the attacks.
"People are asking why this is happening," Mr. Abdullah said. "We are telling them."
In a sign of the renewed criticism of American foreign policy, one organization, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, started running advertisements on a Los Angeles radio station last week, saying United States intervention in the Middle East had inflamed anti-American sentiment in the region.
Within minutes of broadcasting the advertisement, the radio station, KNX 1070, was inundated by angry calls, as was the Muslim council. Fearful of a sustained backlash, the council pulled the spots a day later so that they could be toned down.
The shift in pronouncements is opening deep rifts in a community struggling to present a united — and, above all, benevolent — face to the American public. Angered by the suggestion that American policies could provoke terrorist attacks, some Muslim and Arab-American groups are condemning what they call the misguided and irresponsible positions of their peers.
"The terrorism was the result of a suicide death cult that was hellbent on killing a lot of people," said James J. Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. "It simply wasn't edifying in the face of the horror and the shock to discuss any of these grievances. There's not a connection."
Other organizations point out that the Bush administration has already expressed support for an independent Palestinian state, making criticisms of its policies inappropriate, if not inflammatory.
"This is a defining moment for the community," said Aly R. Abuzaakouk, director of the American Muslim Council. "There are issues of concern for our community, and we will get to them. But for now, the country is in crisis, and we need to show our loyalty to it by standing by the administration. We need to build bridges, not break them."
And despite the anti-Muslim hate crimes that appear to have been committed in the nation since Sept. 11, many Muslim and Arab-American groups say they have been most deeply moved by the outpouring of tolerance and openness most Americans have shown, and are wary of alienating the many supporters who have recently come to their defense.
"Of course, we're worried about it," said Sarah Eltantawi, spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.
Ms. Eltantawi continued: "Bringing up grievances can very easily be misconstrued as justification for terrorism. But you can't think about addressing this problem without talking about human rights in the Middle East."
For some, taking on American foreign policy means venturing into political territory where they rarely went before.
Hussam Ayloush, the director of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee's Southern California chapter, spent most of the year choosing educational books about Islam for local libraries and making sure vendors who claimed to sell kosher food really did. Now Mr. Ayloush is touring churches and college campuses, passing out leaflets and debating international politics with whomever will listen.
"After the attack," he said, "there was a need for differentiating between Islam as a religion and the terrorist attacks. Now that we've done that, we need to look at how our foreign policy, intentionally or not, breeds frustration among many people.
"It's not a favor we do for the terrorists. It's a favor we do for ourselves."
Does anyone believe Bush really thinks that the war is not against a religion, if for no other reason than their culture IS their religion.
Japanese, German, Italian Groups Cast Themselves as Loyal Critics
Spokesmen for the Japanese, German and Italian communities today said that "while we fully support the U.S. effort to arrest and prosecute Tojo, Hitler and Mussolini," "we must seek to understand the reasons underlying the deep resentment of the Axis community toward U.S. global policy."
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