AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2000, Pages 87-90

Muslim-American Activism

American Muslim Council Celebrates 10th Birthday at National Convention

The ninth annual national convention of the American Muslim Council (AMC) was held at the Crystal Gateway Sheraton Hotel in Arlington, Virginia from June 22 to 25. The conference, on the theme ÒElection 2000 and Beyond,Ó also celebrated the 10th anniversary of AMC, whose aim is to increase the effective participation of American Muslims in U.S. political and public policy arenas. Among the goals of this yearÕs convention was to lobby American politicians as well as to promote political participation by Muslim Americans in the U.S. political process. Over 250 delegates from across North America attended the convention, including a considerable number of Muslim candidates to different state legislatures, city councils, and mainstream party office bearers.

The convention also focused upon issues such as Muslims in the media, civil rights, American Muslim youth, education, foreign policy and Muslims in the American public sector.

In a letter extending his warm greetings to conference attendees, President Bill Clinton noted, ÒThroughout my administration, I have spoken often about my dream of One AmericaÑa dream that can only be made real through a commitment of the human spirit. The QurÕan says that Allah created nations and tribes so that we might know one another, not that we might despise one another,Ó the president wrote. ÒThat guiding principle will be essential to the success of our efforts to create an America where we more deeply understand and appreciate our respective faiths, embrace our diversity, and come together around our shared values to face our shared challenges.Ó

Presidential candidate Gov. George W. Bush also wrote to attendees, saying, ÒAmerica is a better nation because of its diversity, and the Muslim community has contributed greatly to the traditions that are part of our rich cultural historyÑlove of faith and family, commitment to entrepreneurship and a sense of community where neighbor helps neighbor...I want America to be a welcoming place for every one of our citizensÑa place where the American Dream touches every willing heartÉI look forward to working with Muslim Americans as we build a future for our country that is decent, compassionate and inclusive.Ó

The conference began with a full day of lobbying and related activities, including a congressional visits workshop led by AMC executive director Aly Abuzaakouk. Speakers identified concerns important to Muslim Americans that attendees could discuss with their congressional representatives, including both domestic (profiling and secret evidence) and international (Jerusalem, lifting sanctions on Iraq) issues.

At a dinner reception held in the Cannon House Office Building, AMC presented awards to Congressmen Tom Davis (R-VA) and John Conyers Jr. (D-MI), Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist, and American Arab Institute president James Zogby. Dinner speakers included invited members of Congress who were participating in House floor debates on recommendations submitted by the National Council on Counter-Terrorism. The councilÕs June 8 report advocated tracking international students studying in the U.S., allowing the CIA and FBI more flexibility in investigating individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities, and using informants who may have less than credible backgrounds. The council also suggested investigating fund-raising by charitable organizations linked with suspected terrorists within the United States.

Members of Congress also addressed other issues of relevance for American Muslims, including foreign policy, discrimination, and House Resolution 2121Ñthe Secret Evidence Repeal ActÑto counter the councilÕs recommendations.

Representative James McDermott (D-WA) said, ÒThose of us who sponsored this legislation are very eager to see it pass and end what in my view reminds meÉof the kinds of things we did with the Japanese here in the Second World War.Ó McDermott was referring to Executive Order 9066, which mandated placing Americans of Japanese ancestry in internment camps (prisons) merely because they were Japanese.

In response to the councilÕs recommendation to track foreign students McDermott added, ÒThis is a reflection of the attitude that is arising in this country again, as it has in the past, that people coming in from the outside are somehow dangerous.Ó

Representative Constance Morella (R-MD) told the dinner audience she would support HR 2121, co-sponsored by Reps. Tom Campbell (R-CA) and House Minority Whip David Bonior. Several hours later, however, Morella voted against the Campbell Amendment to cut funding for secret evidence cases. Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) also gave a speech in general support and then voted against the amendment. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), told the AMA dinner audience he would not support HR 2121 and, indeed, voted against the amendment.

