Polls show that over 50% of New Yorkers and 60% of Americans oppose the mosque. Despite the fact that it may not be the popular opinion, I am proud to say that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg went on record saying “I believe that this is as important a test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime, and it is critically important that we get it right.” If that’s not enough for you, even the President himself has maintained that the mosque has the right to be there, though he diplomatically and with all the grace and scent of self-preservation hasn’t gone on record ‘supporting’ the mosque. Which is fine. It shouldn’t particularly matter how people feel about where Muslims do or do not put Islamic centers, but it matters terribly that (providing municipal law has been followed) they absolutely have the right to do so in America. When Americans begin to restrict religious freedom in the states and force their beliefs on fellow citizens, what distinguishes America from the ‘freedom hating Islamic extremists’ that the are allegedly at war with?

Other politicians on board with the mosque happen to include Hamas. Let me just say- my affection for Hamas aside for a moment- you aren’t helping, dudes! At a time when American Muslims are trying to look as innocuous as possible the absolute last thing needed is a group like Hamas saying things like “We have to build everywhere”, an unintentionally ominous statement from Mahmoud al-Zahar. Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the most controversial mosque in the world, has received extra criticism for refusing to call Hamas a terrorist organization. Rauf departed last week on an international trip with stops in places like Dubai, Saudi, Bahrain, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi to improve understanding about Muslim communities in America is, of course, being portrayed as essentially a bake sale-style Terrorist Fund raising Adventure for the mosque.

Some New Yorkers have even asked what’s tackier- a ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ or the dozens of vendor tables selling china-made 9/11 souvenirs? People have been throwing around the phrase ‘Hallowed Ground’, but most Hallowed spaces do not have strip clubs, off-track betting, or Burger Kings.

Here’s the thing, and maybe I’m being naïve here, but I am genuinely surprised at how intolerant America is being right now. I work for the American military as an independent contractor on occasion, when I first started I expected to be hated for being Arab and Muslim, especially because I work on Ft. Hood, the site of the recent on-base shootings by a Muslim soldier. I was surprised by how wrong I was. I have met more tolerance and understanding among U.S. Soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, my theory for this is that because they have actually been to these places they see that the Western portrayal of the Muslim Arab as Enemy isn’t correct, while civilians are exposed only to hyper-generalized, ominous stock footage of women in niqab and bearded AK-toting extremists.

While I may be disappointed I’m not without hope. Minorities in America have all had their turn in the stocks- Irish, Catholics, Jews, Japanese, communists, etc. In fact, let’s take that last one as an example. 60 years ago Japanese-Americans were being rounded up and treated like spies and terrorists in an almost identical fashion to Arab-Americans after 9/11. Now America and Japan have excellent business relations, Japanese restaurants are among the most fashionable of cuisine, and Japanese women are revered as ‘exotic-looking’ and beautiful. So here is my Nostradamus moment for the day: give it 60 years. In 2070 my granddaughters will be top models, there will be 5 star Iraqi restaurants in Manhattan, and people will decorate their homes with Bedouin rugs and pictures of the kabba. Iraqi culture will be cool, hipsters will all be Islamocurious and America will have moved onto a new minority to vilify. But here’s to hoping that Arabs and Muslims are the last.

Marwan Kamel is a son of Syrian father and a Polish mother, and grew up in Chicago. The beginnings of Al Thawra date to 2006 or 2007, when Marwan started experimenting with music on his computer. He calls it “me and my computer phase.” He was trying to mix Middle Eastern music with punk and metal, trying to find commonalities, and differences. [Read more.]

In this podcast, Marwan talks about his background, influences, issues of identity, and a lot of things in between.

Before you read the rest of this post, take a listen to the podcast, which you will find at the bottom.

This is one of their music videos, Miskeen, best described by Daniela as the following:

Al Thawra music carries many other political themes, their song Miskeen, which means “someone who is doomed (or followed by bad fortune), comments on the situation in Gaza. It starts with a young Palestinian girl, reciting a sort of political protest poem, saying “we are the revolution,” the heirs of Salah ad-Din…. while the video shows dark streets of Chicago, public transport scene, and Al Thawra band members, with grim and somber expressions, as if reflecting the gloomy mood stemming from the incomprehensible and pointless oppression, regardless where it takes place.

You may also stream the following songs:

Gaza Choking:
[audio:http://www.mideastyouth.com/audio/gazachoking.mp3]
Download.

A Las Cinco:
[audio:http://www.mideastyouth.com/audio/ALasCinco.mp3]
Download.

For more of their music, photos, and information, check out their MySpace page. You should also follow them on Twitter @althawra.

