Why “Qualified”
Muslim Support for Kerry?
By
Lisette Poole
Newark, CA: American
Muslims have put the US presidential candidates
on notice that the winner will have to deal with
the deep discontent in their community, and nation-wide,
over broad, arbitrary, surveillance measures enforced
by the present administration.
This stance was announced
by the American Muslim Taskforce (AMT) in a statement
calling upon its members and supporters to vote
in protest of the Bush administration’s civil right
policies by giving “qualified” support to Sen. John
Kerry at the November 2 voting booth.
AMT is an umbrella organization
of ten largest Muslim groups in the United States.
It has stated that since September 11 its community
members have complained that their homes and personal
records have been searched without warrants, people
have been detained without access to lawyers, and
mosques have come under surveillance
“American Muslims are
being treated like second-class citizens,” declared
the AMT statement read at a press conference in
Washington, DC by organization chair Agha Saeed.
“We believe that our vote is the best guarantee
of our civil rights and the best expression of our
citizenship.”
The AMT endorsement
has turned an expected popular vote for Kerry into
a bloc vote. “A bloc vote”, says AMT chair Dr. Agha
Saeed, “takes place when most members of a group
vote together for a common purpose based on a negotiated
understanding.” By linking the Muslim vote to the
demand for restoration of civil liberties and human
rights, the AMT statement has galvanized the Muslim
community around a unified action agenda. It has
premised the relationship between the Kerry campaign
and the Muslim voters on respect for the Bill of
Rights. “Because pluralism is based on partial agreements,
support for Sen. Kerry is premised on our overall
effort to help restore liberty and justice for all,”
the statement reads, implying that this is going
to be a performance-based relationship.
The AMT enjoys the support
of nation-wide organizations seeking to preserve
constitutional rights even as the nation adopts
security measures to protect against further terrorist
attacks. The Green, Libertarian, Reform and Independent
parties have all voiced support for AMT. In addition,
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said earlier
this week that it is asking the Federal Bureau of
Investigation to release information about its questioning
of Muslims and Arabs at their homes, workplaces
and mosques.
“By linking the need
for freedom with the electoral process, the AMT
has imbued the Muslim community’s vote with relevance,
purpose and power,” Dr. Shabbir Safdar commented
in a telephone interview. “This position resonates
in our community and gives legitimacy to our demands.”
He is a member of the AMT board, and a professor
of clinical medicine at Washington University Medical
Center.
The “qualified” endorsement,
AMT declared sends a message that it expects a possible
Kerry administration to reciprocate by rolling back
parts of the USA Patriot Act in affirmation of due
process, equal justice and other constitutional
norms. It also implies that the community relationship
with a new administration may remain lukewarm until
action is taken, community leaders say.
Community expectations
Muslim immigrants, like
others, come to the United States in search of freedom,
said chairman Saeed, who teaches at the UC Berkeley’s
African American Studies Department.
To illustrate the depth
of this point he tells a story about a conversation
between America’s Nobel Prize winning novelist William
Faulkner and a Russian critic. “The Russian critic,
commenting on the works of William Faulkner, once
observed that many people were ‘Americans’ even
before they got to America as immigrants. How could
one be an American without ever having visited America?
someone asked. “Well, by their longing and commitment
to freedom” was the Russian critic’s reply.”
The US Muslim community
has been antagonized by the administration in numerous
ways during the past three years. The treatment
has led major organizations to conclude that their
support for the Republican Party in the 2000 election
was a serious error. “The Bush administration has
been insensitive to the civil liberties and human
rights,” of Muslims since the September 11 attack,
the AMT statement said.
Saeed and others believe
that the community now wishes to see corrective
action taken by the next administration to restore
civil liberties, provide jobs, education, health
care, economic development of inner cities, end
of war and occupation of Iraq, improve relations
with the Muslim world, and work towards international
peace and justice.
AMT and the vote
By linking its endorsement
of Kerry to civil rights, the AMT has accomplished
one of the goals it set out to fulfill when it was
launched in December 2003. It has placed civil rights
in the forefront of the public awareness, and has
set it on the table of the presidential agenda.
It is the result of tireless effort that the AMT
has succeeded in channeling the community’s anguish
and anger into a voting strategy.
AMT’s leadership, determined
to establish internal consensus, launched 50 town
hall meetings across the nation, built civil rights
coalitions with like-minded organizations and negotiated
with all candidates for support of the American
Muslim community’s needs. The 12-month effort culminated
in 70 town hall meetings, the establishment, in
California, of the California Civil Rights Alliance
and the public support from the Green, Libertarian,
Reform and Independent parties.
AMT continues to enjoy
broad-based support among its ethnic components.
Just a week ago an impressive constellation of Pakistan-American
organization had announced its support for the AMT
by exhorting:
“An election, among
other things, involves opportunities for 1) agenda-setting,
2) coalition-building, 3) capacity-formation (gaining
knowledge and skills to influence the political
system), and 4) negotiated achievement of community
interests.
“Endorsement without
negotiation is meaningless, negotiation without
quid pro quo is a failure, and any quid pro quo
that does not benefit most of the community is elitist.
An endorsement must meet the litmus test of translating
personal contacts into community benefits otherwise
it is a sham.
Through its principled,
nuanced, and skillfully crafted stand, the AMT has
fulfilled all of those expectations. Now, as he
looks at the post-election picture, Saeed says AMT
will continue working towards several goals: building
a nationwide coalition of civil rights, education
and empowerment of the American Muslim community,
electoral defeat of the neo-conservatives, consolidation
of AMT and its organizations, consolidation of AMT’s
relationship with its own base. (Lisette B. Poole,
a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco
Bay area, also lecturers at CSUH)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