The first panel session on June 23, ÒEmpowering Muslims in the Media,Ó was moderated by Washington Report correspondent Mir M. Ali, a member of the AMC advisory board. Panelists included Talal Al-Haj, director of QatarÕs Aljazeera television station; Islam Online director Fadel Lamen; journalist Anisa Mehdi of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS); and Pakistan Link editor Faiz Rehman

Reform Party presidential candidate Pat Buchanan addressed the luncheon which followed. Drawing parallels between himself and the American Muslim community, Buchanan told the audience they have shared family values and a belief that abortion is wrong. IslamÕs influence, he said, is Òon the rise, and I believe the influence of your community in this country is positive, it is beneficial and it is desperately needed in an age when I see our country going in the wrong direction.Ó

Buchanan also called for a more ÒmoralÓ international policy. He said if he were president he would lift the embargo on humanitarian, civil and medical supplies on Iraq. ÒI think that policy of imposing ruthless sanctions on the primary victims, who are the old, the poor and the very young, is an immoral policy and it shames us as a great nation and a great people,Ó Buchanan said.

Buchanan also said he believes there should be two capitals in the city of Jerusalem and that it would be a mistake to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, as some have suggested.

At an afternoon White House briefing, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke to AMC attendees, who voiced their concerns regarding domestic and international issues. An evening reception focused on candidates and delegates.

An array of sessions on June 24-25 addressed issues ranging from greater uslim involvement in the mainstream U.S. political system, the use of secret evidence, and educational and international issues, to U.S. government policies on Jerusalem, Kashmir, and Iraq. Almost all the speakers vehemently opposed the use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings. They opposed the sanctions against Iraq as well, saying these had served no purpose but had only further strengthened the position of Iraqi President Saddam Hussain. Speakers also urged greater U.S. involvement in finding a peaceful settlement to the Kashmir conflict.

The final day of the conference opened with a workshop for chapter activists on ÒThe Power of Organizing.Ó A parallel session was held on ÒThe Role of Islamic Centers in Political Empowerment (Election 2000).Ó

Keynote speakers at a brunch discussion on ÒThe Plight of the Iraqi PeopleÓ included Ghassan Atiyyah of the Center for Iraqi Studies, London; Khalil Ibrahim Jassemm, president of LIFE for Relief; and former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter.

Ritter told the audience there were three ways to help the Iraqi people: First, by sending financial aid and medicine; second, by publicizing the plight of the Iraqi people and making Americans aware of the catastrophe going on in that country; and finally, Ritter said, by pressuring the Clinton administration to remove the sanctions on the Iraqi people and impose them only on Saddam. The U.S. is holding the victims responsible for what their tyrant is doing, Ritter said, and the Iraqi people are paying the price for their leaderÕs actions.

AMC presented awards to Eugene Bird of the Council for the National Interest and Jerri Bird of Partners for Peace, and to Fakhri Al Barzinji, owner of International Graphics, for their outstanding achievements and commitment.

ÑAdila Masood and Delinda Hanley

Burger King Boycott Renewed

A coalition of American Muslim organizations led by American Muslims for erusalem (AMJ) called upon all Muslims, Arabs and concerned Americans to renew last yearÕs boycott of the fast-food chain Burger King. At a July 5 news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, AMJ executive director Khalid Turaani said that following a three-week boycott last year by 10 Muslim and Arab organizations, Burger King canceled in August 1999 its Israeli franchiseeÕs right to operate a food court in MaÕale Adumim, an illegal Jewish-only settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Now, however, the company seems to have reneged. Despite Burger KingÕs romises, its MaÕale Adumim franchise is still in operation. Burger King thus is tacitly recognizing IsraelÕs illegal activities in the occupied territories. Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza are a breach of international law as embodied in United Nations resolutions and the Geneva Conventions.