And, maybe pay off some family debts, turn his small New Jersey falafel shop into a fancy restaurant, raise his two motherless children as good Muslims and Americans, insure his sister married in a proper and arranged Muslim marriage to his first cousin, and possibly, if there is time, even find a wife himself.

But Mustafa’s American Dreams, like the American Dreams of many Arabs living in America after Sept. 11, 2001, don’t come easy, and his story, really the story of the Arab American experience today, makes for a compelling drama and one of the best movies about Arab American life I have seen.

Maybe that’s why “American East,” a film made by two professional Arab American actors and producers, was never released into the American movie theaters. Not one major theater would pick the film up and play it to an American audience so lacking in any knowledge about Arab Americans in the post-Sept. 11th world.

The story of the movie itself, written and produced by Hesham Issawi and Sayed Badreya, who plays the film’s main actor, Mustafa, is a part of this American tragedy, which might have been better titled “Shattered American Dreams.”

Yet despite the bias, the bigotry, the absence of major mainstream media coverage and support, and the rejection of the film by a Hollywood industry that is built on hatred of Arab Americans, Issawi and Badreya have produced one hell of a great film that in a dramatic and award winning way tells the inside story of how Arab Americans have been abused and mistreated in this country through the eyes of one man and the people around him.

Though “American East” will not be released in theaters, it was released in DVD format January 20.

Running through the film is Mustafa’s (Badreya) first dream, to open a fancy restaurant in Los Angeles with his friend Sam (Tony Shalhoub), who is Jewish and Egyptian. They both encounter resistance from skeptical locals and families and friends that expose common misunderstandings about Arabs and Islamic cultures as they explore building a business together.

But it gets far more complicated than that.

Mustafa must soon decide if he will take the easy road and succumb to societal pressures or rise above the prejudices and live the American Dream.

There have been several post-9/11 films like “Babel,” “Kingdom of Heaven,” “Syriana,” but all of them have been about the bigger political context, offering a tepid glimpse into the reality of today’s world. “American East” digs much deeper and there are no sacred cows on any side.

This film, though, is powerful. Poignant. And brings everything together in a way the mainstream American audience could better understand the problems that exist around us and that complicate not help the “war on terrorism.”

Mustafa’s life is one of a string of tragedy and problems all related to Sept. 11 and American public fears. He’s done absolutely nothing wrong, but everything he does now looks suspicious. He’s arrested by the FBI and they question him about his friendships and money he donates to help his family back home.

His business, Habibi’s Café, is about to close and is damaged. His business investments are about to fall through. The Arab-Israeli conflict rages in debate among his friends. His family life is collapsing and he worries about whether his children will be able to survive in this society.

Yet, despite all the tragedy that falls upon Mustafa and his family, he manages to say what every Arab American says at the height of their own tragic experiences in this country, “I still believe in this country.”

The film has been compared to Spike Lee’s popular movie “Do the Right Thing.” Like Lee’s film, “American East” tells the story of discrimination and challenge facing African Americans in this country from an African American viewpoint, but also reflecting the reality of Black-White relations.

“American East” exposes the prejudice that exists on all sides, including in the Arab American community. It has a decent reflection of the diversity of the Arab American community itself, although the main focus is about issues facing Muslims and Christian Arabs, who are the majority in the Arab American community, are really a side show in the film. It’s an oversight we experience everyday in Arab American life and that needs to be changed, someday. But until then, this amalgam of Arab American storylines comes together to give the audience a powerful ending.

“American East” touches on many aspects of Arab American life, from the challenges that even face Arab American actors in Hollywood who can either play terrorists in films or not play anyone at all. It explores the reality of a family that lives in the West and embraces Western culture but that still believes it is okay to marry off young single women to older men they have never met and only meet weeks before a marriage ceremony is held.

The film also explores how young Arab American children face the challenges of being singled out because of their race and religion? “Dad, why am I a Muslim? Why is my name Muhammad? Why don’t we celebrate Christmas?” all questions many Arab Muslim children eventually ask their parents.

It’s the same experience that Jewish American children go through, though, and that is one aspect of the film that is very powerful. It shows that the Arab American experience in America today although unique, is also a reflection of the very same experiences that every ethnic and racial immigrant group has faced in settling in this country.

Except for Arab Americans, though, who have been in America from the beginning, their Twilight Zone has been endlessly drawn out and not resolved because of the neverending Arab-Israeli conflict and the suffering of the Palestinian Arab people.

The film is also somewhat experimental, including a cartoon montage depicting a brief history of Islam that Issawi credits to the style of Michael Moore’s 2002 Documentary tary, “Bowling for Columbine.”

And the film also has its critics in the Arab and Muslim community, too, extremists who want all or nothing, and usually end up with nothing every time. A great track record of failure which they proudly hail as success.

