“Governor Bush took the initiative to meet with local and national representatives of the Muslim community”, said AMA chairman and AMPCC-PAC director Dr. Agha Saeed. “He also promised to address Muslim concerns” on domestic and foreign policy issues. As Muslims vote in a unified bloc, they may decide who is elected president in November. Candidates are sure to take notice and begin to listen to Muslim concerns.

AMC president and AMPCC-PAC member Dr. Yahya Basha cited Governor Bush’s elevated level of concern in regard to secret evidence and airport profiling and bringing it to the national political debate.

Despite numerous requests, neither Vice President Al Gore nor his election staff would meet with American Muslim leaders. This perplexed MPAC national director Salam Al-Marayati, who noted that President Bill Clinton had set a precedent for accessibility for Muslims. Moments before the bloc vote announcement, Gore’s campaign headquarters and the Democratic National Committee were on the phone, asking AMPCC to delay its endorsement.

Finally, just as the cameras began to roll, the bloc vote was getting the attention of American politicians. For the first time in U.S. history, American Muslims, and most Arab Americans, will be voting as a bloc in a race so tight they can make a difference in key states. There are an estimated six to eight million Muslims and an additional two million Christian Arab Americans in the United States today. With large concentrations in key battleground states such as California, Illinois and Michigan, American Muslims and Arab Americans represent a swing vote that candidates must acknowledge. By voting as a bloc, they can make their voice heard and, at the same time, give a great gift to their fellow Americans: the gift of a principled Middle East policy in the interest of America, not of Israel.

What does the birth of the bloc vote have to do with Palestinian children like 12-year-old Mohammed Al-Durra dying in the streets in Israeli-occupied Palestine? With the threat of even greater bloodshed looming, American lawmakers, including the president, may start listening to the voice of Muslim- and Arab-Americans and to citizens of conscience who care about the Middle East, if they have some political clout. This bloc vote will send a message to American leaders that this nation’s Middle East policy must become even-handed for the first time in half a century.

When you go to the polls on Nov. 7, or when you demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinians, carry a sign or wear a badge or sticker people will notice, such as, “Muslims Vote,” “Peace for Palestine,” or “End Aid to Israel.”