Arab/Muslim support for Kerry
It doesn’t strike me as odd in the least bit that Arab/Muslim voters would want Senator Pander rather than President Bush. Experts and most Arabs and Muslims point to the global war on terror as the primary cause for their unwillingness to support the President. Frankly, I don’t believe them. Just as I don’t believe Jewish voters supporting Pander do so out of his “support” for Israel.
William Safire points out the strange bedfellows support for Senator Pander and notes how Pander has me-tooed the positions of President Bush with regard to American policy regarding Israel and Ariel Sharon’s plans for removing settlers from the Gaza. There are unmentioned truths to discuss behind the alliance of Muslim-Jewish voters for Pander (even if they will not reach the numbers that are commonly touted). For this post, I’ll focus on the Arab/Muslim beliefs or ideologies that make Senator Pander the candidate of choice.
The majority of Arab/Muslim voters backing Senator Pander find their incentive from one, or more, of four ideological views, all of which are an anathema to American values.
Foremost among the ideologies driving Arab/Muslim voters is their bigotry and hatred of Israel and Jews. Many will question how this will transpire into votes for Pander. Those driven by this bigotry know that President Bush is the greatest ally of Israel since the formation of the nation. Senator Pander has claimed to support the same positions as the President towards Israel, all while he continues to support the clearly anti-Israel forces behind the U.N. and the E.U. Only the most naïve voters would take him for his word on his support of Israel, unfortunately, and the Arab/Muslim voters backing him no the U.N. will stand against Israel at every turn.
The second category of Arab/Muslim ideological views creating voters for Pander is that of Arab Socialist. Many Muslims, of a variety of degrees of religiosity, believe and aspire to a socialist society in the Middle East. One of the most significant factors often cited by those who lead this ideology, both imams and non-religious persons, is the poverty of the average Arab and the enormous oil based wealth of the few in power. In this area in particular, the right has been significantly absent in offering opposition until recently. In the end, the alternative argument will go unheeded due to the previously mentioned bigotry and the resounding beat of the anti-American drum in the Mosque.
The third category is most common among the religiously observant Arab/Muslim. It is the abhorrence of what they see as the debauchery of American culture. While these believers carry a significant understanding of their faith’s admonitions against many of our more common vices, they are offered no moral guidance towards individual liberty. In addition, these political novices are often unaware of the bedfellows they make in supporting the morally ambiguous left.
The final category is one built upon the previous three to a large part and the most significant in the form of a danger to American lives and our system of governance. It is that of the Arab/Muslim support for Islamic Nationalism or Islamo-fascism. Many Muslims during the late 90’s supported to a high degree the ideals of the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda. While often suppressed in public, I believe their views to be the predominant ideological view of many organizations of Muslims in the U.S. including ICNA, ISNA, MAS, CAIR and others.
It isn’t my position that Senator Pander or the Democratic Party supports the view of any of these Arab/Muslim ideologies, I do believe that he has failed to stand firmly on a position of U.S. strength and sovereignty before the U.N. or on the Global War on Terror, this feeds their belief that he is a candidate much more likely to aid their cause. For those supporting the Senator, the war is an easy target to point to, just as is the Patriot Act or their perceived injustices in the southern Levant.