The aspect of the film that has upset many Arabs and Muslims is the relationship Issawi crafts between Mustafa and Sam, the Jewish Egyptian businessman who is his longtime friend and now a partner in a business venture that becomes strained by the government questioning, arrests and harassment.

In an interview in the Los Angeles Times, one of the few in the mainstream media, by the way, Issawi touched on the problems he faced.

“Escaping stereotypes and the seething history and politics of the Middle East, especially regarding relations between Jews and Arabs, can get artists into trouble. Issawi’s portrayal of the friendship between Mustafa and Sam, who convinces his Jewish family to partner with Mustafa in a restaurant, angered critics at the Egyptian film festival. Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979, but it is a political pact, not a cultural or artistic one. Films, music and books dealing with “normalization” are often vilified.

“ ‘It was hell,’ Issawi said of the news conference following the screening of ‘American East.’ ‘I was getting attacked by everybody. “How dare you try to make normalization with Israel.” And this was coming from journalists and critics. It was unbelievable. There was hypocrisy to it. I mean, don’t we Egyptians have a peace treaty with Israel?’’ ”

How dare you indeed, Mr. Issawi, make a great movie that tells the truth to everyone, even if everyone doesn’t want to hear the truth at all. That’s the essence of a great film and “American East” is in fact one of the great films that you must see to enjoy, to learn and to understand.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning writer and radio talkshow host in Chicago. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com or rayhanania@comcast.net.)

This is a slap on the face for all who claim Muslims and Arabs are not vocal.

Part I:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=465S2Y4rsIY[/youtube]

Part II:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaiqJ8B-98k[/youtube]

Various sources estimate that there are between 3.5 and 4.5 million Arabs in America, with Christians a slight majority over Muslims. There are 7.5 million Muslims in America, but only about 22 percent are Arab and the largest segment are African American and Asian.

Arab Americans are represented in both parties, but the majorities tend to swing back and forth depending on the candidate and the issues in the Middle East. In 2000, for example, Arab Americans overwhelmingly voted Republican to support George W. Bush.

In the election contest between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, there seems to be a split with a majority of Christian Arabs supporting McCain and a majority of Muslims supporting Obama.

Arab American voters share the same concerns as other Americans, from education to jobs to improving the economy. But they also have a special interest in American foreign policy towards the Middle East, and on that criteria, they share an overwhelming disappointment. They often base their choices in national elections, such as for president, on the which candidate is “the lesser of two evils.”

Yet, when Americans across the country flock to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 4, Arab Americans will be standing with them side-by-side in line to vote.

Here is a look at Arab American political success, their challenges and even a few of the controversies that continue to play significant roles in this year’s presidential election:

In office

After a more than 150-year presence in this country, Arab Americans continue to seek and hold public elective office.

There is little diversity in terms of their national Arab origins. The vast majority of Arab American officeholders are of Lebanese heritage. There are many reasons for this. The Lebanese were among the first to settle in the U.S. in large numbers. They are almost all Christian, allowing them to assimilate more easily into American society. Although there is a theoretical separation of church and state in America, oftentimes the fastest way to elective office is through church-supported political organizations.

But other Arab nationalities are slowly winning office as more and more seek office. The common denominator seems to be that those succeeding in elections are trading-off ties to their home countries of origin with more local activism and community involvement.

Some of the better known officeholders include U.S. Senator John Sununu (Palestinian origins and Lebanese heritage), and Congressmen Darrell Issa (California) and Ray LaHood (Illinois), all Republican.

There are more than 13 other Arab Americans who held office including four former U.S. Senators (all Lebanese), and nine congressmen including two women, Mary Rose Oakar, now national president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), in Ohio’s 20th district, and Pat Danner of the 6th District in Missouri.

The Arab American Leadership Council maintains an updated and detailed roster that also includes members of state legislatures, governors, and local office holders from state to suburban office.

Seeking office

One of the highest profile Arab American candidate in the Nov. 4th election is Ralph Nader who is running for president on a third party. His candidacy is on the ballots in 45 of the country’s 50 states.

Sam Rasoul, candidate for congress in Virginia’s 6th district, raised more than $100,000 towards his campaign through online contributions alone. Although Rasoul is running in a longtime Republican district, he and other Democrats hope that Obama’s coattails will give them enough momentum to reverse voting trends.

In Peoria, Illinois where his father is congressman, Darin LaHood, who built his own reputation as a U.S. Federal prosecutor who targeted the mob, is running for county state’s attorney as a Republican.

Bob Abboud, the son of the former Chairman of the First National Bank of Chicago and now mayor of an affluent Northwest Chicago suburb, is the Democratic candidate in the 16th Congressional district.

More than 100 Arab Americans are expected to file their nominating petitions later this year in the February 24 and April 7, 2009 for local elective offices across the country.

