Arab American News Focus, September 27, 2007: Peter King's Anti-Islamic Bigotry

September 27, 2007-Vol. 8, #27

A regular update from the Arab American Institute

Bigotry In Action
In an interview with The Politico, Congressman Peter King (R-NY), argued that there were “too many mosques in this country” and that the government should “infiltrate them.” In clarifying his statement during the interview, King said, “I think there has been a lack of full cooperation from many people in the Muslim community.” Perhaps the best response came from Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) who said: “The comment by Rep. King was surely heard throughout the Muslim world, and I think it undermines our national security because it gives people who are really hostile to the US — terrorists and murderers — recruiting tools. …While we have some people in Congress who make offensive comments, it is important for us, as Muslims, to lift the level of debate, and demonstrate the true character of Islam.” Setting an example, he added, “Just as we [Muslims] don’t want to be judged by the actions of a small [extremist] minority, I ask the Muslim world not to judge Congress by the remarks of one congressman.”

Support for Lebanon in the Senate
The race for Commander-in-Chief is not the only heated presidential contest, nor is it the only one on the minds of the Senate. A week after the assassination of Lebanese MP Antoine Ghanem, the Senate passed a resolution, sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden (D-DE), Ranking Member Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Senator John Sununu (R-NH), condemning the assassination and supporting its inclusion in the ongoing international tribunal to investigate the murder of several Lebanese politicians and journalists, most notably former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The resolution also urges President George W. Bush to "more actively support the sovereignty of Lebanon and strengthen its governing institutions and security forces," and reasserts that the Lebanese people should "choose their next president…free from all foreign intimidation, interference, and violence." Meeting for the first time in almost a year, the parliament agreed to continue negotiations in search of a compromise candidate. For the sake of the Lebanese people, let's hope they find one.

The Illusion Fades
Last week, in an effort to halt rocket attacks on Israeli towns originating in Gaza, the Israeli government announced that it would reduce fuel and power supplies to Gaza. Human rights organizations condemned the move, noting that collective punishment is illegal and immoral. By labeling Gaza as “enemy territory” the Israeli government may be trying to establish that it has no humanitarian obligations to the Palestinians of Gaza – a position which the United Nations has categorically rejected. The very fact that Israel is capable of cutting off these essential supplies demonstrates that it is still able to exercise authority over Gaza, despite its hailed “withdrawal” in 2005. Given the control Israel maintains over Gaza, one wonders how a possible Israeli withdrawal from the other territories occupied in the 1967 war would be any different.

When Does the Constitution Not Mean What It Says?
Some interesting stories are beginning to surface from courtroom of former federal judge Michael Mukasey, President George W. Bush’s nominee for Attorney General. Monday’s New York Times recounts an incident from October of 2001 which makes for some truly Kafka-esque reading. That case, and one imagines others, will be the basis of questions regarding Judge Mukasey’s view of the law during time of crisis – a view which he in essence laid out in a 2004 Wall Street Journal op-ed, noting: “No doubt there were people taken into custody, whether on immigration warrants or material witness warrants, who in retrospect should not have been. …But we should keep in mind that any investigation conducted by fallible human beings in the aftermath of an attack is bound to be either overinclusive or underinclusive.” Mukasey clearly favors the over-inclusive camp. This sentiment fits far better with the authoritarian tradition of Bismark (“it is better that ten innocent men suffer than one guilty man escape”) than the democratic tradition (“better ten guilty men go free than one innocent man be punished”) on which our Constitution is based.

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