October 15, 2008 – 10:16 am
Most Arab Americans I know resent the United State’s intimate relationship with Israel and the adverse affect it has on Palestinians. Most Arab Americans I know (myself included) are voting for Barack Obama.
It’s not that we have forgotten Obama’s AIPAC blunder or that we disregard Biden’s outspoken support of Israel. It’s that unlike Senator McCain, Obama’s campaign does not thrive off of the fear-mongering and finger-pointing shamelessly practiced by the Republican campaign. As proof, take the latest McCain ad which falsely accuses Obama of lying about his relationship with “terrorist Bill Ayers.”
Yet too many Arab Americans still associate with the GOP. And this association may prove disastrous for our future as citizens and members of society.
Along with American Muslims, Arab Americans suffered the consequences of the politics of fear; with increased terror alerts came a decrease in their civil liberties, a blow to their reputation (both at work or in social groups), and sometimes even threats to their personal safety. The fact that Obama does not rely on the played-out terrorist card should be reason enough for Arab Americans to support him.
Here is another:
Last month, the Clarion Fund, a supposedly non-profit organization funded by a $400,000 dollar grant from a “secret donor”, paid 70 newspapers in 14 of America’s swing states to distribute their DVD, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.” Read More »
The possibility of a new US president seeking dialogue with Iran, along with the evolving political landscapes in Lebanon and Iraq, makes it high time for the Arab States to deal with the changing realities in the Middle East.
Now that US presidential candidate Barak Obama has officially clinched the Democratic party vote and seems a possible presidential candidate come the November elections, the Arab States must start setting their agenda. Obama has made clear his intention to start a dialogue with Iran- rather than continuing the Bush Administration’s policy of boycott. Where do the Sunni Arabs fit into all of this?
To date, the Sunni Arab States seem unsure of how to deal with Iran. Open dialogue with the intention of integrating the Islamic Republic into the Middle Eastern fold has been impossible. Now that the US might change its modus operandi should a Democrat leader be elected, the Arab States may need to redress their policies vis a vis Iran and the place of Shi’ism in the Arab World in general.
The new reality in Lebanon, with the official inclusion of Hizbulla as a foremost power broker in the country, cannot be ignored. Read More »
Hussein what you wearing
that funny looking turban for?
Man you’re in America now!
The land of opportunity
Judeo-Christian unity
respectable community
So don’t you go consorting with
Louis Farrakhan
when you could be endearing yourself
to the great American clan
Your name is Obama
So don’t you go looking like Osama
Wearing some MOOZLMAN pajama
Man you got yourself a Harvard Degree
to cleanse that impure pedigree
And with Oprah at your side
You’re sure to glide
Tell America about your papa
the one in heaven
In one afternoon a campaign boon
A reverent scene
Beside the media Queen
Spreading the American dream
We are all one in the body of Christ
So don’t you go traveling
among the disbelievers
the Allah deceivers
they may not like your version
of the great conversion
and go after your ass
till you do the reversion
Stay safe man
You’re in America now Obama
The religious freedom nation
of personal salvation
Your name is Obama
Barack allah feek
Baruch ha shem Ya Hussein
you’re related to the Queen!!*
* – See Juancole.com for Arabo/Islamic lineage of British royalty
August 16, 2007 – 12:19 pm
On August 9th of 1997, a young Haitian immigrant by the name of Abner Louima in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn was brought to a police station after being arrested for his role in a brawl at a popular night club. While he was punched, beaten with a stick, had a plunger brutally inserted into his backside causing severe damage to his colon and bladder, while he agonized in a pool of blood, an officer from the New York Police Department told him: “it’s Giuliani Time.”
Two years later, a West African Muslim immigrant by the name of Amadou Diallo had his turn to experience Giuliani Time. The encounter would be brief, and it would cost him his life. The unarmed man was walking home in his Bronx neighborhood and was approached by the NYPD. When he made a gesture to reach for his wallet the officers fired 41 shots, killing an unarmed, hard-working man with no criminal record in cold blood. This was Giuliani Time in New York, a time when the rules and regulations on the police had been loosened and residents of many African-American, Latino and immigrant neighborhoods lived in fear of mostly white elite units in the department who, under the direction of Giuliani, often cracked down brutally on any perceived threats. Read More »