In controversy

Not all of the Arab Americans involved in political elections are candidates for office. Several of the most “famous” in this presidential contest between Obama and McCain come from Illinois.

Anton “Tony” Rezko, once one of the most powerful and influential political fundraisers in the country, was convicted of corruption and faces sentencing after the presidential election.

A close friend of Obama’s, Rezko was involved in several of Obama’s controversial real estate deals. He was convicted of bribery in an unrelated scheme raising funds for beleaguered Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Rezko is Syrian American.

Not all did anything wrong and were targeted for their race and their religion.

Another Arab American in the political headlines is professor Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian author and close friend of Obama. Khalidi, who holds the Edward Said Chair at Columbia University in New York, has been the target of a hatemongering campaign by pro-Israel extremists adopted by McCain supporters who are using the false charges to embarrass Obama.

Just over one week after being named Muslim Outreach liaison for Obama, noted Chicago attorney Mazen Asbahi was forced to resigned when he was targeted in a hate profile published by the right-wing Wall Street Journal, once a respected national newspaper gutted by its extremist conservative owner, Rupert Murdoch.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning syndicated columnist and Chicago radio talk Show host. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com or by email at rayhanania@comcast.net.)

On June 8, 1967, Israel’s air force was monitoring an American Naval Vessel, a spy ship, that was monitoring the war for the US Navy. The ship was the U.S.S. Liberty. The Israeli air force had monitored the ship for 7 hours. Suddenly, the Israeli planes disappeared. They were replaced minutes later by unmarked fighter jets that launched a massive assault on the ship which only had a few guns and cannons but was not a fighter vessel. The attack killed 10 American sailors.

The Liberty soldiers, who were pro-Israel and supporting Israel at the time, ran to the deck to wave American flags, but the jets kept firing ont he ship killing many of the sailors as they waved the American flags. Scores were wounded.

The ships captain immediately signaled an SOS to the commander of the 6th Fleet, who also immediately issued an order for American forces to respond and defend the U.S.S. Liberty. But within minutes, the order was contermanded and revoked by the 6th Fleet Commander and the rescue and defense American forces were ordered to stand down and return to their ships.

The order to not defend the Liberty came directly from Admiral John McCain, Senator McCain’s father. Admiral McCain ordered that the 6th Fleet immediately withdraw its rescue and defense operation partly because he did not want the American forces to directly engage the Israelis.

When the order not to intervene was issued, the Israeli returned with five torpedo boats that were clearly marked with Israeli flags and the Star of David. The torpedo boats fired five torpedoes at the U.S.S. Liberty. Onew of the torpedoes was a direct hit and struck the U.S.S. Liberty and killed 24 more American soldiers.

In the meantime, the commander of the 6th Fleet was fighting with Admiral McCain demanding that support be sent to DEFEND AMERICAN LIVES. It was no longer about Israel and the Arab coutnries but about AMERICAN LIVES. Admiral McCain could have issued orders to intervene, even though President Lyndon Baines Johnson was now involved in the discussions about the war and the incident involving the U.S.S. Liberty. LBJ was quoted as saying that despite the tragedy of the attack on the Liberty, he did not want to do anything that would expose Israel to defeat at the hands of the Arab nations — remember, no one knew for sure, especially among the Americans, how easily the Israelis would defeat the Arab armies.

Admiral McCain’s actions COST THE LIVES OF 24 AMERICANS who were killed AFTER the first attack and when it was clear the ship could have been defended.

The Israelis returned a third time assaulting the ship this time with helicopter gunships filled with heavily armed Israeli soldiers who were preparing to storm the ship. Their goal was to kill every last American on the U.S.S. Liberty as it became apparent to the Israelis that their plan to destroy and sink the Liberty had failed, that there were witnesses and that they feared the massacre of Americans would result in destroying their relationship with the United States. But before the troops could be ordered to assault, the Israelis realized that the battle among the American military leaders was now a major issue and it was clear that the Israelis had been identified not only by the survivors on the U.S.S. Liberty as being Israeli, but also by the commander of the 6th Fleet.

The assault helicopters were called back.

After the incident, Admiral McCain sent a commander to meet with the ship’s survivors and he ordered them to keep their mouths shut or to face court marshal. If anyone EVER discussed what happened, they would be punished.

For years, no one spoke out about theinjustice. Then, survivors began to fight back publishing several books about what they saw with their own eyes, and challenging the Israeli propaganda that the ship was attacked “by accident,” which was now the “official version” that was endorsed by the Israelis and the John administration and by Admiral McCain.

