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American Muslims Committed To Political Empowerment
By Dina Rashed
07/06/2001
American Muslims have long been criticized for limiting their level of political activism solely to the election season and hardly investing in long-term relations with U.S. officials. But, a series of recent meetings between delegates from the American Muslim community and the chairman of the powerful U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee, Congressman Henry Hyde (R-Il), is showing that Muslim political activists are breaking away from this trend.
Last month, American Muslims in Chicago held two lengthy meetings with Representative Hyde in order to address international affairs and community concerns. They raised issues ranging from Palestine to Lebanon, to American foreign aid and racial profiling in the U.S. Hyde listened attentively to their issues, promising to work in his capacity as their congressional representative to investigate them.
The United Muslim American Association (UMAA), a dynamic Chicago-based grassroots organization working to highlight Muslims' roles in American politics, initiated the two meetings and asked other Muslim leaders from across the nation to join in forming the delegation.
The first meeting with Hyde included Sabri Samirah, President of UMAA, Rafeeq Jaber, President of the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), Qais Mekki, Vice President of the Council of Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago (CIO), Naim Mansour, Republican committeeman for York Township, and Manal El-Hrisse, a political activist and UMAA's west suburb director.
It was the first official meeting between the CIO, an umbrella organization that includes more than 35 local Islamic organizations, and Representative Hyde. The CIO's Mekki spoke of community concerns, including those of Muslim constituents in Hyde's 6th Congressional District, regarding the deteriorating situation in Palestine and America's role in solving the conflict. They stressed that channels of communication should be kept clear and open between Hyde and Chicago's Muslims. Jaber and Samirah reiterated concerns regarding an unjust and unbalanced American foreign policy, which ultimately threatens American interests in Arab and Muslim countries.
El-Hrisse discussed how the stereotyping of Islamic culture and one-sided media coverage of the ongoing events in the Middle East are creating a hostile environment for Muslim and Arab children in American schools. She explained that bias in the media directly translates into the discrimination that most Muslims face in their daily lives.
Mansour spoke on the Muslim presence in American political life, as a voting constituency, while Samirah presented a demographic map of American Muslims and their rising political power to Hyde, stressing that such a community could be further mobilized behind congressional representatives supporting their issues.
Three weeks later, a second meeting took place at Hyde's office, involving both the UMAA president and the IAP. It was devoted to discussing the issue of Lebanon and future American aid to the country. When the U.S. stopped sending aid to Lebanon, the UMAA sent letters to all Illinois Representatives asking to discuss the gravity of the situation and relaying that the war ravaged country desperately needs this aid in order to rebuild. Hyde was quick to agree to meet again with American Muslim leaders.
"We stressed to him that House hearings on issues relevant to the situation in the Middle East should include experts from both sides. The public forum-like hearing is the only way the American representatives can reach a fair decision after being clearly informed of all the facts," said Samirah.
The community's demands were summarized in three main points: stop Israeli aggression in the Occupied Territories in Palestine and Lebanon; cut military aid to Israel because of its belligerent use against Palestinian civilians; and assert that America is the only party who has the necessary leverage to bring this conflict to an end.
Significance of the Two Meetings
For the first time, the Muslim community is mobilizing itself and using its potential influence beyond the rhetoric of the election season. Muslim leaders are building bridges, investing in long-term relations and connecting with influential U.S. officials. The fact that Representative Hyde's congressional district is in Chicago, which is home to many politically active American Muslims, gives the community a golden opportunity to utilize the channels offered by the U.S. political system.
Hyde himself assured American Muslim delegates that the most important thing to him as an elected official, is their numbers as voters. Although money is a significant contribution to the election campaign, a good politician is one who knows how to count…and the decisive factor for any elected position is the number of votes they received. In the final analysis, the strength of any minority or interest group is judged by their ability to bring their supporters to the ballot box, where their existence is translated into electoral numbers.
The UMAA has been vigorous in calling on American Muslims to register themselves and their communities as voters; building bridges with local political parties by holding several "Candidates' Nights" during the fall and spring elections; introducing candidates, whether or not they are of Muslim/Arab descent, to the community; and following up with questionnaires and letters urging these candidates to adopt the community's issues before making important legislative decisions.
In the first meeting between Hyde and the community, two well-documented files were handed over to him outlining Muslim demands and positions and supported by facts and numbers. The IAP's president illustrated the sufferings of the Palestinian people through a file consisting of news and facts, as reported by international media, about Israel's disproportionate aggressiveness. UMAA's president also presented an equally important file, which documents information about the American Muslim community, particularly in metropolitan Chicago, including their numbers, voting power, social and political make up, political participation and issues of importance.
In the second meeting, to elaborate on the correlation between U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and its influence on American interests and international business, UMAA's president presented a file on the impact of the popular Egyptian boycott of American-made goods on U.S. businesses. The file was based on reports and numbers released by the American Business Bureau.
The community is moving towards making use of its potential political capacity, regardless of age or gender. The presence of El-Hrisse, a woman, is a manifestation of this rising trend. In order to encourage the involvement of second generation American Muslim activists in the political process, UMAA is not only opening opportunities to them, but also, training and investing in them as the future leadership of the community. It is also acknowledging the important role of Muslim women and their accomplishments in empowering our communities. Their activity is contrary to widespread myths in the West that Muslim societies are male-dominated and that women are suppressed and marginalized.
In the past, Hyde has met with several members of the community, but in a more informal manner, and seemed less enthusiastic to listen or to serve back then. The change in attitude has come about simply because Muslims are coming to know the rules of the game, as one of them, Aly Abuzaakouk, Executive Director of the American Muslim Council says, "If you are vote-less you are weightless." During last November's elections, when Muslims decided to make themselves visible, Hyde's Muslim constituency played an important role in securing his seat. It is extremely important for Muslims to stay connected to political channels because it helps them form effective lobbying and interest groups.
A momentous step resulting from these meetings was that Hyde, joined by House Minority Whip David Bonior (D-MI), officially co-sponsored H.R. 1266, The Secret Evidence Repeal Act of 2001, which seeks to abolish the unconstitutional practice of allowing the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to use secret evidence in deportation hearings, thus giving them the ability to imprison people without disclosing the evidence against them or allowing them to adequately defend themselves. The practice has disproportionately targeted Muslims and Arabs.
It seems that Muslims and Arabs are finally becoming more active and sophisticated participants in America's political system, and have begun to make great strides through their commitment to political empowerment.
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