In response, AMJÕs Turaani said, Òwe are renewing the boycott. We feel that Burger King has started to stonewall us,Ó he added. ÒThey are unwilling to release any information on the progress of their talks with their Israeli partner. At the same time they are not willing to reaffirm their commitment of Aug. 26, 1999 to close down the restaurant.Ó

Burger King would do well to take the boycott threat seriously, since the company has restaurants in Malaysia, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and other countries where Muslims and Arabs are the majority of their customers. Saudi Arabia alone has 80 Burger King outlets.

Among the organizations supporting the boycott are the Council for the National Interest, Partners for Peace, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America.

Persons wishing to contact Burger King should write CEO Mr. Dennis Malamatinas at Burger King Corporation, 17777 Old Cutler Road, Miami, FL 33157, tel. (305) 378-7011, fax: (305) 378-7403, or e-mail <dmalamatinas@whopper.com>. Burger King vice president Mr. Rob Doughty can be reached at (305) 378-3577, fax: (305) 378-7714, or via e-mail at <rdoughty@whopper.com>.

ÑDelinda C. Hanley

Muslims Urge Arafat Not to Give Up Jerusalem

On June 5, the same day as the Burger King boycott announcement, President Clinton announced that he would hold an Israeli-Palestinian summit at Camp David in Maryland. Muslim leaders attending the Burger King press conference took the opportunity to read a statement urging Palestinian President Yasser Arafat not to make any concessions on Jerusalem. The statement was endorsed by the American Muslim Council (AMC); American Muslim Foundation (AMF); American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP); Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA); Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

The sanctity of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam, is not open to negotiation at the Camp David summit, AMJ spokesman Khalid Turaani said. No individual or group has the right to sign away Islamic rights in the city, he asserted. The Muslim leaders also maintained that any agreement diminishing Muslim rights in Jerusalem or preventing refugees from returning to their homes in Palestine not only would be unworkable but, from an Islamic perspective, also would be null and void.

The Muslim leadersÕ statement read as follows: ÒHistory shows that Muslim and hristian religious rights are not safe under an Israeli occupation. We only need to recall Israeli police shooting to death 17 Palestinian civilians who challenged Jewish extremists who sought to lay a ÔcornerstoneÕ at the holy sites in 1990 and the Israeli tunnel built near the foundations of the Haram ash-Sharif (ÔThe Noble SanctuaryÕ). Since the start of the peace process in 1993, Israel has maintained a closure of Jerusalem, stifling free movement, economic development and freedom of worship for Palestinian Christians and Muslims from the West Bank. In addition, municipal policies designed by the Israeli occupation forces create conditions of such psychological and economic pressure that non-Jews are obliged to move away from the city.

ÒThese were not isolated incidents, but are the result of an Apartheid-like ideology that seeks to erase all traces of Islam and Christianity in Jerusalem. As a result of this grave situation, the Muslim and Christian presence in Jerusalem is being systematically eroded.

ÒGiven IsraelÕs track record, we believe that it is fundamentally inappropriate for President Clinton to pressure the Palestinians into any further compromise on erusalem. We call on President Clinton and on leaders of Muslim-majority countries to refrain from pressuring Yasser Arafat to act against the will of his own people. Arafat should not be induced to surrender the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes or to sign away Muslim rights in Jerusalem.

ÒNo diplomatic sleight of hand will be sufficient to convince Muslims worldwide that they should give up one of their holiest sites to perpetual occupation and gradual elimination.Ó

The statement concludes, ÒWe call on all people of faith to join in working to create a Jerusalem that symbolizes religious tolerance and dialogue, not hatred, exclusion and conflict.Ó

ÑDelinda C. Hanley

AMA Massachusetts Holds Fund-raiser for First Lady Hillary Clinton

The Massachusetts chapter of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA) held a successful fund-raiser for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at BostonÕs Park Plaza Hotel on June 13. The reception was attended by nearly 100 American Muslim leaders and activists. After an informal introduction and photo shoot with Mrs. Clinton, community members had the opportunity to meet on a one-to-one basis with the senatorial candidate.

