06 09 05 - Robert Fisk: American and Muslim: six million people in search of an identity

The =ndependent
(From Annette Melikian USA)
Robert Fisk: American and Muslim: six million people in search of an identity.
Seattle businessmen, students, Miami housewives... Well, what did I expect, asks Robert Fisk at the Chicago Muslim convention.
Published: 03 September 2006
A guy with brown eyes and dark skin and a thick American =ccent walks up to talk to me. I guess he's an Iranian, possibly a Pakistani. =here're you from, I ask? "Austin, Texas," he replies. Fisk foiled =gain. But where do you originally come from I ask him? "I was born in Newark, =ew Jersey." Fisk clears his throat. Where does his family originally =ome from? I'm beginning to feel like the man from Homeland Security, =acially profiling my new friend. "Lahore," he replies laconically and = try to make amends. The only beautiful city in Pakistan, I say, and he =miles witheringly at me.

And I go on making the same mistake at the conference hall =here the biggest annual convention of American Muslims - perhaps 32,000 of =hem - is meeting for a weekend of speeches and discussions that run all the way =rom drug addiction to Condi Rice's "new" and bloody Middle East, =rom banking without interest to the Bush administration's use of torture and =es, of course, the after-effects on Muslims of the international crimes =gainst humanity of September 11, 2001.

You from Jordan I ask? "Denver, Colorado," the =oung woman replies. Born in San Diego. Family, yes, from Jordan. From =ebanon, I ask another? "Buffalo, New York." Actually, the family was from =yria.

It takes a while to realise that I'm playing the game of =o many American non-Muslims in the aftermath of the plane hijackings. I'm =niffing for the world's enemies only hours after President George W Bush went into =aranoid mode while addressing the American Legion in Salt Lake City. He had just claimed that America is fighting "the decisive ideological struggle =f the 21st century" and then jumped on the crumbling old arguments of =re-Second World War appeasement to bang the Hitler drum as =ell.

Oddly, it's the Muslim converts rather than the =uslim-born Americans who are toughest on Bush. "He wants eternal war," a =oung man with a brown beard but very bright blue eyes - yes, he was from Vermont = hissed at me. "He talks shit and we have to listen to this and =romise to be non-violent or someone will point the finger at us." All agree =hat the most pernicious element to the latest Bush rant is his gift to Israel of placing Ehud Olmert in the ranks of his "war on terror", quite specifically linking Israel's slaughter of Lebanese civilians in July =nd August to his own manic project by stating that combatants from Iraq and =ebanon "form the outlines of a single movement, a worldwide network of =adicals that use terror to kill those who stand in the way of their totalitarian ideology".

I search for the anger amid these thousands of Muslims, businessmen from Seattle and students from Harvard and housewives from =iami. It's there, I know, but as an Armenian friend of mine remarks in the =fternoon, they seem happy. And it's true. There are more smiles than expressions =f contempt, more babies in backpacks and prams than posters of pain. In =act there aren't any posters at all. But I suspect I know the truth. On =heir own, as thin minorities in the towns and cities of the United States, =merica's Muslims - perhaps six million of them - can feel under siege, distrusted =nd even hated.

At the convention centre, however, they are in a =elf-confident majority, Sunnis for the most part - America's Shias, who may be in the majority over all, don't have the same organising abilities at present - =ho blithely ignore the officers of the Illinois state police and the =hicago cops' bomb squad. I watch them, guns swinging at their hips, go from stand to =tand, occasionally inspecting the boxes of books piled against the walls. Just =ho, I wonder, do they think is going to bomb Muslims in =hicago?

Salam al-Marati - he is one of the few Muslims I meet who actually was born in the Arab world, in the Baghdad suburb of Qadamiyeh = is director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a Los Angeles =dvocacy group which repeatedly urges American Muslims to work with the =uthorities against violence but who sees other dangers and other targets for Muslim political anger: the pro-Israeli lobbyists who ostentatiously insist =hat the vast majority of American Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding but that = "network of Islamic terror" exists across the =ation.