In response, Israel’s powerful lobby produced its own material and a bookw as wwritten by a pro-Israel apologist which claimed the attack was an accident and that the allegations by the eyewitnesses on the boat, and the documents, were false. It further claimed that 10 official investigations were conducted and all concluded that the attack was an accident. The truth was, there was only one official Military Probe and it refused to blame Israel. testimony from the survivors at the investigation were censored and charges that the Israelis intentionally attacked the ship were rmeoved from the official record.

How does Sen. John McCain come into the picture. His father was the commander during the Gulf of Tonkin incident in which the United States and John administration faked up an attack on an American ship to allow American forceds to invade and bomb North Vietnam. The attack never took place, but Johnson got what he wanted, an excuse to enter the Vietnam War in full force with the backing of the American people who thought the Vietnamese had in fact attacked and killed Americans.

Senator John McCain acted to defend his father’s honor and he endorsed the propaganda, pro-Israel book version of the attack on the U.S.S. Liberty introducing it to the U.S. Senate and declaring that this book by an outsider an dproagandist for Israel was in fact the official version of what happened. He then introduced the book to the Library of Congress to further cement the lie and to cover-up for his father’s betrayal of the American soldiers and the American people and truth.

Senator John McCain owes the American people an apology. And, he can make this right by standing up and demanding a full and uncensored public investigation into how America turned its back on its fighting men on June 8, 1967 in order to protect an ally it viewed crucial to the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Senator McCain can show he is a leader by exposing the truth about his father’s misdeed and to stand up for the families of the 34 brave men who were murdered by israel on June 8, 1967, and for the survivors and their families who have endured ridicule, shame and insult over the years for simply trying to tell the truth.

You can hear the story of the shameful coverup by Admiral John McCain and Sen. John McCain and the details of the massacre on my radio show (in both audio and video podcast) at www.RadioChicagoland.com.

Regardless of whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, the way our American soldiers were mistreated is shameful and remains a black spot on the honor of this country. It MUST be corrected and clarified and truth MUST be allowed to come out. The survivors of the Israeli massacre of 34 Americans must be given the chance to tell the truth, and the cowards who have shamefully tried to cover up and protect Israel’s actions deserve to experience the same ridicule and persecution that the survivors, American soldiers and their families, have been forced to endure for more than 40 years.

– Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com.

(DATELINE Peoria, Il, Sept. 30, 2008) — The judge in the controversial trial of Jeff Mazon, a former Halliburton procurement officer accused of intentionally inflating a contract payment in exchange for a bribe, acknowledged his rulings have caused “some tensions.”

In the second day of hearings, U.S. District Court Judge Joe Billy McDade acknowledged his rulings tightened reigns on Mazon’s defense team which is led by J. Scott Arthur a suburban Chicago attorney from Orland Park.

Arthur protested, after the judge directed the jury to leave the court room during a procedural squabble, that the judge’s ruling compromised Mazon’s ability to get a fair trial.

“Your honor. I can’t represent my client because you have given the government (prosecutors) so much leeway,” Arthur protested as Judge McDade ruled against Arthur’s attempts to strengthen his clients argument that the War in Iraq had strained the war contract delivery system.

McDade, who is soft spoken and rarely raises his voice, referred to the first trial in which the jury last April deadlocked on the complex charges.

“I gave the defense attorney in the last trial more leeway on issues outside of the scope of cross examination to allow him (Arthur) to address matters to put on his own case for the defense,” Arthur said.

But he said he “won’t allow” Arthur to do it again in this second trial which began Monday in McDade’s court room in the Peoria Federal Building.

McDade offered a chilling warning to Arthur, saying, “Whether or not there will be a 3rd trial in this case by you is questionable.” Arthur said he thought he understood what the softspoken judge said but “wasn’t sure.”

After verbally reprimanding Arthur, McDade cautioned the attorney about his conduct.

The argument erupted when Arthur tried to get a government witness who worked for the U.S. Army that approved contracts to support the War in Iraq to acknowledge that everyone was in a rush to get the contracts serviced.

McDade has already ruled that Arthur cannot argue Mazon is being made a scapegoat by Halliburton KBR, his former employer, that he was “framed,” that Halliburton, worked with the government to frame Mazon, or that Halliburton KBR mishandled dozens and maybe more government contracts..

What remains of Mazon’s defense, which may have swayed the deadlocked jury in the first trial held in Rock Island, is that Mazon, like many other contractors serving the Iraq war, were overworked causing many errors.

During the trial, a government witness and Mazon’s supervisor, Col. Robert Gatlin, said that he and Mazon and others worked as many as 20 hours a day, seven days a week.

Prosecutor Jeffrey B. Lang argued that Mazon inflated the contract to provide fuel to soldiers at garrisoned at a military base that was hurriedly built in Kuwait prior to the Iraq war.