Master of ceremonies for the event was Farooq Ansari, a co-founder and former president of the AMA Massachusetts chapter. He welcomed Mrs. Clinton on behalf of AMA and the Muslim community, highlighting her achievements as First Lady.

Mrs. Clinton opened her remarks by explaining to the Muslim audience why they should support a candidate for the U.S. Senate from New York. ÒThe U.S. Senate deals with policy issues that affect a great many people who are living abroad and who live in other states,Ó she noted.

Crediting the presidentÕs leadership for the strong U.S. economy and the prosperity of the American people, she went on to stress the importance of continuing with the current political structure and leaders to ensure continued economic prosperity.

On domestic issues, the first lady vowed to pursue fairness and justice in the issue of secret evidence and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

When asked about the plight of children of Iraq, Mrs. Clinton, while admitting that the sanctions on Iraq are not working, stated that they were the only alternative to going to war. AMA Massachusetts presented Mrs. Clinton with a plaque commending her for her stand on human rights.

ÑLubna Javaid

John Cooley Discusses AmericaÕs Muslim Mercenaries

American journalist John Cooley, who served as NBC and ABCÕs Middle East correspondent for almost 30 years, spoke at a June 16 âriefing organized by the Afghanistan Foundation at the Center for Strategic International Studies. He discussed his latest book, Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism, which addresses U.S. involvement in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet invasion, and in the nurturing of a network of Islamic extremists throughout the Muslim world.

Cooley began by quoting a letter from Niccolo Machiavelli to his patron, Prince Lorenzo de Medici, warning of the dangers of a ruler hiring mercenaries to fight his wars rather than using his stateÕs regular forces. ÒWhile taking your shelter mercenaries would fight their own wars and turn against you when your war is ended,Ó wrote Machiavelli.

ÒAll this happened,Ó Cooley said, Òwith Muslim mercenaries hired and trained by the CIA as a Ôproject managerÕ to harass, fight and eject the Soviets from Afghanistan.

ÒWhat I tried to do in my book,Ó he told the audience, Òwas to show some details of how the Carter administration initiated and the Reagan administration subsequently followed supporting a worldwide radical Islamist network.Ó

Cooley explained how a ÒflirtationÓ between America and radical Islamist groups began when the CIA started supporting EgyptÕs Muslim Brotherhood in an effort to counter President Gamal Abdel NasserÕs pro-Soviet politics.

According to Cooley, between 1979 and 1989 the CIA, using proxy methods, and with the help of Pakistani ISID (Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate) officers and Afghan guerrilla leaders, trained more than 50,000 Muslim mercenaries, including Arabs, Turks, Chinese Uighurs and Filipinos. Jihad fighters in Afghanistan underwent Òthe deadliest and most effective terrorist training in the world,Ó according to the U.S. officer, who trained them.

ÒAnd today,Ó explained Cooley, Òthese ex-mercenaries are involved in the Muslim radical network whose purpose is to harass, destabilize and overthrow governments and societies wherever they can, from Egypt and Algeria to the Philippines. After the Russians evacuated,Ó he said, Òthe ultimate target of the international Islamist fighters became America itself.Ó

CooleyÕs book addresses the consequences of the Afghan conflict and describes the events perpetrated by Afghan jihad veterans, from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York to the present wave of kidnappings, bombings and murders in the Philippines.

During the discussion that followed, Cooley was criticized by a State Department representative for Òmaking broad generalizationsÓ without knowing all the nuances. The U.S. official particularly denied CooleyÕs statement that Òthe Taliban came to power with the support of Pakistan, sustained by the U.S.,Ó pointing out that Pakistan hasnÕt received any military aid from the U.S. since 1990.

ÑAlima Bissenova