Daniel Pipes is a bête noire, as is Steven Emerson, a =reelance journalist who grinds out article after article about the "American jihad" for such august papers as The Wall Street Journal, which, by =he way, more and more reads like The Jerusalem Post. Emerson and his work =re taken apart by al-Marati and his colleagues in a widely circulated =ooklet entitled Counterproductive Terrorism: How Anti-Islamic Rhetoric is =mpeding America's Homeland Security.

"Those representing pro-Israeli groups continue to intimidate and marginalise those who are critical of Israeli policies by claiming this is pro-terrorism," al-Marati says with a mixture of =nger and weariness. "This is to the detriment of America, to the =etriment of countering terrorism."

Maher Hathout, originally from the Cairo suburb of Qasr =l-Aini and an MPAC advisor, is, if anything, even more angry. "We are that =roup of Americans who are not intimidated," he says. "You go to the campuses, and the Muslim students are the most outspoken. They are =sking - we are asking - how we can get the average American who knows the truth =bout the Middle East to have the guts to speak it. Our job is to say: 'Shame on =ou. You criticise your President. But when you speak of Israel,you whisper.' =hat has happened to the home of the brave?"

MPAC - which is operating in Chicago under the auspices of =he distinctly pro-Saudi Islamic Society of North America - has produced a =andbook called the Grassroots Campaign to Fight Terrorism, which quotes from the =oran ("Whoever killed a human being... it shall be as if he had killed =ll mankind") and advises its supporters that "it is our duty as =merican Muslims to protect our country and to contribute to its =etterment".

"But what is the American-Muslim identity?" =l-Marati asks. "Our religious values and our American values are not =ncompatible. There is no dissonance between the founding principles of America and =uslim values. Unless we have this identity, we will be trapped. We will end up creating Muslim ghettoes in America."

Sometimes, though, these men and women remind me of =othing so much as the more ardent members of the Israeli - or Armenian - lobby: =luent, just a little bit over-eloquent, passionate - and I wonder if one day =hey may get a little loose with the facts.

A guy with brown eyes and dark skin and a thick American accent walks up to =alk to me. I guess he's an Iranian, possibly a Pakistani. Where're you from, I =sk? "Austin, =st1:State w:st="on">Texas," he replies. Fisk =oiled again. But where do you originally come from I ask him? "I was born in =st1:place w:st="on">Newark, New Jersey." Fisk clears his throat. Where =oes his family originally come from? I'm beginning to feel like the man from =omeland Security, racially profiling my new friend. "Lahore," he replies laconically =nd I try to make amends. The only beautiful city in Pakistan, I say, and he =miles witheringly at me.

And I go on making the same mistake at the conference hall where the biggest =nnual convention of American Muslims - perhaps 32,000 of them - is meeting for = weekend of speeches and discussions that run all the way from drug =ddiction to Condi Rice's "new" and bloody Middle East, from banking =ithout interest to the Bush administration's use of torture and yes, of course, =he after-effects on Muslims of the international crimes against humanity of September 11, 2001.

You from Jordan I ask? "Denver, =st1:State w:st="on">Colorado," the young woman =eplies. Born in San =iego. Family, yes, from Jordan. From Lebanon, I ask another? "Buffalo, New York." =ctually, the family was from Syria.

It takes a while to realise that I'm playing the game of so many American =on-Muslims in the aftermath of the plane hijackings. I'm sniffing for the world's =nemies only hours after President George W Bush went into paranoid mode while addressing the American Legion in Salt Lake City. He had just claimed that =st1:country-region w:st="on">America is fighting "the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st =entury" and then jumped on the crumbling old arguments of pre-Second World War =ppeasement to bang the Hitler drum as well.