Arthur argued in the last trial and will argue again that Mazon and several other Halliburton contractors had merely tripped up over the conversion of U.S. dollars to the Kuwait Dinars. One Kuwaiti Dinar is equal to 3.3 U.S. dollars. The inflated contract price was increased precisely by 3.3 in an Excel spreadsheet in which the formulas were automatically embedded. By clicking the “cells,” contractors automatically changed the price.

The bid document presented to the court showed the contract was $1.67 million US Dollars but listed as $1.67 Kuwait Dinars. It was then converted to $5.52 million U.S. Dollars through the monetary conversion error.

Lang also challenged claims that the government and Bush administration were intentionally seeking to downplay the trial.

“This is not a political trial. No one from Washington (DC) called and told me to do anything. I got into this because I wanted to. I read a story about this in the Wall Street Journal and I called and asked to be assigned to this case,” Lang said during a break in the trial.

Lang said as many as 60 people have been charged and convicted with contract related corruption, but he insisted that the politically connected Halliburton should not be the focus of the trial.

Critics, though, insist the Bush Administration intentionally pushed the trial to Rock Island for several reasons. Mazon is Ecuadorian American but his skin tone could lead many to mistake him for an Arab American. Since the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of Arab Americans have become victims of American public anger from subtle acts of discrimination and bias in court rooms, businesses and government to acts of vandalism and violence.

Rock Island’s mainly rural Bible Belt constituency might have produced an unsympathetic jury for someone who looks “foreign” and who is alleged to have engaged in corruption with contractors in the Arab World.
Lang brushed the charges aside.

The Peoria jury reflects a slightly better cosmopolitan diversity including five men and nine women, all save with one apparent Hispanic juror and another Asian.

The trial is expected to continue through the middle of October.

(Ray Hanania is providing special reports and commentary from and during the trial which is taking place in Peoria, Illinois. He can be reached at rayhanania@comcast.net.)

It comes down to this question: Who do you want to be disappointed by, someone you know is going to disappoint you, or someone you hope deeply won’t disappoint you?

This election, it is Barack Obama and John McCain, and their running mates, pro-Israel activists Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

Arab American voters (who are Muslim and Christian) are not asking Americans to be pro-Arab. They are just asking that Americans stop being stupid, use their brains, pretend they really believe that stuff about being the leader of the free world, and be fair. For many pro-Israel activists, that’s too much to permit. Better to keep the Americans dazed and confused — although there are many supporters of Israel who do support peace and fairness. Just just are not talking these days.

It’s not even close when it comes to who will be fair on Middle East issues. The presidential candidates are all sucking up to the pro-Israel lobby because the pro-Israel lobby is the ONLY game in town. The Arab lobby doesn’t exist. In fact, the Arab American activists are being overshadowed by the new movement taking over our issues, the Islamicists. The Muslim American movement is made up mostly of non-Arab Muslims. To those non-Arab Muslims, Palestine is just a stepping-stone to a larger agenda. It’s not the priority — even though that’s what they allege.

So here we are again. Screwed in an election. No real choices at all, when it comes to someone who just might do the right thing when it comes to the Middle East. So, what do we do? Well, it’s called the lessor or two (or more) evils.

Biden has set a new record, a Christian declaring himself as “Zionist.” Usually, American politicians pandering to prejudice and hatred don’t have to go so far to attract votes and money from the powerful pro-Israel lobby, Biden doesn’t have to do this, but maybe being anti-Arab is something he aspires too.

All he has to do is do what McCain and Obama have already done. Appear before AIPAC. Tell the pro-Israel crowd what it wants to hear, and hope that’s enough to pull the wool over Jewish voters, too.

Oh yes. It’s not just Arabs who are getting screwed. It’s Jewish American voters, too. Every presidential candidate claims they will move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israeli occupied Jerusalem. But they don’t because Jerusalem is a disputed city, half occupied in 1947 and the remaining half occupied in 1967. Jerusalem is a city for Christians, Muslims and Jews and should not be the sole possession of one group. It should be shared. Pro-Israel supporters don’t like that notion — the notion of sharing, just and doing what is right because it undermines their power.

Arab Americans were hopeful with Obama because Obama comes from an oppressed South Side Chicago African American community, although he is an elitist who has always been above the suffering of African Americans. Nevertheless, Obama was close to Arab activists — most extremists — who he needed when he was running before to help raise funds and generate votes.

Now, those “friendships” have become liabilities. In today’s mainstream American media, hate and bias are often disguised as objective journalism. Just read the Chicago Tribune once-in-awhile where pro-Israel journalists constantly slam Arab rights and cleverly fuel hatemongering. The Chicago Sun-Times has a recent solid history of anti-Arab bashing and despite some changes in their editorial board, the haters still hold important positions where they routinely bash Arabs and Palestinian rights.

