On our way to Friday prayer last week, my dad increased the volume in the car when he heard the words “Obama” and “Muslim” come on the radio. For some time now it has been difficult to escape the usage of at least one of these terms in the news. Paired together, “Obama” and “Muslim” command the attention of the American electorate and the world. Naturally, Yusuf Schmo pays even more attention to these reports than does Joe Schmo.
The news was discussing a speech New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had just given in front of a Jewish audience in Florida. In his speech, Bloomberg addressed the rumors concerning Obama’s faith. As one of the most prominent Jews in the country, Bloomberg called on his audience to put an end to the “whisper” campaign about Obama being a Muslim. For the first time this year, a high-profiled politician came out and said that this type of politics “threatens to undo the enormous strides that Jews and Muslims have made together in this country...[The lies are] cloaked in concern for Israel, but the real concern is about partisan politics…This is wedge politics at its worst, and we’ve got to reject it—loudly, clearly, and unequivocally.”
Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg, for being brave enough to address the specific communities that the wedge politics affects more than it does others. Although Obama has stated that the politics surrounding his faith is divisive, he has yet to really say anything as substantial as Bloomberg’s statements. He has failed to understand that this whole issue about him being “a secret Muslim” is not about him, but about Muslims and the criticisms of our faith. But of course Obama is an ambitious politician who needs to win, and being friendly with Muslims is not going to win him the election. It is a reflection of where our society is in its understanding and acceptance (or lack thereof) of Islam. In his failure to address directly the "smear" of being called a Muslim, Obama seems to tacitly endorse the other-izing of the American Muslim community.
In his speech, Bloomberg admitted that the lies about Obama are “cloaked in concern for Israel.” Bloomberg's comment reminded me of a conversation I had after class one day with a classmate several months ago. She stated very pointedly that she doesn’t like Obama because “he hates Israel.” In defense of her statement, she reported to having a feeling that she couldn’t trust him. I was stunned. I told her that it was highly unlikely that an American politician can "hate" Israel and still make it as far as Obama has in American politics.
Sure enough, the morning after he clinched the democratic nomination for president, Obama delivered a strong speech very supportive of Israel at the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) , one of Washington’s most powerful lobbies. At the speech, Obama told his audience “let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty frightening.” His courting the lobby went beyond stating the hackneyed endorsements of Israel, something every politician must do in order to get elected and re-elected (just ask Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show”). Obama even went as far as declaring that “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided” (he has since taken back that comment).
If the rumors about Obama’s faith are indeed cloaked in concern for Israel, then it seems that there is an unsettling equation that buttresses the fear-mongering taking place. This equation is false at every level: Obama = Muslim = anti-Israeli = anti-Semitic. It is clear that Obama is fully supportive of Israel.
It is also clear to me that, for Obama, being considered a Muslim may be just as bad as, if not worse than, being considered an anti-Semite. Anti-Semitism is a problem in our community, as Eboo Patel articulates here, that needs to be rejected just as we reject Islamophobia. But it is unfortunate that even mere criticism of Israeli policies or of AIPAC is considered not only anti-Israel but is often billed anti-Semitism (as Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer are aware after publishing The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy).
Ironically, the false rumors surrounding Obama’s faith support the notion that Islamophobia is today’s anti-Semitism.
This is what politically aware American Muslims mean when we say we “understand” the unpunished underlying discrimination towards Muslims throughout this campaign. Tuesday's New York Times discusses Obama's distancing himself from the Muslim community. Safiya Ghori of the Muslim Public Affairs Council goes as far as saying, "The joke within the national Muslim organizations is that we should endorse the person we don’t want to win."
In a recent post I also stated that I understand. I understand because I am all too aware of the entrenched fear-mongering wedge politics that Barack Obama has let get the better of him at the expense of his Muslim supporters like me.
Comments (4)
I wish we lived in a world where Obama could visit a mosque without seriously jeopardizing his chances at winning the election. But think what would happen on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and internet whisper campaigns. Obama has historically had ties to Palestinian supporters in Chicago, and I believe that his core beliefs are toward fostering interfaith dialog and acceptance. But to admit that now would be political suicide. He IS a politician after all.
I think this whole issue says more about the limits of democracy than anything else. Even a candidate who believes the right things cannot say them honestly because he knows they will be distorted and likely cause him to lose, thus becoming unable to act on his beliefs. There are issues where one can and should take a courageous stand, but in current America's unfortunate political climate, this is not one of them.
So my hope is that Muslims who might support him but are distressed about this will cut him a little slack, but be fully ready to expect courageous stands once he is elected. If he does not come out as fully sympathetic to Muslims at that point, then we should all be dismayed.
Posted July 8, 2008 7:32 PM
Posted on July 8, 2008 19:32
I wish we lived in a world where Obama could visit a mosque without seriously jeopardizing his chances at winning the election. But think what would happen on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and internet whisper campaigns. Obama has historically had ties to Palestinian supporters in Chicago, and I believe that his core beliefs are toward fostering interfaith dialog and acceptance. But to admit that now would be political suicide. He IS a politician after all.
I think this whole issue says more about the limits of democracy than anything else. Even a candidate who believes the right things cannot say them honestly because he knows they will be distorted and likely cause him to lose, thus becoming unable to act on his beliefs. There are issues where one can and should take a courageous stand, but in current America's unfortunate political climate, this is not one of them.
So my hope is that Muslims who might support him but are distressed about this will cut him a little slack, but be fully ready to expect courageous stands once he is elected. If he does not come out as fully sympathetic to Muslims at that point, then we should all be dismayed.
Posted July 8, 2008 7:28 PM
Posted on July 8, 2008 19:28
I wish we lived in a world where Obama could visit a mosque without seriously jeopardizing his chances at winning the election. But think what would happen on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and internet whisper campaigns. Obama has historically had ties to Palestinian supporters in Chicago, and I believe that his core beliefs are toward fostering interfaith dialog and acceptance. But to admit that now would be political suicide. He IS a politician after all.
I think this whole issue says more about the limits of democracy than anything else. Even a candidate who believes the right things cannot say them honestly because he knows they will be distorted and likely cause him to lose, thus becoming unable to act on his beliefs. There are issues where one can and should take a courageous stand, but in current America's unfortunate political climate, this is not one of them.
So my hope is that Muslims who might support him but are distressed about this will cut him a little slack, but be fully ready to expect courageous stands once he is elected. If he does not come out as fully sympathetic to Muslims at that point, then we should all be dismayed.
Posted July 8, 2008 7:25 PM
Posted on July 8, 2008 19:25
While there may be nothing truer than the fact that "ironically, the false rumors surrounding Obama’s faith support the notion that Islamophobia is today’s anti-Semitism," the ghettoization and new diaspora of the Muslim community in the world over is a strong product of US foreign policy through its support for authoritarian regimes in the Arab world and the strife its caused (or directly helped cause) in places like Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan.
If Islamophobia gave Muslims the political and financial privileges that anti-semtisim gave many in the global Jewish community, only then would it be fair to equate the unfortunate phenomenons.
Posted June 28, 2008 7:49 AM
Posted on June 28, 2008 07:49