Oddly, it's the Muslim converts rather than the Muslim-born Americans who are =oughest on Bush. "He wants eternal war," a young man with a brown =eard but very bright blue eyes - yes, he was from Vermont - hissed at me. "He talks shit and we have to listen to this and =romise to be non-violent or someone will point the finger at us." All =gree that the most pernicious element to the latest Bush rant is his gift to =srael of placing Ehud Olmert in the ranks of his "war on terror", quite specifically linking Israel's slaughter of Lebanese civilians in July =nd August to his own manic project by stating that combatants from Iraq and Lebanon "form the outlines of a single movement, a worldwide =etwork of radicals that use terror to kill those who stand in the way of their totalitarian ideology".

I search for the anger amid these thousands of Muslims, businessmen from =st1:City w:st="on">Seattle and students from Harvard and housewives =rom Miami. It's =here, I know, but as an Armenian friend of mine remarks in the afternoon, they =eem happy. And it's true. There are more smiles than expressions of =ontempt, more babies in backpacks and prams than posters of pain. In fact there aren't =ny posters at all. But I suspect I know the truth. On their own, as thin minorities in the towns and cities of the United States, America's Muslims - perhaps six million of them - can feel under siege, distrusted =nd even hated.

At the convention centre, however, they are in a self-confident majority, =unnis for the most part - America's Shias, who may be in the majority over all, =on't have the same organising abilities at present - who blithely ignore the officers of the Illinois state police and the Chicago cops' bomb squad. = watch them, guns swinging at their hips, go from stand to stand, occasionally inspecting the boxes of books piled against the walls. Just who, I =onder, do they think is going to bomb Muslims in Chicago?

Salam al-Marati - he is one of the few Muslims I meet who actually was born in =he Arab world, in the Baghdad suburb of Qadamiyeh - is director of the =uslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a Los Angeles advocacy group which =epeatedly urges American Muslims to work with the authorities against violence but =ho sees other dangers and other targets for Muslim political anger: the pro-Israeli lobbyists who ostentatiously insist that the vast majority =f American Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding but that a "network =f Islamic terror" exists across the =ation.

Daniel Pipes is a bête noire, as is Steven Emerson, a freelance journalist =ho grinds out article after article about the "American jihad" for such =ugust papers as The Wall Street Journal, which, by the way, more and more =eads like The Jerusalem Post. Emerson and his work are taken apart by al-Marati =nd his colleagues in a widely circulated booklet entitled Counterproductive =errorism: How Anti-Islamic Rhetoric is Impeding America's Homeland =ecurity.

"Those representing pro-Israeli groups continue to intimidate and marginalise =hose who are critical of Israeli policies by claiming this is =ro-terrorism," al-Marati says with a mixture of anger and weariness. "This is to =he detriment of America, to the detriment of countering =errorism."

Maher Hathout, originally from the Cairo suburb of Qasr el-Aini and an MPAC advisor, is, if anything, even more =ngry. "We are that group of Americans who are not intimidated," he =ays. "You go to the campuses, and the Muslim students are the most =utspoken. They are asking - we are asking - how we can get the average American =ho knows the truth about the Middle East to =ave the guts to speak it. Our job is to say: 'Shame on you. You criticise your President. But when you speak of Israel,you whisper.' What =as happened to the home of the brave?"

MPAC - which is operating in Chicago under the auspices of the distinctly =ro-Saudi Islamic Society of North America - has produced a handbook called the Grassroots Campaign to Fight Terrorism, which quotes from the Koran ("Whoever killed a human being... it shall be as if he had killed =ll mankind") and advises its supporters that "it is our duty as =merican Muslims to protect our country and to contribute to its =etterment".

"But what is the American-Muslim identity?" al-Marati asks. "Our =eligious values and our American values are not incompatible. There is no =issonance between the founding principles of America and Muslim values. =nless we have this identity, we will be trapped. We will end up creating =uslim ghettoes in America."

Sometimes, though, these men and women remind me of nothing so much as the more =rdent members of the Israeli - or Armenian - lobby: fluent, just a little bit over-eloquent, passionate - and I wonder if one day they may get a =ittle loose with the facts.

V.V