With a news media that promotes anti-Arab hate, why would one think the politiciansw would try to be fair on the Middle East issues?

But there is one hope for Arab Americans. It is a theory based on the contrarian view that the best way to help a cause is not to constantly seek the best candidate and always be disappointed. It is the view that the best way to bring change is to keep the environment hostile. That is, don’t support Obama — just because he has a middle name that is Muslim (Hussein is not an Arab name, it is a Muslim name. I don’t know one Aran Christian named Hussein, unlike Abdullah, which is an Arab named shared by Christians and Muslims). The theory goes that instead of supporting Obama, who can’t do the right thing because his hands are tied by the reality of American politics, support John McCain who everyone presumes is more pro-Israel than Obama. The truth is, McCain, with his support of Israel, could do more to force Israel’s government to be more objective and do the right thing.

McCain, by virtue of the fact that he is viewed as being more supportive of Israel, could have the strength to do the right thing.

Palin also is popular but naive. She doesn’t understand the fundamentals of the Middle East conflict and will continue to pander to pro-Israel views as she has been doing.

But at least Palin and McCain don’t have to declare themselves “Zionists” to win pro-Israel votes, the way Biden has. Biden will be under constant pressure to prove that he is pro-Israel and he will most likely spearhead the move to advance the extremist agendas in Israel’s government, rather than try to contain those Israeli extremists.

We all know that what the Middle East needs is someone courageous enough to make the Palestinians and the Israelis do what needs to be done. But that courageous person is not out there. In the face of that continuing reality, the best option is not to support someone who “looks” like they can be fair and is more likely to be a bigger disappointment. The real option is support the person who is unfair and won’t disappoint, but who could just change.

Obama won’t change. If Palestine and the Middle East were really important, he would have given signals to that affect already. But he won’t. McCain and Palin could actually bring more change.

And, for those who see things in Republican and Democratic colors, the other reality is this. Even if McCain wins, both houses of the congress will be controlled by Democrats. So, what’s the difference if Obama wins or loses.

I always think disappointment is better when it is not so disappointing and the person who lets you down is not someone you expect to help you, like McCain. The worst scenario is to support someone who you think mightr understand you, but despite that understanding still easily changes his views in order to pander for votes and money, like Obama.

Obama will let the Arab American community down not because he wants to but because that is the inherent nature of an American political system where the Arab activism is at an extremist and dysfunctional minimal. If Obama lets us down, as he is certain to do, that would be far more traumatic for Arab Americans. Because the worst kind of disappointment come from friends, not enemies.

– Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Oh for the old days of entertainment, which is what American political conventions have become.

It is not about issues any longer. It’s about how great you sound delivering your speech. How you “spin” the issues to draw on the emotional strings of the American people, who, despite all the promises made over the years by candidates, face the same old challenges.

Neither party nor candidate this time around is any better than the other. But something must be said about a Republican convention in which our emotions, taut by a down-spiraling economy and dollar, up rising price of oil, gasoline and milk, and neighborhoods quickly filling up with bank-foreclosed homes, are exploited for political gain.

What is it about a Republican Party that can honor a man for not surrendering to torture, while it advocates the use of torture without a pang or of moral conscience against suspects denied their human rights or the ability to respond to false charges against them?

What is it about a Republican Party that can celebrate the military service of their candidate and castigate the lack of service of his Democratic opponent? And yet, for the past four years, remain shamefully silent on the factual record of a president who cowardly hid from the Vietnam War to work on his father’s friend’s election campaigns?

What is it about a Republican Party that can claim that it freed the slaves and then in the same breath unleash vicious hate-mongering against an entire religion?

How does a Republican Party declare its fortitude to stand up and pursue the war in Iraq while avoiding the real challenge of tracking down Osama Bin Laden, the real terrorist, in his enclaves in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

The Republican National Convention rolled past the drama of Hurricane Gustav, which threatened to remind Americans how an uncaring and war-consumed Bush abandoned the needs of hundreds of thousands of people besieged by Katrina?

And then the convention finally picked up speed last night, two days later, with some powerful and inspiring words from Mike Huckabee, who delivered the spirit of the Republican conservative principles impeccably and with some class, although he could have better summarized in fewer words his “classroom desk” story.

Of course, why should the Republican Party rely solely on “class” to represent itself when an election is at stake? The next person to goose-step his way to the podium was the American demagogue, Rudy Giuliani.

To a tyrant like Giuliani, terrorism is not a movement of fanaticism. It is a religion. And using religion, Giuliani can mine the fear and the hate that comes from fear to strengthen his popularity like no other person in the world has before him, except during the 1930s in Europe’s dark era of “the Triumph of Will.”

