| Politicians Speaking in Support of Muslims |
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Politicians Speaking in Support of Muslims By Hafiz Rashid With Islam being targeted heavily by American politicians in the past, an Muslim in America these days can’t expect to see a lot of positive news. Ever since September 11, 2001, many politicians have looked towards the Muslim population in this country and seen only security risks. However, recent events are showing that a change may be in order. In October, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution recognizing the holy month of Ramadan and expressing the “deepest respect to Muslims in the United States and throughout the world" by a margin of 376-0. No other resolution has ever passed in this country before, and certainly not by this extent. To top it all off, there were over 30 cosponsors of the bill in addition to the bill’s main sponsor, Rep. Eddie Johnson of Texas (D). Of course, Congress’s lone Muslim, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota (D) was one of the co-sponsors. This is certainly good news, especially since 26% of Muslims in a 2005 poll had negative first impressions about Muslims in America. The same is true of the fact that there was not a single “no” vote. Sure, the vote was not unanimous, as 56 representatives didn’t vote or was not present, but even that in itself is good news as no politician wants to be seen as against Muslims. There are many politicians who speak in support of American Muslims. Rep. Dennis Kucinich from Ohio (D) who is a presidential candidate for 2008, has visited mosques and spoken at CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) events. At the Islamic Society of North America’s convention in Chicago on Labor Day, in addition to Ellison, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean made a speech. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D) also one of the co-sponsors of the Ramadan bill, has a Muslim chief of staff and has also spoken in support of American Muslims. Senator Patrick Leahy (D) from Connecticut has also defended Muslims. Maryland’s own Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) has visited the Jaferia Islamic Center and even spoke at one of the IIC’s events. There are other politicians who have spoken up for Muslim causes and defended Muslims against negative comments, and not all of them are Democrats. When Republican presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado made comments threatening to bomb Mecca to deter terrorism, other Republicans running for President protested, like former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California. Ultimately, though, this can be seen as merely being token support, or support on safe issues. Respect for the holy month of Ramadan is certainly a big step forward, there’s no doubt about that. However, most Muslims want more than that. Muslims in 2004 proved to be the ultimate swing voters when a majority of them voted for Kerry, breaking with their vote in 2000 when they mostly voted for Bush. What Muslims in America would like to see political candidates addressing Muslim candidates directly, or speaking at major Muslim events, much like Howard Dean did, or better yet, even taking positive stances on Muslim causes. Inshallah, when that happens, we can point to the Ramadan resolution as the beginning. |
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