|
The American Muslim Agenda
by Haroon Chambel
WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - IslamOnline held a Live Dialogue session leaders of America's Muslim community discussing both domestic and foreign issues. The two issues discussed were the incoming U.S. presidential administration and Palestine.
Involved in the session were Suhail Ghannouchi of the Muslim American Society (MAS), Aly Ramadan Abouzakouk of the American Muslim Council (AMC), Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Khalid Turaani of the American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), and Abdurahman Alamoudi of the American Muslim Foundation (AMF).
In reference to the issue of the incoming U.S. administration, the panel gave detailed answers to the questions posed.
When asked which issues should Muslims should follow most closely in the next administration, Abouzakouk (AMC) said, "I think that there are two basic requirements for us as American Muslims after a successful participation in Election 2000: to increase accessibility for American Muslims as well as Muslims in general."
Abouzakouk referred to the involvement in the actual affairs (i.e. having jobs) in the political arena as well as tackling the issues of racial profiling and secret evidence as means to benefit Muslims in America, as well as abroad.
When asked about the decision of the American Muslim Political Coordinating Committee-Political Action Committee (AMPCC-PAC) to endorse current President-elect George W. Bush in the elections, those on the panel concurred that it was the right decision.
However, they emphasized that this was support of the candidate rather than the Republican party, the candidate represented. Alamoudi (AMF) commented, "It has nothing to do with party politics. It has only to do with Muslim politics."
In regards to this, Ghannouchi (MAS) agreed, "We can't hope for a better opportunity to become a factor in American politics. We had a tight race and chose to endorse the major candidates based on the factors [important to the Muslim community]."
Of the candidates involved in the elections, Alamoudi felt that Bush reached out to the Muslim community the most. "The Muslim community at large had a litmus test and that was secret evidence. Bush passed that litmus test with a 75 out of 100 while Gore failed miserably."
Ghannouchi (MAS) reiterated these sentiments when asked about why Muslims reached out to a party (Republicans) that has a history of being anti-minority/anti-immigration. He said, "Actually, we did not endorse the Republicans, we endorsed the candidate himself due to the factors that we have mentioned."
On Palestine, the panel concurred that it was not a foreign issue. They believe that the issue of al-Quds (Jerusalem) is an issue that affects Muslims all over the world due to the fact that it is known as the third holiest site in Islam.
According to Ghannouchi, "The fact that this issue has become domestic is seen in the way that people in the States are boycotting American products because of their [the U.S. administration] position so far. Also, the amount of concern shown to the U.S. administration by American citizens shows this."
Khalid Turaani agreed, stating, "We as Muslims in the United States, have an obligation to make the Middle East and the issue of Muslim holy sites a priority to our administration as Americans."
Other points that were addressed concerning domestic issues are that of education, human rights, and lobbying.
In terms of education, Abouzakouk (AMC) said, "When we deal with education, we need, as the Muslim community in America, to not only consider our community, but the educational system in America at large."
He emphasized the importance of Muslims integrating into the American school system as well as improving the quality of private and charter schools.
Ghannouchi agreed with Abouzakouk, stating that he believed that we have not, as a Muslim community in America, exhausted all of our means in accomplishing this goal. He commented, "This requires a lot of work, which I don't think that we have done enough of."
Nihad Awad of CAIR responded to questions about human rights and the Muslim lobby in America. In regards to the way that the new U.S. administration is dealing with the issue of human rights, Awad said, "Domestically, the new administration has committed to uphold the human rights of Muslims and their descendants here, whereas on the international level, we don't expect any major shift."
When asked about why there is not a substantial Muslim lobbying group like that of the Israeli lobby, Awad said, "In order to affect U.S. policies one should bear in mind that it takes a lot of resources and experience, and we cannot expect to change things overnight."
Awad mentioned several obstacles that the Muslim community has had to overcome, citing limited resources and experience, as well as the diversity of the issues important to the Muslim agenda. However, he believes, "All of this is changing now, with Allah's help, to the right direction."
|