Giuliani’s hate-filled speech and vicious attacks against religions and races brought to mind an ugly image from an unspeakable era when the world learned the passioned articulate ignorant could overcome reason and fact. Many a demagogue has tried to master the world using emotionally packed phrases, words and hate-mongering, hypnotizing an entire nation to commit unspeakable acts.

Frightening.

Fortunately, Palin is no pansy and neither is she a trooper of the Giuliani storm. Although Giuliani’s vitriol was a hard act to follow, she managed to refocus the theme from his hate-mongering diatribe to a more issue-focused assault on Obama.

While Giuliani used hate, Palin used the humor of a TV comedian with her biting sarcasm, offering memorable punchlines like, “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?” she asked with comic punchline pause: “Lipstick.”

Palin was good. She has the charisma McCain lacks. She hit all the points about Obama’s weaknesses in her speech, with impact:

“And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.

“But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform – not even in the state senate.

“This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word “victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed … when the roar of the crowd fades away … when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot – what exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger … take more of your money … give you more orders from Washington … and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy … our opponent is against producing it.”

But then she fell upon her principle to embrace the war in Iraq, pretending as many Republicans do that Iraq had something to do with al-Qaeda and terrorism and Sept. 11, 2001. In fact, if Iraq is tied to al-Qaeda, it is much thanks to President Bush who turned the once-anti-Islamic enclave for a pro-American tyrant, Saddam Hussein, into a new and more powerful battleground for America’s enemies.
Palin would never admit this because her son, like many blinded by lies and emotion, is on his way to fight in Iraq, too.

But the Iraq war was a mistake. The Iraq war has made America less safe. The Iraq war has emboldened al-Qaeda and the enemies of America. The Iraq war has helped to destroy our economy while making Dick Cheney’s Halliburton more wealthy.

And that withdrawing from Iraq immediately and abandoning Bush’s lies about the necessity to win, and refocusing instead all of our efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, non-oil producing countries where Osama Bin Laden still reigns supreme, is the direction this country needs to take.

–Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

For Arab American and Muslim voters, however, an Obama-Biden ticket seems like good news for they have had to endure a long arduous 8 year journey of the Republican rule of Bush-Cheney administration that wrecked havoc in their personal lives, eroded their civil rights, a futile war in Iraq, and vehemently supporting Israeli’ s occupation and destruction of Palestinian lands and peoples.

Arab and Muslim voters thought in Obama that they were witnessing a candidate with a shot of wining, that he was not part of the pro-Israeli establishment that fills the halls of power in Washington who usually go out of their way to support Israel at expense of Arab and Palestinian rights.

But Arab and Muslims voters did not have wait for too long for their disappointment to arrive when they felt that Obama had increasingly started treating them like a plague avoiding them at all costs so as not to upset the racists and bigots in this country.

In Detroit, last June, Obama’s staff made sure to remove two Muslim American women from the seats behind Obama so as not to “ offend” American voters, as if Muslims voters are not “fully” Americans.

This insult to Muslims is too deep to let it go so easily, it also speaks volumes about the hatred and racism in the American society where Arab and Muslim Americans are usually at the receiving end of its repeated blows, and with no end in sight.

It appears to be that Obama candidacy feels that it has to go along with the racist sentiments against Muslims because, in America today, it is not a bad policy to discriminate against Muslims or disrespect them and demean their faith and value system and there will no political ramifications because of it. Except at the ballot box.

Obama went even further in his attempts to appease the right wing racists by repeatedly denying that he is not a Muslims, and he is not, but why does it being a Muslim or not has to be an issue in a country that the faith of the candidate is besides the point, not the point.

As for the Middle East, Obama’s trip to Israel last month as part of his world tour, was pilgrimage American politicians seemingly had to make in order to garner t he Jewish vote and financial support in this country. There, Obama visited an Israeli Synagogue a Christian Church, and, yet again, he had to show his anti-Muslims credentials by not bothering to visit a Muslim mosque. Therefore, Obama’s message to the Muslim American voters is that, “ I don’t care about you, I don’t care about your issues, and I don’t care about your vote.

Moreover, in Israel, Obama was quick to issue the now classic policy proclamation assuring Israeli politicians that if he was to be elected president he will continue America’s policy of ensuring Israel superiority and domination over the lives of all of its Arab and Muslim neighbors, a policy that defies the logic peace in the region and from the perspective America’s interests in that part of the world, it is an irresponsible policy to say the very least.

Arab and Muslim Americans should return the favor to Obama and give their support to a third candidate who albeit his or her chances of wining is next to impossible, but at least they should not support a candidate who does not care about them or about their issues.

(Ali Alarabi is an awa rd winning journalist and columnist and member of Arab writers group syndicate. You can reach him here.)