A Muslim in America

How does it feel to be a Muslim in America these days?

I am frequently asked this question. Sometimes I am asked by people who want to hear how grateful I am to be a part of this free nation, this land of opportunity. Sometimes by people who wish to join me in condemning the party in power — but almost never by people who wish to help get us all back on the track of high moral standards.

How does it feel to be a Muslim in America today?

Our world is very insecure. Sheikh Ibrahim, who is a prominent and respected Somali Muslim leader, was taken away late in November as he was at Sea-Tac International Airport, returning home from Texas. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took him away on grounds of irregularities on his immigration forms; the Joint Terrorism Task Force, having orchestrated the whole charade, was sniffing close by.

More recently, a Microsoft employee was also "disappeared" by the authorities. (These days, it's hard to say who the moving force is behind such actions.) Nobody seems to know why, except the poor fellow is believed to be a Muslim of Syrian descent.

Ever since 9/11, the authorities have taken away well over 14,000 Arabs and Muslims in the U.S., none of whom have been charged with any crime but whose lives were destroyed based on paper irregularities and visa violations. Most have been forced back to their countries of origin, even if they were not born there.

Many are still in American jails without charges, while a precious few have been sent to third countries where they have been tortured under the active observation, if nor supervision, of the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security Department, National Security Agency or other governmental organization. Some have simply disappeared into the ether of ghost prisons whose existence is only now being revealed.

Muslims have been making these charges for years but continuously have been dismissed. Now the facts are coming out — but the government is investigating how the facts leaked out, not the facts themselves.

How should I feel about being a Muslim or an Arab in my own country?

When we try to draw attention to the fact that it is open hunting season on Arabs and Muslims in this country, Americans jump to the defense of the country — my country. They tell me Arabs and Muslims brought about9/11. Never mind that the people trying to bring ground-to-air missiles into this country to use against airlines were not Muslims, nor were the people who were caught with 180 cyanide bombs to use in this country. They were members of other faiths. But 9/11 is rubbed in the collective faces of Arabs and Muslims.

Then I am told to go back where I came from.

If America continues on its current path of persecuting Arabs and Muslims, then my daughter and son can never hope to attain positions of trust in America. Ask FBI or Secret Service agents or the military men and women who have been hounded out of their jobs because they are Muslim.

My Congress is of no help. Members of Congress continue to rubber-stamp the growing list of horrors against Arabs and Muslims and then shed crocodile tears when they sit before their Arab and Muslim constituents. Like membes of all rubber-stamp legislatures, they cower and acquiesce rather than risk being seen as opposing the "strength" of the president. They help redefine terms like "torture" and "terrorism," they sign off on repressive laws and immoral invasions and they distance themselves from Arabs and Muslims (one senator avoids making appointments to meet with us). Democrats then criticize the things that they signed off on earlier while Republicans shrug and say sacrifices must be made for national security. So sorry it has to be Arabs and Muslims!

Unspoken distinctions are made between "real" citizens and non-citizens (non-Arab, non-Muslim), and barely tolerated citizens/non-citizens (Arabs or Muslims). The first group is what America is all about; the second class is a begrudged minority that is growing to dangerous proportions and whose non-citizens don't even qualify for the protections available to animals in this country.

How would you feel if you were an Arab or a Muslim in America?

It is time for people of good will in this country to drop their traditional party loyalties and to stand against politicians who cannot defend even the equal-protection clauses of our Constitution. Make them accountable not for the pork they bring or how they protect industry, but how they defend us, the people.

The "winnable" candidate who helps America get closer to fascism is not the right candidate. Uppermost in our minds should be the moral standards that helped create this nation, not the fleeting considerations of the wallet or party fancies.

Forget parties in the elections of 2006 and look for somebody with courage, find somebody better; get my country and my Constitution back for me and for my children.